Of the planet’s 7.6 billion human inhabitants, more than 4.5 billion now use the internet. That includes about 3.8 billion people who regularly engage with social media, roughly half of the global population. When not sleeping, the typical user spends 40 percent of the day online, including an average of two hours and 24 minutes on social media.
The lesson for organizations trying to reach as wide an audience as possible? Look for people where they already are.
Women’s Health Research at Yale has been a presence on social media for nearly a decade, establishing Facebookand Twitter accounts in 2010, followed by a YouTube channel in 2011. Last year, we created a LinkedIn page, which engages a professional, career-oriented audience.
And this summer, the center has launched a new Instagram account, reaching out to a younger audience with photographic, graphical, and video content to advance the educational aspects of our mission while building a following that can grow with us.
WHRY participates on these social media platforms to provide people with information they need for their health and to encourage center support for our mission to make science better so that people can enjoy better lives.
There are lots of people out there. Some 300 million people came online for the first time over the course of this year. Follow us online, and join our conversation about the future we can build together.
