July 7th, 2010 by Susie

There has recently been some media interest in some people being concerned about privacy issues on Facebook. However, research has indicated just how important Facebook is becoming to the way millions of us live. This importance could not have been guessed at a few years ago, and in part explains why Facebook is potentially a very effective tool in social media marketing. Practitioners of social media marketing have to monitor all types of media to comprehend trends relevant to the opportunities of today and tomorrow.

The first bit of research which grabbed this attention involved Facebook use at Cambridge University. These individuals form an important elite group. Many of them will do brilliantly in the professions and some of them will be key ‘opinion formers’ of tomorrow. Unless the political and economic power balance shifts in an unprecedented way, several of these talented individuals will doubtless reach the summit of the social structure. Therefore, their habits will in part determine and influence the behaviour of the rest of us. One of their student publications has revealed that many Cambridge students are spending long hours on the net instead of studying. While the poll was conducted online, its findings were nevertheless informative if not strictly scientific.

Over half of the respondents thought that Facebook use was having a detrimental impact on their work. Nearly nine out of ten of the students confessed to being on the net for longer than they intended to be when they decided to use it in the first place. Perhaps they get bogged down with things like online polls. Many individuals confessed to spending large volumes of time on Facebook in particular. Another piece of research indicates that it is not only academic highfliers who are succumbing to the seductive charms of Facebook.

Research conducted by National Family Week has indicated how children and adolescents are becoming involved with Facebook at a very early age. This is an important trend because habits which are acquired early in life are often with us for many years. The April survey of 1000 young people indicated that for many of them Facebook was of priority in their existences. There was a gender discrepancy in the survey, which demonstrated that females were more likely to feel at home on Facebook than males. While two fifths of the girls commented that technology like Facebook and mobile phones was of major import to them, less than a fifth of boys agreed. Although Facebook likes people to become members from the age of 13 onwards for reasons of social responsibility, the evidence collected by the survey indicated that younger children commonly get involved. Facebook is for some people thus becoming part of the socialisation process which contributes to who they are in later life.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk, we pay very close attention to developments which may influence the prospects of the campaigns we conduct on behalf of our clients. This means that the flexible campaigns are often significantly better targeted, and more successful, than those embarked on by the competition.

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