Intimate communications

So do you get it now?

Digital Summer Camp

The Simply Zesty Summer Camp is your chance to learn how social media can transform your business. Many businesses have heard of social media marketing as the next big thing, but to many it is still just a buzz word.

The camp’s aim is to give you an overview of the free tools available in social media that enable you to reach your customers in new ways online. There is a great lineup of speakers, including Philip McCartney from Bebo and natural search guru Alastair McDermott from Website Doctor. I’ve been asked along too! There will also be a great panel of bloggers and journalists who are active and influential in the social media space.

So what will you know by the end of the day?

Lauren Fisher from Simply Zesty has the answer.

We’re not promising you’ll be a social media guru by the end of the day, but we can promise you’ll leave armed with knowledge from the experts to give you the confidence to start marketing your business in the social media space. We’ll teach you the key do’s and dont’s, but the aim is to give you the knowledge and power to run your own presence through social media. The emphasis is on doing!

More info here.

Social networking from the cradle to the grave

Social networking reach is now high amongst all age groups according to research released today by ComScore.

The myth that social networking is a young person’s game is now completely unfounded with large amounts of take up from different age groups. 80% of total UK Internet audience now partake in social network activities. Upon such evidence a social media strategy should be central to any communications strategy.

Social networking has become a mainstream online activity among all age groups, with 80 percent of the total U.K. online population having visited a site in the category in May. Penetration was highest amongst 25-34 year old Internet users, 89 percent of whom visited the category during the month, followed by 15-24 year olds (86 percent). Category penetration was somewhat lower among the older age groups, but remained relatively high, reaching two thirds of the total online population age 55 and older.. Comparatively, slightly more people from this age group visited a social networking site in May than visited a business & finance (63 percent), technology (62 percent) or travel site (52 percent).

Engagement also skewed more heavily towards the younger age segments, with 15-24 and 25-34 year olds averaging 5.4 hours per user per month compared with 3.7 hours per month among users age 55 and older. Overall, social networking was the second most popular online activity in the U.K. based on average time spent per user (4.6 hours), trailing only instant messaging (8.6 hours).

Top 10 Social Networking Sites in U.K.

Of the 36.9 million people in the U.K. age 15 and older who accessed the Internet from a home or work location in May 2009, 29.4 million visited at least one social networking site, representing an 80-percent reach and a 9-percent growth versus year ago. Facebook.com ranked as the most popular social networking site with 23.9 million visitors, followed by Bebo.com (8.5 million visitors), Windows Live Profile (6.9 million visitors) and MySpace Sites (6.5 million visitors). Micro-blogging site Twitter.com grew more than 3,000 percent during the past year to 2.7 million visitors in May 2009.

*Excludes Internet activity from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.