The Mind of the Engineer survey 2016, revealed results that everyone at Napier expected: an increase in the use of social media. As the world continues to become digitalized, many no longer have a choice, and it is expected to use digital tools to help yourself learn, and expand knowledge on a new subject.
Mobile consumption of technical data has seen a huge rise in the last two years, with smartphones and tablets increasing by 15% in Europe, and a massive 32% in China. This is due to the newest generation taking hold of the world, introducing smartphones into every aspect of life. As social media becomes a must have, engineers are turning to social media sites to ensure they stay up to date.
YouTube has grown in popularity by more than 35% in the last two years, as the importance of video is becoming increasingly evident for engineers. YouTube doesn’t just provide a platform to upload blogs, tutorials or videos, it also presents the opportunity for engineers to learn new material from a variety of sources. 87% of respondents use YouTube regularly to view a video or blog post, as well as to look up and discover new or emerging technology. Although video is now crucially important to any business, due to 4 billion videos viewed daily across the world on YouTube
Surprisingly, use of LinkedIn has dropped by a massive 10% in two years. This is particularly surprising as some of our clients have found campaigns on LinkedIn to be particularly effective. Despite the fall in usage, we believe it will continue to be an important part of any business’s social media presence.
As more young engineers are being introduced into the industry, it seems inevitable that engineer’s presence on social media will continue to rise. As social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and especially YouTube grow in popularity among young engineers, this survey has presented the engineering industry as having new opportunities and therefore having no choice but to embrace the digital age.