A new survey reveals that UK consumers are now spending 45% of their time watching television or using mobiles and other communication gadgets.
The report by government regulator Ofcom also found that:

• We send four times as many texts per day than in 2004.
• We spend nearly a quarter of our time on social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.
• We spend 3 hours and 45 minutes watching TV each day.

So it seems that media and communications are now very much central to the lives of all Brits. On average we use them for nearly half our waking hours.

Younger people have shown the biggest changes in media use but the divide between the use of technology by youngerand older people is narrowing as a greater number of older people go on-line.

Further facts found in the survey include:

•    Smartphone ownership is up by 81 percent from 7.2 million users in May 2009 to 12.8 million in May this year.
•    In the first quarter of 2010 nearly a quarter of adults accessed content or sent emails on their mobile phones, up from 20% in the first quarter of 2009. Among those aged 15 to 24 the rise was 45%.
•    Surfing the internet on mobile phones is the fastest growing mobile media activity. One million more new users did so in the first quarter of 2010, which sees the total users now at 13.5 million, compared to 9 million in the same quarter last year.

For businesses, one of the clearest messages is to ensure that your website is simple to browse on a mobile handset. If you want to find out more about how to do this then check out leading web design firm WebCreationUK.

While Twitter is a great tool for social media marketing, it doesn’t come without its disadvantages. The social media networks make it very possible for people to have a dig at your company or make a complaint.

So how should you deal with this type of negative tweeting? Here we bring you a guide to dealing with the less favourable tweepers.
Don’t get angry: It’s very easy to get immediately hot-headed and annoyed over someone’s complaint, especially if it hasn’t been your fault. But be careful not to jump in with a frustrated tweet. Remember that Twitter posts can be read by everyone.

Be attentive: It’s important to show you care so make a prompt reply, but one that is thought out. If someone is complaining about a product or service then explain it to them. If they have a genuine complaint then ensure you dealwith it in a mannerly way and make the best amends possible.

Is 140 characters enough? Twitter posts can often seem short and pointed. This is not the best format for an explanation or an apology. Why not reply instead by email or by phone?

Some things are best left: Every business will have its anti-fans. This is just part of life and you can’t please everyone all of the time. If the tweet is unreasonable or impossible, but it’s not a direct complaint about your business or your service, then you could just leave it. There is a difference between a true complaint and someone who has simply decided to diss your company.

If you would like to know more about social media packages and web design, then speak to WebCreationUK, you can also follow us on Twitter.

New research has revealed some fascinating stats about Twitter use in different countries. The comScore study found that in June 93 million people visited Twitter.com, up 109% on 2009. (And this figure doesn’t include third-party Twitter apps that many users access Twitter from.)

When it comes to the countries that engage on Twitter, top of the list is Indonesia, followed by Brazil, Venezuela, then the Netherlands, Japan and the Philippines. America came in at number 11, while the UK is two behind at 13.

A Twitter spokesperson is reported as saying: “Twitter.com has experienced an explosion in global traffic over the past year, establishing itself as one of the most-visited social networking sites across each of the five worldwide regions.”

WebCreationUK have a social media package available, speak to us for more or any of your other web design needs.

It’s here at last. The official Tweet button. So you thought you already had one on your website? No, because until now the Twitter buttons have been “unofficial”. The new Tweet button – the official one – counts tweets no matter how they were tweeted.

Just so you know, Twitter is working with TweetMeme, which already offers the most popular version of the tweet button. Twitter says that TweetMeme will be switching over to the official Twitter button anyway.

Twitter explains that when you click on the Tweet Button, a Tweet box will appear, pre-populated with a shortened link that points to the item that you’re sharing. After you post to Twitter, you may see suggestions for accounts to follow. These accounts are suggested by the website you visited and may include, for example, the news outlet and reporter of the article you shared.

All types of website owners ill be keen to add the official tweet button to their website. It only takes a few lines of code. And, as twitter tells us: “The Tweet Button will help publishers grow traffic and increase their Twitter following.”

Many thousands of followers have already signed up to the new pay-for @earlybird service on Twitter. This service allows advertisers to pay a fee to promote exclusive events, time-sensitive special deals and offer sneak peeks at products.

The @earlybird service is aimed at helping customers to find the best deals and great services. Consumers will only receive the @earlybird tweets if they follow an account or are retweeted the offers by someone they follow.

Twitter is aiming this service at large international brands in the first instance and those focused on the US market. The microblogging site says that it will stick to nationwide offers to start with but may then explore location-based deals.
The @earlybird service is Twitter’s second bid to monetise its services. In April, it launched the Promoted Tweets service.

Promoted Tweets:  These are tweets that are revealed to  people who conduct a search on Twitter. Advertisers have to pay for this service.

Speak to WebCreationUK and see what we can do to help your business in the world of Twitter and other social media.

Do you sell products or services that would appeal to the over-50 market? Do you believe that Facebook is only for youngsters? Well, maybe you should think again.

According to a survey many more over-50s are now using Facebook regularly – and so this could be a great place to widen your social marketing drive.

Hopefully you already have a business website (if not you might want to check out the stunning possibilities on WebCreationUK’s portfolio), and you’ll know by now the merits of social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
Now it’s time to wake up to a few lesser known stats about Facebook:

* Facebook is massive – 500 million users at the last count – and therefore makes a great place for reaching potential customers

* A lot more people over 50 are now using Facebook. Some quarter of this age group now use social media websites, with Facebook being the most popular.

* 49% aged 50 to 64, and 40% all adults 50+, consider themselves extremely or very comfortable using the Internet.

So while all businesses would be wise to use Facebook as an important marketing tool, it’s now clear that the over-50s customers can also be targeted on this fast-growing social media site, too. Why miss a trick?