Social Media, Not Just for Kids Any More
Proof of a changing landscape and what this means to professionals
The signs are all here. Aside from the fact that every one of my friends’ moms are adding me on Facebook, there are actually hard facts proving that the social media usage is creeping up the age brackets. As a professional, even if you are not already present in one of the social networks, it is hard to ignore the many indications of a dramatic change in the way we do business and interact with colleagues.
The obvious facts – social networks are growing overall
First, let’s look at social media interest as a whole. Google Trends clearly shows that interest has hit a tipping point. Searches for “social media” remained fairly consistent up until early to late 2008. Then, in the beginning of 2009 there was an enormous rise in interest in the topic. This isn’t a study on one social network, or a poll amongst a few thousand people – it is the number of people researching the concept of social media as a whole and a very valid indicator of general interest.
Lets also look at the popularity of the top two networks that professionals turn to:
Compete.com shows Facebook rising from 30 million monthly unique visitors last year, to 104 million visitors the same time this year. The most popular strictly professional social network, LinkedIn, increased from 5.7 mil lion monthly visitors to 12.1 million in the same period.
The less obvious facts – a major part of this growth is from professionals
A Social media network is only as useful as the connections available to you on it. Older people weren’t using the networks until recently because, well, older people weren’t on the networks. Sure, there are always the early adopters, but it isn’t until the technology becomes a part of a many users’ lives that it finally hits a tipping point. It is apparent that the tipping point for this older demographic is right now if you look at the facts:
- 41% of adults 45-54 years old are now on Facebook (The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive, 4/16/09)
- “…60% of 30 million LinkedIn users have high personal incomes, hold executive level or consultant positions, are decision-makers and likely to be active networkers. The results prove, say survey sponsors, that “online social networks are not only a way for professional groups to stay connected, but powerful tools for business as well.” (According to survey conducted by LinkedIn with Anderson Analytics and SPSS, November 2008)
- The total number of members that have the titles President, Founder, or CEO in their current job is 1,897,686 - or about 4.9% of all LinkedIn members (a profile search on LinkedIn)
- Over 150,000 register for Facebook EVERY DAY. That’s 1 million a week. (Global Neighborhoods blog)
- As of April, 2009, just under half of all Americans have a Facebook or Myspace account (The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive, 4/16/09)
How to use this to your advantage
Now that it is apparent that this dramatic change is coming to a country club near you, what do you, as a professional, do about it?
The first answer – get involved, now. You don’t want to be the last one on board with this. It is the nature of social networking that your reputation is becomes more solidified with the more connections you have, the more content you have surrounding your name, the more of the search results around your name that you control. By putting forth even a small amount of effort in this arena will help you not only in the actual social networks, but also when people Google your name looking for information about you.
On a company level, you must at least monitor the networks and be aware of how social media activity affects your brand’s reputation. At a minimum, set up Google Alerts for your company name and identify when certain results require further attention.
Understand your digital self
On a personal level, realize that your online reputation is playing an increasingly important role in your professional networking. If you are making an important business deal with someone, odds are they are at least going to do some kind of research on you. And if they are doing research on you, odds are the first step they are going to take is Googling your name and/or company. It is in your best interest to at least occasionally Google your own name to understand what they are finding - to understand who your digital self actually is.
Hopefully, you will like what you see, but this often is not the case. Have no fear. There are many tactics to improve your reputation online. A great start is simply signing up for a few of the top social networks under your name (at least Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter). If nothing else, it will reserve your name for when you finally give in and participate. It also prevents the increasing problem of user name hijacking.
Stay tuned for tips on maximizing your social media profiles and your online presence as a whole. You can also contact The JAR Group to find more information about, Search Ego, a suite of services that proactively manages your online reputation for you.
