Small businesses are behind in their adoption of social media, finds Hiscox in survey results released in December 2012. Just 35% of the respondents said they are actively using social media (a figure that appears rather low), although 16% are interested in learning how to use social, and 7% would like to but don’t have the time. But, while small businesses might not yet be fully cottoning on to social media, Facebook claims to have seen a rapid rise in the number of local business pages. As reported by TechCrunch, Facebook’s head of small business, Dan Levy, says that there are now 13 million local business pages, and that represents a jump of more than 40% from January. What’s more, the number of local business pages buying ads on Facebook has close to doubled in that period.

via Small Businesses Lag in Social Media Use, but Facebook Says That’s Changing.

Verizon has released new data from its “Borderless Lifestyle Survey,” exploring consumer attitudes to an always-connected lifestyle. Of the many findings, attitudes towards real-time interaction with TV shows prove particularly interesting, as emerging technologies provide another potential activity for so-called “second screeners.” Specifically, 35% of respondents indicated an interest in real-time games and challenges with shows via a second screen, and 32% expressed an interest in the ability to control or influence a TV show’s plot via a mobile phone or tablet. Beyond TV programs, more than one-quarter also said they’d be interested in real-time interaction with TV commercials from a mobile device.

via 1 in 3 Online Consumers Want to Interact With TV Shows Via a Second Screen.

Wikipedia has become almost a staple in society, and its prominence in search engines and frequency of use make it a very powerful website. This study explores the views, experiences and beliefs of public relations/communications professionals about editing Wikipedia for their company or client. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has what he believes to be a “bright line” rule whereby public relations/communications professionals are not to directly edit the Wikipedia articles about their companies or clients. Through a survey with 1,284 responses, this study found that the “bright line” rule is not working. This is because, among other reasons, 60% of the Wikipedia articles for respondents who were familiar with their company or recent client’s article contained factual errors. When the talk pages were used to request edits, it was found to typically take days for a response and 24% never received one. Plus, most of the public relations/communication professionals in this study were unaware of the rule and almost half of those who were familiar with it did not understand what it meant to them. This study provides survey results that establish a benchmark for Wikipedia engagement.

via Measuring public relations Wikipedia engagement: How bright is the rule? | Institute for Public Relations.

China remains a difficult market for foreign brands to penetrate on social media. Social networkers are concentrated on homegrown sites, as opposed to Facebook, which is banned in the country, and other worldwide social sites. Still, the massive social user base in China, and the growing buying power of the population, have made the country hard to ignore. And data indicates that brands who do make the foray into social in China are likely to be well-received.

In Q2 2012, InSites Consulting surveyed social network users in select countries and found that two-thirds of those in China reported following brands on social media—the highest percentage among all surveyed countries.

via In China, Social Networkers Embrace Brands – eMarketer.

In early February 2011, a YouTube user posted a video with the title, “Zach Walls Speaks About Family”. Almost ten months later, the video was reposted on progressive campaigning site, MoveOn with a new title, “Two Lesbians Raised A Baby And This Is What They Got”. Here’s what happened to the views:

via How important are good headlines? – The Magic Bean Laboratory.

In terms of sheer connectivity, it’s hard to outdo millennials. The demographic has taken to the always-on, always-connected way of life in dramatic fashion, as evidenced by the November 2012 Scarborough Research report, "OMG! Is Your Medium Reaching Millennials?" which surveyed 210,000 US consumers ages 18 to 29.

via Millennials Keep Connected on Ever-More Devices – eMarketer.

Leads generated by print, radio, and TV advertising campaigns are of a higher quality than leads generated from a variety of online channels, according to results from a Software Advice survey conducted in partnership with Eloqua and CMO.com. But, there’s a catch: although respondents saw these traditional media delivering the best leads, they also saw them as generating among the lowest quantity of leads.

via Traditional Media Delivers Low Quantity – But Highest Quality – Leads, Say B2B Marketers.

Marketers’ excitement over new social media channels is understandable; these platforms have fundamentally changed the way that companies and their customers interact. But a September poll of adult internet users and marketing decision-makers in the US, the UK, France, Germany and Australia conducted by Pitney Bowes Software found that marketers need to be careful to make sure they are not overcommitting to social channels, and, moreover, that their actions on social media are aligned with consumer preferences.

via Social Media Marketing Can Get Out of Sync with Consumers – eMarketer.