Women embrace Social Media

The company, which publishes the Braidwood Times will launch connectpink.com.au on Friday, June 15. The site has been designed specifically for women, with built-in marketing opportunities for businesses wanting to capture the female market.

Recent studies suggest that women dominate the social media space ahead of their male counterparts.

According to Pew Internet, a US-based research company, as many as 69 per cent of women online actively use social media.

Not surprisingly, those aged under 30 are the biggest users. However, the fastest growing group is women aged between 45 and 65.

This doesn’t surprise Janelle Yates, a Victorian communications expert who specialises in social media.

“Women are great communicators and they love to talk. That is what makes social media so attractive to them,” Ms Yates said.

“Women are also multi-taskers. It’s easy for them to be online at the same time as they are running a business or being a mum or doing whatever it is they like to do.”

She said that while men had a strong presence on social media they tended to be more observers than active participants.

“Women love seeking the opinions of others – where’s a good restaurant, where’s good holiday spot, where can I get this or that … Social media is an easy way for them to share and find answers.”

Ms Yates said there had been a rise in the number of women running home-based businesses through social media and other online networks.

“Women have come up with some great ways to make money and to save money, all from home,” she said.

And many, she said, found social media to be a very supportive environment for them.

“The tall poppy syndrome doesn’t seem to exist on social media. Women find it a supportive and engaging environment where they can have healthy discussions with each other about a whole range of issues.”

ConnectPink Content Director Angela Carey said the new Fairfax site would allow women to engage in all their usual social media past times, as well as offering new initiatives. “ConnectPink will give women back control of the information they get. They’ll be able to connect, chat, shop, swap, blog and more – all in the one location.”

ConenctPink will be officially launched near Canberra by Governor General Quentin Bryce on Friday, June 15.

SOME FACTS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

• 54% of Australian Facebook users are female, 46% are male.

• The largest age group of Facebook users in Australia is 25-34 year olds, followed by 18-24 year olds.

• Women aged 45-65 are the fastest growing group of social media uers

• In 2011, more than 28% of all Australians on Facebook were between the ages of 35 and 54

• Facebook has more than 800 million users

• The average number of friends a person has on Facebook is 130

• The average time spent of Facebook by a member is 11.6 hours a month

• In any given minute, more than 500,000 posts are made on Facebook

• Rapper Eminem is the most popular person on Facebook, with more than 54 million “likes” on his page. Singer Rihanna is next with more than 53 million

• Twitter has more than 225 million members

• Lady Gaga is one of Twitter’s most popular members, with more than 25 million followers. Justin Beiber is second behind her with 23 million

• A new user signs up to LinkedIn every two seconds

• 35 hours of video is uploaded to Youtube every minute