Is YouTube a Social Platform?
In a very unscientific poll, I asked people what were the most popular social media. The majority said Facebook. A few said Linked in or Pinterest. My son would say Reddit. And one lone person said questioningly, “Linked In?” Not one person said YouTube.
It’s not really a trick question. YouTube remains the social media platform used by the most US adults according to scientific research conducted by the Pew Research Center. YouTube enjoys the highest adoption rate. While Facebook has the highest engagement among it’s users — 70 % of Facebook users say they visit the site once a day.
- Nearly 80 % of internet used say they have a YouTube account.
- It is the second largest search engine only beat out by Google.
- More than 70 % of watch time comes from mobile devices (pre-pandemic number).
- Adoption rates have grown from 73% in 2019 to 81% in 2021.
But is it a social media platform? I’d say yes. And a damn good one. You have submitted user content, Likes, sharing, commenting, you own page, and private groups or messaging. It has all the hallmarks of a social media and the opportunity for long-form entertainment. And it is owned by Google. So it is what ever Google says it is.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.