Social Media's Dirty Little Secret

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by MrOptimization in Numbers

"You MUST have a social media strategy NOW or you won't even exist in the digital world!" they scream, twit, twaddle and wall.

But some skeptics are starting to think that social media may not be the shift in human evolution those hysterically breathless advocates want the world to think it is.

And the skeptics have numbers...

Celbs Giveth

Social media growth went into overdrive last year as mainstream celebrities started twitching and toddling their way around services like Twitter.

So like anything in life, if Oprah's doing it the rest of us better start doing it NOW!

Numbers Tracketh

But Nielsen and others have been monitoring the social media minutiae. They found a little secret lurking under those amazing social media growth numbers.

And the Secret is?

Yes. As you may have suspected it could all be a flash in the pan.

According to Nielsen, around 60 percent of those who start yapping on Twitter are gone within a month, never to return.

And Celebs Taketh Away

And it's not just ordinary Joes who quickly ditch the digital driveling. Our real-world royalty tend to tire of tweedling too.

Forbes has just added to the nonversation with a hard-hitting report on celbrity Twitter Quitters.

They discovered a diversity of distinguished departures, including:

• Miley Cirus left Twitter around October, 2009. Her terminating twaddle: "FYI, Liam doesn't have a Twitter and he wants ME to delete mine with good reason."
• Hugh Jackman abandoned his 515,000 followers in May, 2009. He eXited with: "Just met with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon and First Lady Margarita. They were both incredibly interesting, warm and inviting."
• Blake Lively left 155,000 followers in August, 2009. She slammed on the blakes with: "wow, forgot about this. hi guys!"
• Larry David left Twitter in January, 2009. He curbed his chatter with: "@Miss Beckala Our 7th season will begin soon. I'm feeling good about it. After that, I don't know yet."
• Ricky Gervais left Twitter last month. The Brit wit's final twit may sum it up best: "I am sorry, but I am going to stop these tweets because I don't see the point. Please follow my blog at rickygervais.com. "

Oprah says Prioritize Multivariate Testing and Targeting NOW!

Next time you're in a budget meeting, try peeling off a small chunk of that social media money to allocate toward your Multivariate Testing and Targeting program.

If the social media frenzy works out for you, great. If it doesn't, at least you'll have something tangible to show for a percentage of that investment.

Stay tuned. Soon we'll blow the lid off another social media secret. Update: Social Media Optimization with Multivariate Testing.

How's your social media spend paying off?