Graphic via mediabistro.com
You can see this particular piece in numerous places, including The China Post and on Wall Street Journal partner LiveMint.com (a site primarily focused on business in India). Below are a few of my quotes in the story.
With 350 million members, “if Facebook was a country it would be the fourth most populous nation,” said Scott Stanzel, a former deputy press secretary to president George W. Bush who has also worked for software giant Microsoft.
“Going back one year ago I don’t think people would have thought Twitter would have had the influence it’s had,” added Stanzel, who now runs Stanzel Communications, a Seattle-based public relations consulting firm that offers social media planning among its services.
“It was gaining popularity but it has really exploded this year and it’s done so in a way that’s become incredibly pervasive,” he said.
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Facebook and Twitter are popular because essentially they “provide real value to people in their personal and work lives,” according to Stanzel.
“You can keep up with hundreds if not thousands just by having a Facebook account or by being active on Twitter,” he said.
Stanzel also credited social media tools with “redefining the way in which companies or politicians relate to their consumers or constituents.”
“Companies or politicians who have taken to Facebook or Twitter or YouTube are building more of a permanent relationship with their constituents or with their customers because they’re engaged in a conversation,” he said.
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Stanzel warned that if Twitter “starts becoming overrun with advertising or becomes too complicated they might see their growth slow down or even reverse.”
