Social networking is a concept that’s been around since J.A. Barnes first coined the term in a sociology report back in 1954. It moved onto the Web in 1995 with the launch of ClassMates, SixDegrees and Friendster. Then of course came MySpace and Facebook.
According to Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, “We are in the middle of huge social change.” Social networking websites have emerged to become the key component of Web activity for many Internet users. In September 2006 one in every 20 Internet visits went to one of the top 20 social networks, nearly double the share of visits compared to the previous year.
It’s clear that marketers are embracing social networking as reflected in the projections for advertising on these sites. According to the advertising and marketing research firm eMarketer, ad spending on U.S. social networking sites in 2007 was projected to reach $865 million. This is up from $350 million in 2006 with expectations that it will increase to $2.15 billion in 2010.
Another research firm, Compete.com, calculates that in 2007 Americans spent about 12% of all their Internet time on social networks. The Center for Medical Research reports that the average American spends 105 minutes of spare time online every day. That represents almost 30 minutes per day in a social network; 15 hours per month or 4½ weeks per year. Not to belabor the point but if you add in the average time Americans waste at work (2 hours/day), of which over 44% is spent on the Internet, the number of hours expended on social networking becomes huge.
People, including real estate agents and home buyers and sellers, are joining this new online digital world. Many companies in real estate are starting to seriously look at this fast-growing social network scene as a place to market their listings, service and products by using to blogs, social networks and wikis.
According to Stefan Swanepoel, author of the 2008 Swanepoel Trends Report, there are already many great an interesting social media type sites in real estate such as:
ActiveRain
RealTown
RealSeekr
Real Estate Wiki
Trulia Voices
Wanna Network
Zillow
As real estate people make online social media, sharing and interaction a bigger part of their lives online communities are starting to shape the real estate business and the home buying process. “It still early days” says Swanepoel “but change is already visible and over time the impact will be very significant.”
The new 170-page Swanepoel Trends detail 10 real estate trends in total that brokers and agents can benefit from in preparing for change before it happens. For more visit www.ReTrends.com or www.RealEstateBooks.org
