Best Practices for Social Media
Social
Media vs. Search
Do You Trust Strangers More Than Search Results?
Nielsen
has
shared some interesting findings
from its research on how Internet users discover content. The research
mainly focused on how content is found through search, portals, and
through social media.
"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 2009) 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.
The following graph from Nielsen shows how big of a role sites besides
search engines play in actual searches for new information online.
Q:
When looking for new information online, on what type of website do you
start your search?
At the
root of the changing nature of content discovery is the sheer amount of
information that is available on the Web," says Nielsen. "If you want to
learn more about the latest smart phone released into the market, your
favorite search engine is sure to provide you with hundreds, if not
thousands, of articles about the device. But with the increasing number
of resources available, it’s difficult to know what you should believe
or take at face value."
According to the firm's findings, 26% of "Socializers" or those who
spend over 10% or more of their online time on social media, feel that
there is too much information online. Nielsen says, "So are social
networks replacing portals or search engines? Perhaps?. Regardless, if
we don’t understand and address people feeling increasingly alienated by
the amount of information on the Internet, and the need for a human
guide, yes, your favorite social network (or something like it) will
become the next great content gateway."
Of course the search engines are built on a cross between human and
mechanical elements. Google's search quality team continues to
discuss this very process in
continually seeking to improve the quality of their results. Personally,
I'm all for social media, but I don't usually have too much trouble
finding quality and authoritative information I seek using search
Your friends may not have all the answers you seek. Furthermore, if you
are asking people you don't know, why would you trust them any more than
search results?
Search and social media are not completely separate entities. Social
networks have search functionality and search engines search through
social networks. It's all intertwined.
