YouTube Has Influenced Purchase Decisions Among More Than Half Of Consumers

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Fifty-three percent of consumers in the U.S. say videos on YouTube have influenced their purchase decisions at least once, according to a survey conducted by Walker Sands.

The public relations firm surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. consumers for the study.

Although YouTube appears to be a more significant sales driver than we previously thought, companies that are especially interested in using social media to interact with their customers shouldn't forget about other social networks.

Fifty-five percent of consumers said they have engaged with brands on Facebook, followed by 21% who have done so on Twitter, and 10% who have done so on Pinterest. (Walker Sands)

In Other News ...

Twitter announced an update to its iOS and Android apps. Now, users can send and receive photos via direct messages, and swipe between their home timeline and discover timeline to easily find what's trending on Twitter. (Twitter Blog)

Social media analytics company Semiocast detected tweets 61 languages on Twitter. English is still the most spoken language on the service, but Twitter's geographic footprint is growing quickly. (MIT Technology Review)

AllThingsD's Mike Isaac examines the tale of two Facebook's: He argues that users see Facebook as a place to stay in touch with friends and family and share goofy photos and viral videos, while Facebook sees itself as becoming a service for serving personalized news and content. Recently, Facebook announced changes to the News Feed algorithm that would prioritize higher quality content in the Feed. (AllThingsD)

Twitter has dethroned Facebook as the "best tech company to work for," according to career website Glassdoor. In fact, Facebook dropped to the number three spot, moving LinkedIn to number two. (TheNextWeb)

A new social network, called Circle, has climbed to the top of the App Store rankings. Circle works by showing users real-time information from other people about what's going on in the surrounding area. Business Insider's Ryan Bushey walks us through how the app works. (Business Insider)

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