Nobody knows where all this social networking is going. There are different demographics for social networking services. Facebook used to hit a younger audience, but it's becoming the Microsoft Windows of social networking, with the default medium for young and old. Some hate it, most use it. Twitter is like the counter-culture Linux of social networking, but a bit too hip for my liking. The value of Facebook dawned on me slowly, while I still grasp at the point of Twitter, especially now that Facebook has evolved with more "public" profile "fan" pages. I suppose it's personal taste.
The same study that tells us all this also claims that blog reading and writing is down. Without the import to Facebook, my own blog would be of only marginal use and interest, I think (more marginal than it is now at least).
By 2009, just 15% of internet users ages 18-29 maintained a blog, a nine-percentage-point drop in two years. However, 11% of internet users ages 30 and older maintained a personal blog.
Some business owners ask if they should write a blog. I think they should if they enjoy it and have something to say. From a pure marketing perspective, it's probably the least useful medium if they're interested in connecting with their customers. I've been doing it for a couple years, with over a thousand posts, but I only get about 150 visitors a day, while after two months with a Facebook page, we're approaching 300 people. Feeding Facebook makes the blog a useful "widget" for that service.
