Smartphone ownership is predicted to jump to 68% for 2012, which is a significant increase from the current 40% who currently own a smartphone.YouGov research suggests, however, that mobile advertising is a waste of time.
86% of smartphone users ignore smartphone advertising and 79% simply find it irritating. This is no surprise with the amount of advertisement through TV, mobile apps, print, and digital media.
Tablet usage looks to have a formidable future with ownership in the UK on the rise. Despite the current tablet ownership in the UK being 4%, potential for growth could lie in the Kindle Fire gaining momentum as well as newspaper and magazine publishers focusing on tablet versions of their publications.
These predictions also bring to light the growing gloom for print media sales. "The decline of print media sales will only accelerate during 2012," says Russell Feldman, associate director of Technology at YouGov.
YouGov predicts that Facebook will be the No. 1 site for 2012. This is already the case in the United States and the site is currently visited more than once a day by 60% of the UK population, coming very close to Google in the UK.
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Let’s not be too hasty in claiming Facebook the champion for 2012. Twitter is close at Facebook’s heels and with investors smiling at the benefits of investing in the site (let’s not forget Prince Alwaleed’s hefty $300m investment) Facebook could potentially be coming in at a close second to Twitter in 2012.
Facebook gives users the opportunity to socially network within their own private community but Twitter allows for personal use, business use, and use according to interest. This allows for larger networking power across various platforms. May the best social network win.
