Some more Canuck-centric data released by the Canadian Internet Project (CIP) is out, and its findings are no great surprise either: Canadians love the internet and they love social networking sites.
The highest percentage of users-50%-are under 30 (Big surprise there). However, one in five Canadians over 60 have joined social networks as well. Considering that more than half of Canada’s seniors aren’t on the internet, that’s a pretty high rate of use.
And Canadians use social networks often: one in four people under 30 visit them daily, while one in four from other demographics visit once a week.
While the study finds Canadians use the sites more to socialize and communicate (40%) than to find information (24%), it can’t be discounted that while socializing, people discuss products, events and companies. Canadians may not visit social networks with the intention of fact-finding, but that’s often what happens anyways.
What does it all mean? We’ll say it again: companies that are holding out need to get active on social networks and they need to do so often.
It’s well-known that the spread of information over social networks can cause companies to lose control of their message. With three quarters of Canadians now regular users of the internet, companies need a social media communications plan to engage and inform users-if not, they’ll inform themselves, and the results may not be pretty.
Canada.com, Canoe, Mobile Marketing,
