[Note: This was originally intended for a post on Steve’s blog, but since it blocked me as “spam message”, I’ve opted to post it here]
Diversifying Away from Email
Via Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion, AP reports, citing Pew and others, that email is “losing favor to instant and text messaging, and to the chatter generated on blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.”
That article pretty much confirms a trend I’ve noticed on Facebook and on MySpace. Friends (mine included) would leave comments on the profile pages or “Facebook Message” to contact people, plan parties and even send over phone numbers.
Some of this behavior will change I think as good privacy practices develop among the MySpace crowd. For example, I’ve seen friend of a friend post their phone numbers on a mutual friend’s profile – such postings are public for *any* to see with an account.
What it means to Marketers
This is yet another signal to marketers that online behavior is changing (at least among the so-called “MySpace Generation”). This is another element that reinforces the need for marketers to integreate blogs, social networking sites, instant messaging etc as part of the many channels to reach the online audience.
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