With all the hype surrounding social networking, don't forget Search. Social Networking figures are certainly on the increase and in this interesting piece by Chris Crum he illustrates how almost 18% of the online population now use Social Media as a means of finding information. BTW, if you're reading this then you're part of that 18%. So Social Networking should be part of your online strategy.
But, Search is still the large the dominant figure, 37% of respondents quoted Search Engines as the place they started looking for info and an additional 34% said Online portals (which are powered by search engines).
Here's an extract from the article, the full piece can be viewed on the link.
"In a nutshell, there is a segment of the online population that uses social media as a core navigation and information discovery tool — roughly 18 percent of users see it as core to finding new information. While still a smaller percentage than those who use search engines or portals like Yahoo! or MSN, it is a significant figure," says Nielsen. "And as social media usage continues to increase (unique visitors to Twitter.com increased 959% YOY in August) I can only expect this figure to grow."If you were still questioning the possibilities of getting traffic from social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc., perhaps this information will help ease your doubts. While the traffic may not always be as significant as what comes from search, additional traffic is additional traffic, and the viral potential offered by social networks shouldn't be ignored.
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/10/06/social-media-will-not-replace-search
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