Social Media Now Saturated?

Forrester Research estimates that 58 percent of U.S. online adults use or visit social networking sites monthly, compared to 90 percent using email monthly and 37 percent watching any type of video.

However, Forrester believes this 58 percent engagement rate represents a saturation level for social activities. Beyond this are online users who are by their nature are unlikely to use social networking because it isn't relevant or interesting.

"In the real world, a minority of individuals are creators -- writing, composing, or snapping pictures for anything other than personal enjoyment," says Forrester Research analyt Augie Ray.

The implications might be that marketers who use social networking now have to steal attention from other marketers, as the total number of users might not be growing much.

As social media growth stagnates, companies need to be more engaging