Survey Finds Facebook Most Popular Communication Tool

Facebook (96%) is now the most popular communication tool, followed by SMS (93%) and email (91%), according to a new survey from Prompt Communications.

When consumers were asked which method they used most frequently to communicate, 37 percent said SMS followed by Facebook and the phone at 28 percent. Respondents feel that email is now less important than social media, but only 20 percent said they could live without it entirely.

"Facebook is the most popular social network in the world, with over 350 million users, so it should come as no surprise to discover that people are using it as a primary tool for communication," said Hazel Butters, CEO of Prompt Communications.

"However, our survey results also show that people are still using more established methods of communication, from the phone to email. It is important for organizations to understand these trends if they want to reach their customers exactly where and how they would like to be reached. As attitudes change and new methods of human interaction develop, businesses must stay ahead of the trends."

Many people have concerns about their employers seeing their personal information, with 73 percent worried that their bosses will view their profiles on social networks. When it comes to their family’s access only 27 percent would not want family members to see their profiles.

People overall believe that advances in technology have created a negative effect on their lives and interpersonal communications. More than half (60%) believe communication relies too much on technology, while 71 percent feel social media is making communication less personal.

Despite these reservations, people are still using social media regularly. More than a quarter (28%) of respondents said they could only go one week without using social media.

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There are 3 Comments. Add Yours.

Nate
December 11, 2009 at 10:14 am

I find the more people who log on and start up on Facebook, the lower the quality seems to be of the updates.

For instance, you know how on MySpace everyone spent their time customizing their hideous pages? It seems that people spend their time on Facebook playing retarded games. I can hide those feeds all day long, but the more time goes on, the LESS I know about my friends and what they’re doing other than those stupid apps.

It’s almost as if the more people who get on Facebook, the less likely people are to speak freely for fear of social or personal comments coming full-circle. The updated privacy filters will certainly help, but then there’s always the issue of people using them correctly to benefit from them.

Facebook is almost becoming anti-social. It’s a trend worth watching. *hinthint*
Failbook
December 13, 2009 at 10:11 am

It’s a matter of time, facebook will fail just like myspace and something new will rise up and everyone will go gaga for that. pshh waste of time.
Gin
December 13, 2009 at 11:47 am

I must agree that people on FB have lots of games going on that unecessarily fills up the screen which must be scrolled through to search for anything of substance. Some ‘professionals’ have no idea on the best way to conduct themselves I imagine. I would suggest offering a ‘business’ or ‘personal’ FB page or ability to limit what they want to see viewed on their page. Great topic.