Confessions of a Social Media Junkie

**update – I have removed the link to Wente’s article so as not to feed the trolls.**

In light of this whole Margaret Wente blowup, I felt the urge to blog today.

(Honestly, she must have wrote that opinion piece just to get a reaction. Right? I mean c’mon…she can’t be serious.)

Anyway…

Blogging wasn’t on my to-do list today but here I am writing a post to show in my own small way that #xxbloggers are out there and these women do have opinions on all sorts of things.

So on to the topic of this post.

I read a Mashable article this morning on social media usage stats. It’s actually about our obsession with social media and the need to be connected to our online communities basically 24/7. This independent study was commissioned by consumer electronics shopping site Retrevo. Many respondents indicated that they check/update their Facebook and Twitter accounts through the night.

28% of iPhone users check Facebook/Twitter before they hit the hay

12% of respondents check/use Facebook every couple of hours (I fit into this category)

23% of iPhone users get their morning news from Twitter and Facebook

While 62% of individuals over the age of 25 see electronic communications during a meeting, meal, sex or bathroom act as unwanted interruptions, 11% (respondents under 25) and 6% (respondents over 25) said it was okay to be interrupted during sex.

Wow – what a way to make your partner feel appreciated. Sheesh.

Based on the results of this study, Retrevo speculates that iPhone owners seem to be more tapped into social media than those of us who use  more “old school” methods (like a computer) to check our Facebook and Twitter accounts. It’s most likely the anytime, anywhere access the iPhone provides that makes it so. No matter what, those of us who are connecting via social media seem to be hooked.

While reading about the results of this study, I tried to see where my own use of social media fits in. While I don’t own an iPhone (yet), I do have an iPod Touch that I will often use to access my Facebook and Twitter accounts. But there is a limit to when I’ll use it. 😉

Consider reviewing the findings yourself to see where you fit in with respect to your own social media obsession (or lack thereof). Obviously, as Jennifer Van Grov of Mashable states, this study is not representative of the entire population of social media users. But there is probably some areas that ring true to your own usage patterns.