SA Student Social Media Report 2014

As in any relationship, there comes moments of love and passion as well as moments of hate, fear, loathing and disengagement. Students say they LOVE it, they cant live without it, yet when they see the flashing light on their phone with a new message , they hate the fact that they HAVE to answer immediately and that they’re beholden to it” Students love to express and show off themselves and they especially love to stalk others. Yet they hate being judged. They hate the lack of privacy. It’s also gotten to the point that people can’t handle topics being posted. Are you one of those people that if they see another baby picture on facebook you’ll freak
Amazingly a website was created to solve this problem. By installing the plugin it would replace all the baby pictures on your facebook timeline, to cute cats.
Social media is the umbrella term that describes the online & mobile technologies that people use to share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content
Its also a fancy way to describe the zillions of people having conversations online.
With Zillions of conversations taking place, how do you find your way through the clutter to the information you want ? If you’re a twitter user for example, Hashtags are one of the most important and efficient ways of organizing information. For example, if you were tweeting about this event you are attending this morning, you might say ….
4227 students took part in the Social Media survey As expected from students, there was naturally quite a high degree of social media engagement with 96% of students using social media. The other 4%, we believe didn’t have data to participate in the survey  Within this study there were clear statistical differences amongst females and males. Women held a closer, more intense and intimate relationship with social media than the guys did. The study spanned all years of study, and was representative of the countries racial demographic.
More students are using smartphones to access social media than ever before – an incredible 89%. BlackBerry 31% Samsung 23% Nokia 21% Apple 14% The personal computer is still very much part of the social networking experience with more than half of students using it to see or post updates; with tablets following in 3rd spot.
More students are using smartphones to access social media than ever before – an incredible 89%. BlackBerry 31% Samsung 23% Nokia 21% Apple 14% The personal computer is still very much part of the social networking experience with more than half of students using it to see or post updates; with tablets following in 3rd spot.
Time spent on mobile apps and the mobile web account for most of the social media usage. Now when I say mobile app I’m talking about the icon on your phone that says twitter or facebook . When I talk about mobile web its when you open your browser on your phone and type in www.facebook.com which typically opens the mobile version of the site. Its these 2 ways students are accessing social media the most on their phones And students are not spending minutes on it, they are spending hours at a time. So much so, that when we added the hours together, the average student is spending 1008 hours a year on social media. This translates to 42 days a year spent on SM. That’s over a solid month a year not engaging with a person one on on. And Its 42 days holding this posture “show posture’. Social media is also changing the way we look and how we are perceived by others.
When we looked at the physical locations, half of students are accessing social media from their bedroom. 15% were multitasking while watching TV or a Movie. Others at their desk. Here are some of the other places students are accessing social media What may surprise you is that not a lot was done in the lecture room. But it will make sense to you when you know that the research was conducted in June, during their varsity holidays. This led us to look at the broader timings of when students engage more.
And when students say “it’s that time of the month”. They mean the ideal time to let loose on social media, watch video’s , post pictures and go data crazy. That time is usually at the end of the month when they are more cash flush. - Weekends also saw a spike in usage. Making plans and seeing what friends are up to is important work ! - Holiday periods also result in an increase of usage as a form of connection or planning events And Exam time appears to create polarising usage patterns– it’s either highly elevated when students need to escape or procrastinate ….or massively decreased when they need to focus– it just depends on the student
Here are some of the categories that students are engaging with most on social networks. These are very much in line with students value drivers of looking good, staying ahead of the fashion curve and being in the know when it comes to anything entertainment based.
When it comes to finding a job, credibility is key. Students are very comfortable going online to find jobs. But the right type of job needs to be put on the right Social Media platform. For example, finding part-time work or the odd job hear and there could easily be found on facebook. BUT if students are looking for something serious. A job after graduation. Or even an internship or bursary, They would be very sceptical if they found an isolated application post on Facebook or twitter. Students in the focus groups said that they simply wouldn’t trust it. There are so many scams being posted. But if they see a company like Anglo Gold have a presence on campus, and their ads are on other reputable online pages at the same time then its viewed as a trusted source if its placed on facebook. LinkedIn was a platform which was deemed more suitable BUT few students as we’ve seen on the previous slide use it regularly.
Students strive to maximise their SM coverage, engaging in more than 1 SM platform at a time. Why ? For a student maximising their likes, retweets and exposure , maximises their confidence, image and feel good hormone. The push of a LIKE button also communicates more than it seems – for example in a male students world, If a girl likes a pic it means she likes him or thinks he is hot, especially selfies Students admit they seek affirmation, acceptance and ultimately joy from it –almost like a hit of a drug every time they get a like.
Social Media is all about Self Expression (or Selfie’Expression) First have a look at the background of this image – the colours represent the colourful, exciting, connected world of social media WHATS your name Ok so [name] may express herself differently depending on the environment she is in, and the people in her life. When she’s out partying with the girls she may look like this, when she’s in a relationship she may be posting like this and when she’s had a hangover she posts like this. Of course in the centre of this world is the real, authentic [name]. Not really – this is the person “I wanna be...the person a desire to be” .... My Alter Ego The truth is often subjective in nature ....
If we explorer this continuum of truth and being real and overlay it on the 3 social networks we find that Facebook enables one to shade the truth but because your connection are mostly friends with family and friends telling lies is not as easy Twitter offers a different appeal to many as it provides instant gratification and makes many students feel connected to people they would usually not be able to get close to like Beyonce. In their minds they are having what they think is a genuine relationship with Beyonce, they are tweeting her and have a direct link with her. Yet there is no real relationship. Instagram is a platform which many students feel is the most untruthful. Students from the focus groups spoke of going into malls and trying on premium brands, taking selfies and posting them up. In addition the filters are felt to make pictures un-natural and falsify the modd of the photo.
New social media sites and apps continue to emerge and catch on. The number of social media networks consumers can choose from has exploded, and too many sites to count are adding social features or integration. So what is the most used social networking app – it should come as no surprise that WhatsApp leads the charge Now you may be thinking – BUT WhatsAPP is an instant messaging service, is it a social network too ? A online social network allows individuals to create a profile (WhatsApp allows that), and to create a list of people with whom to share connection (That’s called a Group). Students love Whatsapp because of its convenience, cost (it just uses data) and that it works across all phones. What other social networks came up tops -
Facebook continues to be the other most popular social network. Again there was a polarized view amongst students when it came to facebook, half of the saying its outdated and dying, the other half saying they love it and still think it’s the only genuine social network out there. They also love the timeline feature because it helps them keep track of their life like a diary. BBM come in 3rd spot, and its appeal is not only linked to BlackBerry smartphone devices but now its become a cross platform product as well which means it works across any smartphone model. Twitter’s appeal is all about instant gratification , limited characters and the hashtag which means finding the trending information easy for students Youtube is increasingly being used for assignments and tutorials, but students would tell stories about ending up being distracted and watching a horse jumping on a ball. Instagram appears to be the other breakout star this year. Students love it because it has the ability to show off their best selves…through filters LinkedIn holds appeal when students want to get all serious and search for a job Here’s an interesting on – Google+ has 10% SM penetration, but NOT REALLY. Students don’t know what it is about, or how it works. They say they just signed up for it because they had to , to download other google apps like gmail WeChat at 5% is considered a copycat to WhatsApp. Students are saying, I communicate on Whatsapp, FB, Twitter and Instagram. Can I have some time to myself and not use another app Mxit is unfortunately seen by students as a dying platform and has lost major appeal Not all students are engaging with equal intensity across these apps.
We plotted students across 4 distinct social media personalities. See where you fit in : The Dead weights  People who have disengaged with social media and moved on with their lives Observers  Or also called the Inactives. They are occasionally on twitter and facebook and are observing the conversation without doing posting of their own or getting personally involved Partaker  they are more followers and stalkers. They may post occasionally ... on the rare occasion but opt to be engaged in others news more. Supporter  Are the social media superstars. They live on social media. Its their oxygen , their life supporter. They are typically bloggers, influences and critics who actively engage and share content. Now, what would happen if we took these social media addicts together and told them they could no longer use social media? You may have received an email from us last week with news that’s there had been a social media ban on campus. Well, what I can tell you is that this was part of the research and our experiment to see how these supporters would cope without social media for one week. This is what happened next.
61% of students admitted to spending more time on social networking sites than they do watching TV. That’s important information if you are a media strategist. The bigger question for marketers is whether students respond more to your ads on TV versus social media sites
While half of students found ads on social media more annoying than TV ads, a large percentage responded positively which suggest that there are opportunities for marketers to engage with consumers via social media. 46% said they…. And 46% said that And an incredible 71% of students felt that brands….But after seeing this should you now rush out and create an app ? Our next speaker , Mike and his company Cerebra has a lot of experience in this area and will discuss the pro’s and cons of this.
Brands / SM Adverts which are able to: Be current i.e. Nandos Be relevant Be real Brea the rules / norms Be engaging Touch on an emotional / human truth Witty / smart humour Clearly branded Aspiration (to a degree) Trending credentials / maximise likes and shares Offer sponsorship to student events i.e. Oppikoppi, local concerts etc
FNB appears to be the standout bank when it comes to the art of the online conversation.
Social media is transforming the way that consumers across the globe make purchase decisions. Consumers around the world are using social media to learn about other consumers’ experiences, find more information about brands, products and services, and to find deals and purchase incentives

SA Student Social Media Report 2014

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