Universal McCann Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) has released its 'Wave 3' comparative study on social media trends. The third in a series, Wave 3 brings together the latest results and evolving trends of social media, aiming to provide facts behind the hype.

Wave 3 surveyed 17 000 internet users in 29 countries. Since Wave 1, the research has created genuine insights on patterns of usage, such as: China having more bloggers than the US; emerging markets leading take-up; and Japan shunning photo sharing. This latest report demonstrates the continued growth of social media.

Universal McCann South Africa's MD Nazeer Suliman believes that social media has an important place in the communications mix, if led by an understanding of the consumer. "This is not about targeted advertising. Brands that approach social media in this way are on the wrong foot forward right from the outset. It's about identifying opportunities that create meaningful engagement and sustained relationships between the brand and communities, which goes beyond advertising as the communications imperative."

Wave 3 Highlights

*Blogging- the impact: As a collective, the blogosphere rivals any mass media in terms of reach, time spent, and wider cultural, social and political impact. There are also major shifts into participation pioneered by the Asian markets, and now happening everywhere. Blogging today should be embraced, whether you are a marketer, advertising professional or content producer.

*Social networking: Growth appeared to be slowing. Not so; Wave 3 indicates usage is up to 58%, an increase of 21%. Estimated users worldwide have reached a staggering 272 million people.

*Brand penetration: This research provides clear proof that MySpace is still number one among a broad collection of international networks with a 32% weekly reach. Its position has been maintained by its focus on music and commercial content, rather than connecting friends. Facebook is not far behind on 22.5% weekly reach and the number one in many markets which will surely grow as it becomes internationalised. However the pattern is very mixed globally, and it's far from a two horse race. In Asia a variety of local sites like QQ, Cyworld and Mixi dominate in home markets; while Orkut is number one in Brazil.

Things to watch in the world of social networking:

*Niche Social Networks: In the face of the all-encompassing mega social networks, a raft of more niche and sometimes exclusive networks are emerging.
*DIY Social Networks: White label social network systems that you can customise are driving the emergence of a wealth of ultra niche networks.
*Reputation Management: Users are slowly realising the implications of having every drunken photo online for the world to see. Personal brand management is going to be a big deal in the next few years. Tools to report and manage your reputation are coming online- Wink.com or peekyou.com for personal searches; and reputa.com and reputationdefender.com for more sophisticated management systems.

Consuming content: the impact

Social media has impacted on every aspect of the internet, and transformed the role it plays in our lives. The social orientated internet is a massive opportunity for brands, advertisers and marketers, if embraced properly. It enables a much more positive relationship with consumers, where true benefits are created.

Final word

Integrate it with offline communications, and use social media as a link or as a story to communicate.

The next major in-depth 'Wave" will investigate word-of-mouth in the online age. It will focus on how the wealth of consumer and peer-to-peer opinions we are exposed to, impact on how we form opinions on brands, products and services. Wave 4 of the social media tracker is scheduled for late 2008, and will include a number of new social media innovations, and a larger geographical coverage.

"The World Wide Web has brought the world closer together, aggregating people into communities around special interests," says Nazeer. "The challenge is for brands to identify relevant and meaningful ways to engage with these communities."

The full Wave 3 report can be downloaded from www.universalmccann.com.