Social media refers to online tools that allow people to share information, stories, and experiences with others. Popular social media platforms include Facebook, YouTube, blogs, and Twitter, which people use to communicate and interact with their online communities. Social media is growing rapidly, with many people and organizations now using it on a regular basis to connect with others.

3. Basically, it’s people talking online.

4. They have conversations using tools like:

5. Chances are that you are already using some form of social media.

6. If you’re not, you are missing out

7. Wikipedia has over 9.25 million articles in approximately 250 languages

8. Facebook had over 130 million unique visitors in June 2008 alone.

9. YouTube.com has over 10 hours of new video uploaded every minute.

10. Over 200,000,000 blogs on the net and growing.

14. 73% of active online users have read a blog.

15. 57% joined a social network.

16. 83% have watched video online Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin got more views online than it did on live TV .

17. Social media is here to stay and is growing and evolving every day

18. Still want to know why you should care?

19. Because with the advancement of the internet, everyone has a voice.

20. Corporate monologues are long gone.

21. Today communication is all about the “dialogue”.

22. Do you know what people are saying about your organization online?

23. Well, go find out!

24. Then join the conversation.

25. Show your consumers your human side. They may start to like you more.

26. 14% of people trust advertisements .

27. 78% of people trust recommendations of other consumers.

28. 90% of people skip and ignore ads whenever they can

29. After all, the average person is exposed to over 3000 ads/day.

33. The average Millenial spends over 16 hours/week online.

34. 96% of them are members of a social network.

35. They have an average of over 50 friends online.

36. They care about what their friends think.

37. Not about what you say.

38. Want to know what to do now?

39. Start participating.

40. Listen

41. Comment

42. Be part of the conversation

44. Data Credits: Nielson "Trust in Advertising" Report, October, 2007 http://www.nielsen.com/solutions/TrustinAdvertisingOct07.pdf Universal Mccann Comparative Study on Social Media Trends April 2008 http://universalmccann.com/Assets/UM%20Wave%203%20final_20080808141650.pdf Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Size_comparisons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook Youtube http://www.youtube.com/t/fact_sheet

45. Picture Credits: All the wonderful people who use a creative commons license to share their pictures. Jeff Werner http://flickr.com/photos/jeffwerner/274490620/sizes/l/ James Jordan http://flickr.com/photos/jamesjordan/3009699037/sizes/o/ Brian Meidell http://flickr.com/photos/brianmeidell/304200058/sizes/o/ AJC1 http://flickr.com/photos/ajc1/503165914/sizes/o/ Stabilo Boss http://flickr.com/photos/stabilo-boss/93136022/sizes/o/ Hector Milla http://flickr.com/photos/hectormilla/265419532/sizes/o/ Zen http://flickr.com/photos/zen/143156583/sizes/o/ 4 EveR YounG http://flickr.com/photos/4everyoung/523272655/sizes/o/ Thomas Roche http://flickr.com/photos/thomasroche/2857366016/sizes/o/ truebluetitan http://flickr.com/photos/truebluetitan/273269366/sizes/o/ PhotoJonny http://flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/sizes/l/ Thomas Hawk http://flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/2474702084/sizes/l/ dalbera http://flickr.com/photos/dalbera/2738451853/sizes/o/ dalbera http://flickr.com/photos/dalbera/2738452057/sizes/l/ Kevinmarsh http://flickr.com/photos/kevinmarsh/488971581/sizes/l/ dansays http://flickr.com/photos/dansays/368233391/sizes/l/ striatic http://flickr.com/photos/striatic/2145725302/sizes/o/ FredArmitage http://flickr.com/photos/fredarmitage/48405833/sizes/o/ just.K http://flickr.com/photos/karenebiggs/2712002363/sizes/o/ sokabs http://flickr.com/photos/sokabs/2668975758/sizes/l/ niclindh http://flickr.com/photos/niclindh/1389750548/sizes/l/ Lucky http://helpyourselfgetlucky.com (lifted from site) Walt Flidman http://suckypoems.com (lifted from site) tanakawho http://flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/2879846525/sizes/o/ ntr23 http://flickr.com/photos/ntr23/794545795/sizes/l/ bradlauster http://flickr.com/photos/bradlauster/5649583/sizes/o/ theparadigmshifter http://flickr.com/photos/theparadigmshifter/470341923/ yugoQ http://flickr.com/photos/yugoq/322239225/sizes/o/ JosephGilbert.org http://flickr.com/photos/ocs_camp/2171492103/sizes/m/ InterVarsity at Central College http://flickr.com/photos/centralintervarsity/2367140383/sizes/o/ Nielsvk http://flickr.com/photos/nielsvk/258851215/sizes/o/ Million Dollar Homepage http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/index-orig.php