Great post, Adi. I personally think the truth lies somewhere between the 23% to 99% range for inactive users on the internet. A recent survey here in the province of Quebec showed that close to 34% of people are content creators, which is pretty far from the 1% rule, yet not as ambitious as the 77% in the UK. At the end of the day, it all boils down to how you define content generation.

I no longer believe in the 90-9-1 rule simply because it is so much easier today to create content. Facebook, which is pervasive in today's Western society, is the perfect example. Someone posts a picture, then uncles and aunts will comment on it, share it, like it, and so on. Well, uncles and aunts were the classic "90%" of just a short while ago, but it's now so easy to share and comment that anyone can easily become a content creator.

Not so sure this rule applies evenly across social media, though. I believe some 40% of all Twitter users are "lookers" who never comment or write, some of them will RT and that's about it. Yet, we tend to be more proactive on Facebook. Behavior is different on Pinterest, LinkedIn or Google+ so...

Cheers from Quebec City,
Frederic

Great post, Adi. I would add a 6th reason why you should stalk your competitors on social media: to see what works, what doesn't! With the new Timeline on Facebook, for example, you can go to your competitor's "Like" tab and see some basic analytics. Thus, if the competitor did a contest, you can see if engagement spiked or not, or if they posted pictures and videos, did it influence the "People talk about us" metric. Observing how a competitor handles its social media activities, be it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other well-known platform, allows for some handy insights that one can use with its own strategy.

Hmmm, I can certainly see how performance for Facebook ads is better on weekends as perhaps people are less distracted than during weekdays, checking their account while at work, feeding babies, doing homework or watching TV. Yet, the danger with such aggregated data is that is leads to believe there is one better time or day to post of Facebook, advertize or tweet. Truth is, it varies greatly per industry and per target audience.
So... interesting research and post, but I also remain unconvinced by Facebook ads at this stage. Unless it's part of a mix, with clear objectives behind it.
Cheers,

Well said, Adi. The statistical game is one that always seems to get the headlines. Facebook will reach 1 billion fans! Twitter reached 500 million users! Google+ will have 400 million users by end of 2012! Ok, but so what? If people just spend 3 minutes per month on their G+ account, that says something about its lack of stickiness.
Now, if Google starts calculating time spent on Youtube, Gmail, Picasa and other related platforms as part of its G+ approach, indeed it puts into question the whole credibility for this kind of exercise. Will Facebook take into consideration time spent taking pictures via Instagram in their calculation? Not too serious, in my humble opinion.
Cheers,
Frederic

Hmmm, I tend to agree with Andrea's comment here. The very nature of Facebook as a social media is to allow for sharing of content, specially visual, i.e. photos & videos. Perhaps it enhances psychological disorders or creates a more powerful venue for its expression, but I don't think people really should blame it on Facebook if they have an eating disorder. Just a scapegoat, I believe... My two cents.
Cheers,

Excellent post, Jenn. I think you hit it on the nail for most hotels, boutique or chain, but I think there are mom & pop inns and smaller venues that require to get the bigger picture before heading towards Twitter with no strategy in place. Hotels that already do the basics, i.e. capture email addresses and send out newsletters, respond to comments on TripAdvisor and so on, well yes, they ought to extend their reach with a Twitter handle and most likely a Facebook page where it can post pictures, interact with customers and build a better brand.

Good timing for this post, as the co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone was in Montreal this week and himself alluded to the fact it's not healthy to spend too much time tweeting and in social networks. You can check out this report on the subject: http://ow.ly/9gKjU

Like anything, excess leads to addiction or extreme fatigue. It's usually better to remember why we do things, recall our business objectives or personal goals, in order to prioritize our time spent in the ever-addictive social media (Pinterest, anyone?).

Cheers,

Hmm, as a marketer, I both agree and disagree with your post. Fact of the matter is, it all depends on how you define a marketer. To me, marketing encompasses not only sales, but also communications, customer experience, research, product development, pricing and so on. In that sense, it's easily understandable why marketing is responsible for social media in a majority of companies.

Yet, you do have an excellent point about customer service. In fact, while social media was considered "just another channel" up until recently (sadly, some folks still see it that way), most people agree that in 2012, we need to look at social media presence more holistically: customer service, HR, legal, PR and yes, marketing, sales and communication.

My point is that, in some cases where you have small businesses with no "marketing department", the reflex of the owner or GM is often to use social media as another media outlet to publish rates, promotions and contests. It's just poor understanding of the platforms, poor strategy and poor execution.

No offense taken, by the way... ;-)

Great post, Adi. I think another way events can add value with Twitter is through continuous utilization of the hashtag throughout the year. Too often, a hashtag is used up to event time, quite feverishly during the event, then it sort of dies off... Events that are recurrent should keep the stream alive, even if it's only to retweet content or pertinent articles during the year. It keeps the event top of mind, and makes it easier to pick up momentum 3-4 months prior to the next event, when registration and promotion begins.

Interesting article, Gregg. I have never attended Snowcial but you seem to have summarized well, from what I had heard: a great mix of parties and insightful conferences. As for Facebook, its EdgeRank algorithm and running promotions, these are interesting findings and I would tend to agree with you that a promotion can have an engaging aspect, if you open up the floor to fans with questions or seeking comments.
Cheers from Quebec City,