Facebook has 550 million people now. 200 million people are using Facebook on their mobile device. Twitter is the fastest-growing search engine. The fastest-growing demographic is over 55 years old. It’s growing faster than the group under 30. It’s amazing how fast the world of social media moves!  Take a moment and watch the statistics and graphics. (Via: Socialnomics)

• Over 50% of the world’s population is under 30-years-old; 96% of them have joined a social network
• Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
• Years to Reach 50 millions Users: Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)
• Facebook added over 200 million users in less than a year
• iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
• If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 3rd largest ahead of the United States and only behind China and India
• 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
• 80% of companies use social media for recruitment; % of these using LinkedIn 95%
• The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
• Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé – some universities have stopped distributing e-mail accounts; Instead they are distributing: eReaders + iPads + Tablets
• The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
• While you watch this, 100+ hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube
• Wikipedia has over 15 million articles…studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English. If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $1,712.32 per hour
• 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
• 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands. Do you like what they are saying about your brand? You better.
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendation, only 14% trust advertisements & only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
• Kindle eBooks Outsold Paper Books on Christmas
• 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation
• 60 millions status updates happen on Facebook daily