Back in 2005 I was a social media trendsetter

Back in 2005 I was a trendsetter according to The Wall Street Journal.  Among the 5 percent of “adults” who were users of social media sites.

In fact, I think I was one of the first staff members at the University of Florida to join Facebook.  Then YouTube, then LinkedIn, then Twitter.  And dare I mention . . .  MySpace.

There was a lot of debate back then (the old days, eh) about social media.  Concern that we couldn’t protect the privacy of our students.  Concerns that we couldn’t protect the privacy of the university.  Concerns about goofing off at the office and frittering away the state’s time on the computer.  Lots of concerns.

Well, turns out today that  I’m just an ordinary Pop Monkey because, today, just about everybody uses social media; according to the Journal,  65 percent of adults  use social media.  But hey, I do use them all and I even have a blog.

Here’s an abriged version of the story from the Journal earlier this week.

1 of Many

Passion Rules!

By Sarah E. Needleman

If your small business doesn’t yet have a Facebook page, LinkedIn profile or Twitter feed, a recent study may persuade you to finally join the social-media bandwagon.

Sixty-five percent of all U.S. adults now use social-networking sites, up from 61% a year ago and just 5% in 2005, reports Pew Research Center. The findings are based on telephone interviews conducted in April and May by Princeton Survey Research Associates International.

Most of the growth over the past year came from Americans over the age of 30, with seniors accounting for the bulk of it. One-third of adults ages 65 and older say they now use social-networking sites, compared with 26% who said this a year ago. Still, young folks between 18 and 29 years old remain the overall biggest group tapping social networks today, accounting for 83% of the total.

On a typical day, 43% of U.S. adults said they visit sites like Facebook and Twitter, up from 38% a year ago, the survey finds. Among just Internet users ages 50 to 64, social-networking usage on a typical day increased to 32% from 20%. Compared with other online activities, respondents overall said they only use email and search engines more frequently than social networks.

Readers, if you don’t use social media for your business, what’s holding you back? If you do, how much effort do you put into it and has it been paying off?