Beth Becker’s latest “Political Social Grab Bag” e-newsletter is out, and you should check out the whole February issue archived right here, an Epolitics.com online exclusive. The Grab Bag is monthly for now, and it’s a hit with social media advocacy and politics crowd. Sign up now to get the next Political Social Grab Bag delivered straight to your inbox.
Besides the intro excerpted below, the full version includes a look at new tools, some excellent reading suggestions, upcoming webinars, the ever-popular “don’t try this at home” section, and more. Let’s get a taste:
Social media demographics…do a search and you’ll find thousands of infographics illustrating the hard-fact numbers of who is using which platform, with millions of data points to consider along the way. Then there’s anecdotal evidence that this group or that group of people are flocking to platform Y and fleeing platform X.
Two blog posts this month highlighted the murkiness of this situation by focusing on what teenagers are and aren’t doing on social media. First there was A Teenagers View on Social Media written by “an actual teen”, which was soon followed by An Old Fogey’s Analysis of a Teenager’s View on Social Media written by someone who isn’t a teen but has done extensive research into that demographic’s use of social media. I’m not going to comment directly on either of these, you should read them both.
What I will say is this: I would urge caution when making global statements regarding a particular demographic’s use of any social platform. When plotting your own social strategy, it’s important to identify who your target audience is and then do the research to find out which platforms they are using. Sometimes this can be as simple as asking them. Using a tool like Attentive.ly can help as well. The key is not to make assumptions based on others experience or the audience of others…take the time to do the research and find your people where they are….
But wait, there’s more! Continue on to the full February edition.