Study: Six Out Of Ten Take Facebook Vacations

Whether used for sharing pictures of pets and babies, catching up with family members or researching prospective employees, it goes without saying that Facebook continues to be a dominant player on the social media scene.

However, new research indicates Facebook usage now tends to ebb and flow, rather steadily climb, as it did years ago.

Not that Mark Zuckerberg and company  have anything to worry about for the foreseeable future. After all, nearly 70 percent of all online Americans use a Facebook account.  It’s just that not all users feel the need to check into Facebook on a daily basis. Some feel they only need to check in once a week or once a month —or even less.

In fact, according to a new Pew Internet study, six out of ten people with Facebook accounts admitted to taking voluntary breaks from the site for several weeks or more.  Moreover, one in five who don’t currently have Facebook accounts said they once did.

The Pew researchers decided to take a closer look to find out why 61 percent of users have taken “Facebook vacations.”  Although they broke down the reasons into more specific categories, time—and how people prefer to spend it —emerged as an overarching theme.  For example: 

Social Networking At Work Can Improve Morale And Reduce Employee Turnover

As any employer or human resource professional will tell you, employee turnover can have a dramatic impact on corporate costs in terms of recruitment, training and overall productivity. Retaining and motivating qualified, experienced staff goes a long way towards stabilizing a company’s performance and, ultimately, customer satisfaction . . . and now, there’s evidence that workplace social media networks can help.

Researchers at Baylor University took a deep-dive into the endeavors made by a specific large financial institution to incorporate online social networking into the new employee orientation process. They found multiple benefits –the work-sponsored internal social networking site helped new employees feel more welcome from day one, new employees used the network to forge work relationships and adjust more quickly to their job responsibilities, etc. –all of which can lead to greater job satisfaction, dedication and productivity.

More specifically, the study showed that an internal social network helped the financial institution:

Study: Social Media Pays Off For Businesses

New research suggests that businesses can see a direct and positive impact on their bottom lines when they make themselves available to customers via social media platforms—especially Facebook.

The University at Buffalo School of Management recently examined data related to individual customers’ participation on a Facebook page and combined it with their actual purchases at a large specialty firm in the Northeastern United States.

The results showed that customers who participate in a firm’s social media visit the business about 5 percent more frequently than those who don’t.

While past studies have shown a belief by many business owners that social media drives sales growth, and that a vast majority of small businesses do network online, there has also been indication that many, if not most, corporate CEOs still don’t fully understand or embrace social media marketing.

Twitter Helps People Lose Weight . . . Really

Was losing weight one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2013? If so, you may want to consider including Twitter as part of your overall fitness regimen.

While many contend emerging social media habits contribute to an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle, new research released by the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health suggests social networks can have positive impacts on health, as well.

Some earlier health-related studies involving social media focused on how people use social networks to gather information regarding medical conditions, or how health care organizations employ social media platforms. But, this particular study was one of the first to explore how individuals could use social media as a support tool when trying to make healthy changes.

The results indicate that, indeed, Twitter can serve as instrumental in supporting weight loss initiatives.

Over a six-month period, researchers followed the weight loss progress of nearly 100 men and women. To qualify as participants, the subjects needed to be either obese or overweight and possess a smartphone (Blackberry, Droid or iPhone/iPod Touch).  Then: 

Social Media Dominates Smartphone Internet Time

From young adults admitting  they’re tethered to their smartphones, to the near doubling of tablet sales between 2011 and 2012, it’s obvious that mobile devices have taken the world by storm.

But what are people doing with these gadgets?

As it turns out, mobile device users are spending their mobile minutes to . . . <insert drum roll here> . . . check  their social media accounts.

After interviewing more than 2,600 consumers between the ages of 13 and 64, marketing research firm GfK found that people spend nearly one-third (31 percent) of all their mobile access time on social media –and that’s nearly double the amount of time they pop on to check email (16 percent), the activity that came in second.

“Reading in-the-moment status updates and posting short comments, replies and likes are activities tailor-made for smartphones,” explained GfK’s media Vice President  Robert DeFelice.  “Apps encourage a targeted, deliberate approach to online time that consumers may not even clearly associate with the Internet.”

In a previous study, researchers found that people using laptops and PCs spend their time differently than they do on smartphones.  For example, when connected via PCs, people engage in social media less than 20 percent of the time—about the same amount of time they spend reading email, and only slightly more than time spent watching online videos or searching for information.

But according to these new results,