Report: One in four consumers getting tired of “Social Media”
According to recent report from Gartner, some online users are displaying what the researchers are calling “social media fatigue.”
In a survey taken last December and January of over 6,000 users in 11 countries, almost one in four (24%) said they use their favorite social media site less than when they first signed up.
Gartner says the respondents who were using social media less tended to be among early adopters and segments that have a more practical view of technology.
“The trend shows some social media fatigue among early adopters, and the fact that 31 percent of Aspirers [younger, more mobile, brand-conscious consumers] indicated that they were getting bored with their social network is a situation that social media providers should monitor, as they will need to innovate and diversify to keep consumer attention,” said Brian Blau, research director at Gartner.
Gartner analysts also looked at whether the type of social media site respondents used affected their enthusiasm. Respondents who were using the sites less often were asked what negative factors might be influencing their decision.
One-third (33%) said they were concerned about online privacy especially among older respondents as 22 percent of teenagers agreed or strongly agreed that privacy concerns were decreasing their enthusiasm, against an average of 33 percent.
From a geographical point of view, some of the more mature social media markets — Japan, the UK and the US — corresponded to the global average trend — with roughly 40 percent of respondents using the site more than when they first started, 40 percent using it the same amount, and 20 percent using it less. Markets where enthusiasm was higher included South Korea and Italy, where nearly 50 percent of respondents said they used their social media sites more. At the other end of the spectrum, countries with the most respondents saying they used the site less included Brazil and Russia — both with between 30 and 40 percent of respondents exhibiting less enthusiasm.
Gartner surveyed 6,295 respondents, between the ages of 13 and 74, in 11 developed and developing markets in December 2010 and January 2011. Consumers were asked about their use of and opinions about social media sites with the aim of examining usage trends and how enthusiastic users were about social media in general across a range of countries.
