Most of us think about age when it comes to demographic discrepancies in social media usage. Everyone belonging to Gen Y is assumed to be Facebook and Twitter addict, while those belonging to Gen X are labeled as social media phobes. While generational differences are important, gender is an important factor that is often ignored. According to a new report by Nielsen, compared to men, the likelihood of women following celebrities or brands, purchasing products and blogging online is much higher.
The report named ‘State of the Media’ indicates that women are 18% more likely than men to follow a brand or become a fan on popular social sites like Twitter and Facebook. Women are also 8% more likely to create and update personal blogs, 6% more likely to have social networking profiles and 15% more likely to actively follow celebrities.
The report proves that as far as the social space is concerned, women are the alpha players, something that all social media service managers need to keep in mind.
This also means that businesses targeting a primarily female audience are likely to benefit the most by marketing on platforms like Facebook or Twitter and using celebrities to promote products or services.