This week, Nielsen released its 2011 State of the Media: Consumer Usage Report which offers insights into consumer usage trends across television, mobile, online, and social media. None of the trends that can be determined from this study are shocking. At this point, everyone knows that mobile content and social media are the "it" media these days, but televisions are far from dead yet. Following are some highlights from the report to put some numbers to the state of the media in 2011.

Mobile and Online Consumers

It's actually amusing to look at the data from the Nielsen study and compare it to how media market share was broken down 10 years ago. The stats from the Nielsen report follow:

• 232 million Americans age 13 and over use mobile phones.
• 211 million Americans are online.
• 192 million Americans use personal computers and laptops at home or work.
• 116 million Americans age 13 and over access the mobile web.

Video Consumption

Video viewing habits have also changed significantly over the past decade. Nielsen reported the following statistics from its study:

• 288 million Americans age 2 and up watch traditional television.
• 143 million Americans age 2 and up watch video on the Internet.
• 111 million Americans age 2 and up watch timeshifted television via DVRs and similar devices.
• 30 million Americans age 2 and up watch video via mobile phones.

Social Media Access

Computers still reign supreme when it comes to accessing social media sites. The Nielsen study revealed the following breakdown:

• 97% access social media via computers.
• 37% access social media via mobile phones.
• 3% access social media via gaming consoles.
• 3% access social media via iPads.

Nielsen also reports that in 2011, nearly four out of 5 active Internet users visited social networks and blogs.

Smartphone Operating System Market Share

57% of mobile phone owners have standard feature phones while 43% have smartphones. When it comes to buying a smartphone, Android devices are preferred over any other operating system. The Nielsen report provides the following stats:

• Android = 43%
• iPhone = 28%
• RIM BlackBerry = 18%
• Windows Mobile = 7%
• Other = 4%

Mobile Activities

Nielsen broke down the time spent each month on activities by owners of Android devices and reported the following results:

• Texting = 14%
• Browser = 10%
• Dialer = 6%
• Social Networking = 5%
• Email/Instant Messaging = 5%
• Maps/Location = 4%
• Music/Video = 2%
• Camera = 1%
• All Other Apps = 53% (including Facebook, Twitter, eBay Mobile, Barcode Scanner, and all other apps downloaded and used by study respondents)

Another interesting statistic revealed in the report is the number of apps people download to their smartphones. According to the study, app downloaders have an average of 33 apps on their phones.You can read the complete Nielsen report here. It's filled with statistics about mobile, online, television, and social media that can help you build your content strategy for 2012.Image: exacq