A Forrester Research report shows that the number of social networking users has doubled since 2007, becoming more popular than instant messaging among adults. But, the report also shows that even with the growth in popularity of social networking, e-mail, online video viewing and online shopping are still more widely used than social networking. Here are the numbers:

Millions of adults using
E-mail 165.4
Send/rcv photos by e-mail 90.5
Research Products for Purchase 83.1
Purchase products 72.2
Watch internet/streaming video 58.8
Visit social networking sites 55.6

Of course, the study separates blogging from social networking but if the two were combined the group would be third overall.

For people who may by putting more emphasis on social networking than e-mail marketing, will you slow down your shift away from e-mail?

I would add a link to the report but as Forrester is charging $499 for the report (I read the statistics on Mashable).

It wont slow down or shift me away from email. Why? Well, there are many communication I dont want to publicize to my whole social network. There are other information that is none of my social media friends' business, especially if its "boring" or non-related stuff.

I imagine the numbers will grow - why? Well:
1. younger generations are more technology focused
2. certain social networking sites have an attached stigma - like Myspace or Facebook, though slowly, that stigma has been shifting away as well.

All good points. Unfortunately there are some companies that are so intent on diving into social media while leaving e- mail behind.

when a method has been used over and over agian ,it just lost its charm and effectiveness as well

well said and sharp point
thumbs up

Unfortunately, the click through rate for email marketing is very low. Thus for a business, social media marketing may help increase impressions and visibilities. So I can understand on why companies may shift away from email marketing though email marketing achieves certain personalization that social media marketing may not, for example behavioral email marketing.

I think the issue with e-mail marketing being ineffective or less effective than social media marketing goes back to creativity and compelling content. Social media marketing will lose its cache and only the creative will survive and thrive.