Facebook Fanfare!

By: Jessica Weston

My last blog topic was on social media and the advantages it provides as a marketing outlet for real estate agents.  So, I thought it would be interesting to follow up with some data on the growth of one of these tools – Facebook.  According to Larry Hartstein’s July 8^th article in the AJC, “Atlantans really love Facebook”, almost 72 million Americans are currently using this social networking site and Atlanta is warmly welcoming Facebook with arms open wide.  The number of Facebook users in Atlanta has increased by 142%, from 535,000 to 1.3 million, faster than any other metro city in the U.S.!  (Los Angeles, CA comes in second with a growth rate of 97%.)

No one is sure why this surge is so drastic in the Atlanta area.  Could it be because we are ahead of the curve or because we were behind it to begin with and are now drastically catching up?  Or could it be because Atlanta is one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities in the U.S. with regards to population?  Please comment if you have thoughts on this!

The growth of Facebook users in Atlanta is interesting, but the most interesting fact this article presented me with was the age group with the largest amount of Facebook users.  Drumroll please…..ages 35-54!  The active participation of the 35-54 age group is another factor that shows the validity in using social media outlets as a way for real estate agents to prospect.  This is the largest age group of our buyers, agents, developers, etc.  Why wouldn’t real estate professionals be on Facebook when their job is to be “in the know” and to get their faces out there?   According to the recent Nielsen Online report about Internet usage, consumers spend more time, on average, on Facebook in June 2009 than they spent on the sites of the other 9 top web brands.  As a real estate professional in Atlanta, why would one not participate in one of the fastest growing methods of communication in one of the fastest growing cities?

It will be exciting to follow this social media trend and see where it leads us.