Social media "fatigue" emerges

LONDON: Many consumers are beginning to show signs of social media "fatigue", a new international study has argued.

Gartner, the research firm, polled 6,295 people aged 13 to 74 years old in 11 markets, and reported that the social media sector appears to be reaching "maturity" in certain countries.

Overall, 24% of respondents now use their favourite social network less often than when they first joined, with members of this group typically exhibiting a more "practical" view of technology.

In Japan, the UK and US - which are considered to be among the most developed social media markets - around 40% of consumers access the site less frequently than they used to.

Meanwhile, 40% of participants in these three nations log on to platforms like Facebook the same amount as before, and 20% had cut back.

More specifically, 31% of consumers described by Gartner as "aspirers" - or young, mobile and brand-conscious individuals - were apparently growing "bored" with social networks.

"The trend shows some social media fatigue among early adopters ... a situation that social media providers should monitor, as they will need to innovate and diversify to keep consumer attention," Brian Blau, research director at Gartner, said.

"Branded content needs to be kept fresh and must be able to capture people's attention instantly."

Another 37% of all interviewees, especially those in younger demographics and displaying higher levels of digital literacy, utilise these sites with greater regularity than previously.

In South Korea and Italy nearly 50% of internet users are becoming increasingly engaged with services like Twitter and Google+, the best scores on this measure.

Somewhat surprisingly, between 30% and 40% of Gartner's survey community in Brazil and Russia exhibited lower degrees of enthusiasm than upon joining.

When asking consumers why they had reduced their social media usage, Gartner found no single reason tended to predominate, although privacy was mentioned by 33%, falling to 22% for teenagers.

Data sourced from Gartner; additional content by Warc staff, 16 August 2011

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