Atlantic Conversations 4: Social Media in Atlantic Canada

We’re delighted to be releasing our 4th annual report on social media use in Atlantic Canada – the “Atlantic Conversations IV” report that was launched at Podcamp Halifax on January 22nd, 2012. We thank the largest number of attendees ever to the event and hope this information is helpful to clients and anyone else interested.

Click on the hyper-link to download the free PDF with analysis: AtlanticConvo4-Badger 2011.

Key Findings:
Our key findings in 2011 were as follows;

- When it comes to youth, the place to connect with them is on Tumblr and the best creative is video

- For adults, while Facebook remains popular, the trend is for people engaging more in “niche” social networks on platforms like Ning for their hobbies and interests.

- For use of social media apps on Smartphones, it’s the 30-39 age bracket that uses them more than youth. This was a surprise.

- Nova Scotia continues to lead overall use of social media in the four Atlantic provinces, but New Brunswick is catching up quickly.

- LinkedIn was the social network that grew the most over 2010 for businesses.

- Businesses continue to have low engagement in social media. In 2012 this could cost them revenues as consumers increasingly look to discuss regional brands and services.

- The “buy local” trend of discussions and consumers recommending grew and it expected to become ever more important in 2012.

- Governments both provincially and municipally are increasing their presence but it is slow. Nova Scotia government leads the way of the four provinces, but their engagement is faced with the challenges of complexity, available resources and ensuring protection of privacy with regard to individuals.

- When it comes to consumers or citizens engaging with brands and government – they want authenticity and to feel a real person is engaging with them in an authentic way to build trust. Standard “spin” lines are likely to cause friction.

A more detailed version of the report is available for CAD$995.00 and can be requested by emailing or calling us. We ask that if you use the content herein that you provide attribution and respect the Creative Commons license. The presentation made at Podcamp Halifax can be found on Slideshare at this link.

- The MediaBadger Team