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Community Corner

Social Media 101 for Three Villagers

Online social networks like Twitter and Facebook are becoming more and more prolific.

A long car ride once meant games of I Spy, Rock Paper Scissors or songs of "100 bottles of Beer on the Wall." Now if you are traveling with anyone over the age of 12, chances are they are glued to their phone texting their friends while their parents, hopefully not the one who is driving, are juggling Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare or blogging. Whether you are on one of those networks or not, we are becoming a culture that revolves around social media.

The term social media became popular about two years ago, but really we've always had some form of it. By nature, we are social creatures and we need to communicate. Social media is communicating in a public, communal manner and it has evolved into instant communication across many different platforms.

To understand just how popular it has become, Facebook has recently announced that it has reached 400 million worldwide users and Twitter will soon reach 50 million tweets a day. Facebook and Twitter also both boasted a triple-digit growth in 2009 with social networking now accounting for 11% of all time spent online. Reports show that the average amount of time spent on social media is 5.5 hours per day. Most teens will use Facebook or texting instead of the phone to get in touch with their friends.

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Once only for kids (they used AIM to instant message each other and Facebook was originally set up as a way for college students to communicate), one third of adults post at least once a week to social sites like Twitter and Facebook.  25% of adults publish a blog and upload video/audio they created. Nearly 60% maintain a profile on a social networking site. Seventy percent read blogs, tweets and watch online video.

Business users also understand the importance of creating a social media presence. Once stuck with the yellow pages and print ads, large companies, as well as Mom and Pop stores, are taking to the internet. If they don't understand it, they are hiring someone to do it for them.

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 A search for "Three Village" on Facebook brings up over 500 groups, some with only 1 follower, and others with several hundred. When Kelly Campanella of Stony Brook was starting up her new virtual paralegal company, the first thing she did was set up her Twitter and Facebook accounts.

"The lawyer I used to work with told me I had to get on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I didn't understand it at first, but I see how it helps," Kelly said.

Now, Kelly keeps Twitter up all day. Her husband doesn't get it, but she commits to it daily and finds networking much easier with its use.

When Lu Lento of Setauket started coordinating the St. James Youth Group, she set up a Facebook account so that she could correspond with the teens.

"That's the way they communicate," she said. Most religious denominations now have some sort of social media presence.

Even though social media is still most popular among the young, the fastest growing population on Facebook is women over the age of 60. Being able to keep tabs on their families, re-connecting with friends of the past and playing games like Mafia Wars and Farmville make their time online fun.

Third party applications for the computer and smart phones make it easy to juggle multiple networks and blogs. This is changing how people spend their free time. Americans who use social media are watching significantly less traditional television, but potentially more video through other venues.

With new social networks popping up with great frequency, it is safe to say that if you aren't already on one, you will be soon.

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