15 Jun, 2012

She’s Connected

Posted by Stacy

SheSpeaks is an online community, powered by women who love to get the latest scoop and share what’s hot, so it’s no wonder that they wanted to discuss the ups and downs of one of the hottest trends at the moment – social media. Women are all over the web and their smart phones; 60% of all Facebook users are women and an astounding 70% of Twitter is made up of female users! On Tuesday, She Speaks hosted a panel discussion, featuring six socially savvy women, entitled #She’sConnected to detail the results found in a recent study by Women’s Media Group and to chat about our involvement in the social media bandwagon.

Our relationships with social media have made staying connected a 24/7 job – gone are the days of working 9 to 5 and tuning out when you get home. Let’s be honest, with the plethora of communication platforms out there it’s never really that hard to contact us. The first thing that most women do in the morning, according to the research, is check some form of social media. Women under 40 reach for their smartphones upon waking, while women over 40 power on the computer. Personally, I check whatever turns on the quickest.

Is there a downside to constantly being “in the loop”? Nichelle Pace (@stylemom), prefers to connect by telephone even with her massive twitter following and popular website. She doesn’t understand why her friends “don’t just call her.” While it may be nice to tune out and disconnect for a few hours, Melanie Notkin of the wildly successful SavvyAuntie.com, finds that she only ends up sharing her experiences on twitter the second she connects again. She usually shares and tweets about the articles and novels she reads and finds that the authors are equally as enthusiastic to engage in conversation as she is.

Looking at how the authors of publications interact with their readers, it is interesting to see how this communication form can easily go from personal to professional. Businesses and brands have fan pages, websites, twitter, and everything in between, using these platforms as vital tools to reach the consumer. The research shows that viewers of brands that have established social media connections are 55% more likely to purchase that brand when shopping in a store. Because of the visibility that social media provides, 37% of women already know what they are going to buy before they hit the shopping malls. Following and subscribing to bloggers such as Alexis Wolfer, who blog about and hype up their favorite products, can have a huge impact on influencing consumers.
So does the buzz about social media become overwhelming? Is it really necessary to proclaim to your followers that you’re eating a hot dog from the local food cart on the street corner via Foursquare, until you’re literally the “mayor” of the place? (Quick Tip: If you’re nervous about people knowing where you are at any given moment, but still want to jump on the bandwagon – check in are you’re leaving a location) As a human being, I find I definitely need to unplug and recharge my battery every once and a while. What do you guys think, and how do you stay connected?