Rich insights into the state of social media today

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Here is a very good compilation of statistics, perspectives, and news on social media as at the middle of 2012:

2H12: The State of Social Media & Social Media Marketing in the Second Half of 2012

A few things in particular that I thought worth noting from these stats, apart from the usual Social Media is BIG and GROWING FAST!

– Facebook has 71% of social network ad revenue. This is of course high, though not compared to its current dominance in social networks.

– Total social media ad spending in the US is targeted to reach $9.8bn by 2016. Of this, $3.1bn will be local, emphasizing the opportunity for local advertising from social media.

– Google account for 44.9% of all US online ad revenues. Fifth placed AOL accounts for just 2.4%, pointing to a very long tail.

– There are 9 companies with over 500,000 circlers in Google+. Brands are seeing G+ as a key element of their social strategies. However there are still no ads on G+.

– YouTube views have dropped 28% since December 2011. YouTube says they are focusing on engagement over views and enforcing their ToS, though this may not be the whole picture.

– By far the biggest increase in Twitter use is by 18-24 year olds. Twitter usage in this age group in the US has risen from 18% in May 2011 to 31% in Feb 2012.

– TV viewing is rapidly becoming social. 51% of US Internet users comment about TV shows on social networks, 49% ‘like’ shows, 45% read cast comments on social networks.