How many friends do you have?
If you live in Maryland, chances are, quite a few ” at least in the world of social networking.
According to a recent report, more than one-third of Marylanders had accounts on Facebook, the social media network with millions of users worldwide, as of July 2010 (2,078,478 to be exact.)
The state ranks 34th among the states in terms of percentage of Facebook account holders and 23rd for Twitter account holders.
DCI Group Digital , part of the DCI Group public affairs company in Washington, D.C., compared each state’s Facebook and Twitter accounts to numbers from the 2010 census. Washington State ranked first and second for Facebook and Twitter users, respectively. New Mexico ranked 50th for Facebook accounts, with Utah taking the bottom spot for Twitter accounts.
But just how much social networking affects Marylanders’ daily lives depends on whom you ask.
While most social network users in Maryland access the sites for personal updates and photos, more businesses are using the sites to connect to stakeholders. In 2008, the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore launched its Facebook page filled with medical tips and videos from physicians, information about upcoming events and success stories from patients. Its Twitter account followed shortly thereafter.
Ed Bennett , director of web strategies for the University of Maryland Medical System , said he knew the social networking sites would be a valuable tool in making the hospital accessible to the community. He was just surprised at how quickly the sites took hold. Close to 12,000 people “like” the medical center’s page on Facebook and more than 6,400 people follow the medical center on Twitter.
“It has become a basic way people stay
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