Study: Social media is a new addiction - and a fat target for digital marketers
Published March 24, 2010
The results of electronics marketplace Retrevo's latest Gadgetology report are clear: Nearly half of all social media network users checked Facebook or Twitter either just before going to bed or first thing after waking up.
Andrew Eisner, Retrevo's director of community and content, wrote that "among social media users, it appears almost half are so involved with Facebook and Twitter that they check in the first thing in the morning. With 16 percent of social media users saying this is how they get their morning 'news,' could we be witnessing the first signs of social media services beginning to replace "Good Morning America" as the source for what's going on in the world?"
Users of Apple's iPhone were among the most likely respondents to be classed as heavily involved with social media networks, though it was unclear whether this applied to smartphone users in general or not.
Perhaps the clearest evidence the Retrevo study provided of the power of social media was this: 7 percent of those polled said that they would check their status during an "intimate moment."