The development of social media in the United States

According to statistics on social media usage habits in the United States in 2014 by Edison Research and Triton Digital, the average Facebook user logs in to Facebook 5.6 times a day, and teenagers log in as many as 8.2 times; 43% of Twitter users log in every day, and more than 80% of Americans get information on Twitter through various media channels.

2003, LinkedIn was founded - currently the world's most famous professional social networking site

2004, Facebook was founded, and the photo community Flickr was founded in the same year

In 2005, YouTube was founded and quickly became a dark horse in the online video industry. In 2006, it was acquired by Google at a high price.

In 2006, Twitter was founded and became one of the most convenient social media platforms for social communication and information dissemination.

In 2007, Tumblr was founded. It is a new media form between traditional blogs and microblogs. It is currently the world's largest microblog website.

In 2008, Groupon went online, setting off a global craze for group buying websites.

2009: Foursquare, a mobile service based on user geographic information, was launched, integrating geographic check-in, social networking and games.

In 2011, Google+ integrated Google's online products and provided sharing and interaction based on social networking sites.

In 2012, the photo-sharing website Pinterest emerged as a new force and is now one of the most popular social networking sites in the world.

In 2013, Snapchat, which targets users aged 13 to 23, received two rounds of financing and became the pioneer of a new social form.

In 2014, Facebook acquired the mobile social software WhatsApp for $19 billion

2015, Facebook opened an artificial intelligence research lab in Paris, France

Trend: People are increasingly relying on mobile media terminals that integrate multiple platforms. According to a 2014 report by the Pew Research Center, 42% of users used more than two social networks in 2013.

In 2014, this figure had risen to 52%.

1. In terms of the percentage of online users using social media in 2014, Facebook still far surpassed Twitter (71%), Instagram (26%), Pinterest (28%) and LinkedIn (28%).

Facebook global mobile terminal monthly active users (millions)

2. Social media in the United States is monopolized by a few companies such as Facebook and Twitter. Relevant data shows that Facebook's annual advertising revenue accounts for more than 60% of the total advertising revenue of social media in the United States.

The share of each company in the annual advertising revenue of social media in the United States

Popularity of major social media in the United States

Social networks centered around pictures and videos were a huge success in 2014, with Pinterest, Instagram, Slideshare, Tumblr and other social media gaining momentum. Each video on Twitter Vine is up to 6 seconds long, while videos on Instagram are 3-15 seconds long. Social networking sites such as Snapchat, which “disappears after reading”, have further confirmed the prevalence of this “ephemeral social networking site”.

The rise of social networking for online file storage and sharing. With the further development of online office and informatization, new file social networking sites based on online file cloud services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and SoundCloud have emerged, and social sharing based on file information has become the latest trend.

The revival of instant messaging social software. WhatsApp and WeChat are the keywords that cannot be avoided in social media in 2014. Facebook's acquisition of instant messaging software at a cost of $19 billion fully demonstrates its importance in the field of social media. Such software allows users to share audio and video in real time through WiFi and mobile Internet without the need for telecom operators' services.

Note: The above content is excerpted from "2015 Media Blue Book", "2014 Social Media Industry Research: Change and Future", Miao Weishan and Zhang Xiaoying.