Consumers Behave Differently on Social Web Sites

"The social-media world is often criticized for introducing new metrics [a way of measuring the demographics of a media] to marketers who want to better understand the social space and the effects it can have on a product or service. Why introduce new metrics, skeptics say, when the data landscape is already complex and confusing? Do we really need this, given the tried and true metrics of digital-media buying in use for the past decade? Let's take a step back. What is a metric? It's a standard of measurement. In advertising it is designed to define a specific type of consumer behavior, be it attention-centric (clicks, impressions, etc.) or more direct response-oriented (sales, conversions, etc.).There would be no use for new metrics if consumers on social platforms behaved as they do when on any other website. But consumers do behave differently when using social platforms and there are some key reasons why" (Sethi, 2012)

Sethi, Nikhil (2012, Aug. 22). "Do we need new metrics for social media. Yes, and here's why." AdAge.com. Retrieved from: <http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/metrics-social/236810/>