The buzz around social media keeps getting louder. Nielsen News recently reported that in 2008, blogs and social networking sites captured more user time than personal email.

Those of us with kids have already figured this out. The teens of 2009 (and 2008, 2007, 2006…) use text (lol, bff) instead of phone calls, and Facebook and other sites instead of email.

Will adults follow suit?

The trend says yes. Facebook’s greatest growth segment last year came from 35-49 year old males. That’s my group, and last year I launched my Facebook account.

Social Media More Popular Than Email

It seems that adults are using Facebook differently than kids and young adults, but they’re still heading there in droves:

Where’s it headed? The past is always a good place to look to predict the future. Check out this DETAILED history of social media courtesy of danah boyd, a researcher from Microsoft.

It will be interesting to see how far the blurring of the private and public continues. For businesses, I believe that the continued growing transparency amplifies the need to change marketing behavior.

The Web is turning into one giant conversation. In the near future, marketers will no longer focus on finding their customers-they’ll focus on allowing their company to be found and conversing with their customers. And if they’re not carrying on a conversation, they may not be found at all.