10 things we learned on Day One of J408 “Social Media for Journalists”

1. We use lots of apps, but 3–4 core apps on a daily basis. For our group this was Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram.
2. Videos on social media are often viewed without sound. DigiDay reported this week that 85% of videos viewed on Facebook are done so silently. This has implications for use of text and graphics.
3. Snapchat skews young. Really young. 83% of users are under 35.

4. Social Media is increasingly mobile driven.

5. 90% of Pinterest users are women.

6. 1/6 of time spent online is on Facebook, according to data about US internet users published earlier this year by comScore.

7. The shift to messaging apps has led to a decline in SMS. Texting is down 21% in the past two years globally.

8. The future of social is messaging apps.

9. User data is increasingly shaping the user experience. Whether we know it or not…

10. WhatsApp is ahead of Facebook for frequency of usage. That’s globally, in the US the social messaging network still has a very low take-up.