Seth Godin says it like it is in this video. Seriously though, if you think about it, networking whether online or offline has never been about who collects the most business cards, Facebook friends or Twitter followers. It’s always been about helping people and finding a way to contribute to others in a way that grows your business in the process.

In terms of worldwide audience Facebook is now king. I guess MySpace is still the largest in the USA:

In November 2008 Facebook drew 200 million unique worldwide visitors; more than 1 in 5 people who accessed the Internet that month visited the site. When sites are that big growth generally stagnates, but in Facebook’s case it’s still skyrocketing. In December, 222 million people visited the site says newly released Comscore stats, a 10.8% month over month growth rate. 22% of the total Internet audience went to Facebook in December.

In other social networking news the Pope blesses social networking but also warns of  its dangers:

The Pope himself has given a blessing, of sorts, to online social networking. Pope Benedict XVI has made a statement regarding social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace as ways to foster friendships and understanding in his annual message today for the World Day of Communications. According to the Associated Press, Benedict welcomes as a “gift” new technologies like social networking sites, as they respond to a “fundamental desire” of people to communicate.

You can’t say you haven’t been warned!

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It’s not what you know, but who you know. And now Google wants to rank you based on who you know and how influential you are with them. Not everyone is equal. This is especially true in social networking sites. Where some are definitely more equal than others. They have more friends, they participate in more groups, they Digg more articles, they blog night and day etc. These influencers in turn drive more traffic to certain sites, cause people to watch more videos and in the overall scheme of things influence the options and thoughts of their friends to a greater extent than an average person.

According to Businessweek, Google now wants to rank everyone to see who is more valuable. The direct business impact is that Google can then charge a premium for ads on their profile pages. Below is an expert from this very interesting article. Google of course is mum on the details of this program.

Maybe it’ll be called your Google number. Google (GOOG) has a patent pending on technology for ranking the most influential people on social networking sites like MySpace (NWS) and Facebook. In a creative twist, Google is applying the same approach to social networks it has used to dominate the online search business. If this works, it may finally make ads on social networks relevant—and profitable.

Google declined to discuss its idea with BusinessWeek. But it is based on the same principle as PageRank, Google’s algorithm for determining which Web sites appear in a list of search results. The new technology could track not just how many friends you have on Facebook but how many friends your friends have. Well-connected chums make you particularly influential. The tracking system also would follow how frequently people post things on each other’s sites. It could even rate how successful somebody is in getting friends to read a news story or watch a video clip, according to people familiar with the patent filing. “[Google] search displays Web pages with the highest influence—it makes complete sense for them to extend this to online communities and people,” says Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst at Forrester Research (FORR).

Other relevant articles

• Opinion: Using MySpace and Facebook as business tools
• Service aims to mine social networks for consumer insight

CEO’s can blog too. Even CEO’s of large multi-national corporations with global name brand recognition and revenue comparable to small nations. And in many ways blogging is a lot more effective when the person at the top of the organization starts to engage people on the web. Not only will there be a positive impact among customers, but there should be a profoundly positive change throughout the organization. As an example, I personally, would be interested in reading CEO blogs of companies such as MicroSoft, ExxonMobile, CitiGroup etc.wouldn’t you? To hear the inner thoughts of the the guy charging $4.00 a gallon for gas? That would be great reading every morning.

Don’t despair though. Things may be changing and it comes form the travel industry, Williard Marriott’s blog. Mr. Marriott is the President and CEO of the hotel chain, Marriott, which also bears his name. I found by way of Barry Hurd at 123 Social Media and I mention that becuase Barry has some very thoughtful insights on his blog and also regarding CEO blogging in general. Particularly when he talks about executives needing to lead by example.

Going back to Bill’s blog I particularly like how he weaves in business topics, customer stories, and his personal life into the blog. This combination makes for a very human picture and creates a more powerful brand image. All round powerful in my humble opinion. For example, consider his thoughts on man’s best friend:

I’ve learned that impetuous actions are not always the best way to go. Murphy has acquired wisdom through the years – he no longer chases the ducks he can’t catch. And I hope that, like Murphy, I’ve gained a little wisdom too.

A reminder that even the CEO of Marriott has things in perspective when it comes to this journey called life.

Bill’s blog was recently featured on a MSNBC segment discussing the popularity of blogs:

Another notable CEO or high level exec blog is GM’s Fast Lane where high level execs like Bob Lutz are active contributers

Except for LinkedIn, more women are on social networks than men. That is according to data released by RapLeaf, an online reputation management company based in San Francisco. I had a hunch about this phenomenon a while back when I started hearing of mommy bloggers, but I had not seen data to back it up. But now we have some hard numbers. According to this report, not only are women participating more, but on average they also have more friends than men.  Pretty interesting.

I showed the charts to some of the women in my office and solicited some feedback on why they thought more women were on social networks than men. Of course I had to tell them to not say “cause women are awesome”, but some did anyway! Here are some of their responses:

Rita: I think historically that women have more friends and are more social than men.  They also get more personally involved in their friends lives.

Anna: Looking at the demographics, it seems that the majority of women online are under the age of 25. So I’m thinking it’s probably a way to socialize online after school and the easiest way to keep in touch with friends about what’s going on.

Sara: I think it’s because women tend to be more social than men in general, especially regarding communication. Social marketing sites are great for women because women like to do more than just check up on their friends, they like to communicate with them frequently. It’s the same principle as women being on the phone all the time; except instead of the phone, they are leaving comments and messages on these sites. I think women cling to their friendships and acquaintances more so than men, which may explain why they have lots of friends. I know on Myspace and Facebook, I have lots of people I went to high school with as my ‘friends’ but rarely do I actually interact with them.

Megan:

1. Women are more efficient workers; they finish their work before 5PM and surf the web until the bell rings.
2. Women are more social creatures by nature and feel a need to connect with people whether it be in person or by phone/text/email/social marketing networks.
3. There are more women in the world than men.
4. ‘Cause women are awesome!

I guess the bottom line is women are more social and they connect more easily. Here are the charts from the Rap Leaf report:

]]> http://www.socialreflections.com/more-women-than-men-participate-in-social-networks/feed/ 0 http://www.socialreflections.com/high-profile-blogger-of-the-day/ http://www.socialreflections.com/high-profile-blogger-of-the-day/#comments Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:51:15 +0000 Shailesh Ghimire http://www.socialreflections.com/?p=58

To counter the argument that some people are simply too busy to blog, I wanted to highlight a particularly high profile individual who happens to prolifically blog. He is the current Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt.

Recently he has been blogging about his trip to the Yakutat Tingit Clinic in Alaska and it’s not a stiff style of writing with a very partisan streak either. He actually comes across in an easy going manner and demonstrates a keen sense of intellect. Scanning through I see that his topics range from Africa and AHIC to Traditional Medicine and Web/Tech. There are pictures, personal anecdotes and much much more. A very engaging blog indeed.

In fact Angelo Fernando has some details on what the Secretary said on a recent webcast. Some quotable quotes:

“I speak my mind. I am just not reckless about it.”

“My blog is not a literary masterpiece –that is not my goal.”

“I choose the topic – not a reporter.”

So, there you have it. If a cabinet secretary who is twelfth in line to be President of the United States of America can find time to blog, than anyone can. It’s a matter of will!

I saw an interesting article today on STLToday.Com on how social networking sites may be competing with high school class reunions. A very interesting phenomenon indeed because I can personally relate to the feelings described in the article. Ever since I’ve been on Facebook I’ve connected with a lot of my former classmates (both high school and college). Considering how easy it is to share pictures, music, art, humor, stories of pets etc. on social networks, I’ve had a pretty good peek into the lives of some of my former classmates. It’s been an eye opening experience for the most part.

The STLToday article points out that, becuase of the ease with which people can re-connect  with past relationships and contacts, some are now reluctant to attend reunions. This is becuase they’ve already re-visited the relationship and had a chance to get caught up on the changes in everyone’s lives. For many, getting caught up is one of the main reasons to attend a reunion in the first place. While not wanting to attend reunions may be true for some folks but I personally fall into the category of those who is now eager to attend the next reunion becuase Facebook has whet my appetite.

It’s actually more than that for me becuase through Facebook I’ve found “new” friends among the old contacts. I’ve learned that with time, people change, and that what you thought of them back when you were 17 wasn’t really true. I’m more eager to meet up with folks whom I never really thought I could be friends with, but now 10-15 years later appear to be much more interesting and fascinating. Through the twists and turns of life they’ve made decisions and followed paths which seems to have brought us closer in our thinking, attitudes and perspectives in life. I will admit though, there are still a few that were EXACTLY what I thought they were, many are in fact much different.  However, there are fewer of these in my circle of connections.

I would like to think my perspective is the more dominant view. With more and more people on social networks, the opportunity to connect with past relationships is ever more likely.  I would like to think that with increased exposure and connection via social networking sites people are tearing down assumptions about each other and starting a new page.  Consequently bringing people to the point where there is now a desire to connect in the “real” world. In the greater scheme of things I would like to think that technology in the form of social media is bringing people together and fostering a greater sense of understanding.

What about you? Will you be more likely to attend a high school reunion becuase of social networking? Or, are you less inclined today than ever before?

Photo courtesy: scarlatti2004 (on Flickr)

From the Financial Times over the weekend:

Facebook, the fast-growing social network, has taken a significant lead over MySpace in visitor numbers for the first time, according to one popular measure of internet traffic.

Facebook attracted more than 123m unique visitors in May, an increase of 162 per cent over the same period last year according to ComScore, a company that monitors websites. That compared with 114.6m unique visitors at MySpace, Facebook’s leading rival, whose traffic grew just 5 per cent during the same period, ComScore said.

The findings mark the first time that Facebook, launched in 2004, has taken a significant lead in unique visitors, after ComScore’s April traffic figures showed the rivals in a virtual tie. They come at a time of change inside Facebook, as the one-time upstart attempts to transform itself into a leading media company. Several members of the original executive team have left the company in recent weeks.

Full FT article: Facebook heads MySpace in unique visitors

The new MySpace page is here. That is probably why navigation in MySpace is a bear right now – takes a log time for simple graphics to display. I’m sure things will improve as the transition is completed. Below is the screen shot, and here is Tom’s note:

Hey Folks! No doubt you’ve noticed the new login page with The Dark Knight animation when you logged in today. We’ve also changed the navigation and the user home page (only the new user home, not the classic). The new navigation gives you immediate access to commands without having to return to your home page. Your “inbox” link is now in the main nav – just click “mail” from anywhere on the site. I know it takes getting used to any change, but give it a chance and I think you’ll find that things are laid out quite simply. To read more about the nav & home page changes, check the two blogs I posted as preview many months ago: navigation, new home page.

Screen shot:

MySpace seems to be gearing up to go head to head against Yahoo! and Google. According to a report in AdWeek they are in the final stages of re-designing the layout to make it more of a portal setup. This is of course different from their current page – which is more of a mish-mash blend of too much information coming from too many directions. At least that is how I feel when go to log in.

Here is what can be expected:

The new page, MySpace sales and marketing president Jeff Berman said, will feature “bigger and more powerful” options for brand takeovers.

“We saw there was enormous opportunity to build a new home page and navigation that were cleaner and easier and enabled the community to experience the site in a deeper way and at the same time provide enormous brand opportunities,” said Berman.

Businessweek also has a story on this:

MySpace embarks on this makeover with five new features. On June 18, the company will relaunch its homepage. Instead of seeing a few boxes for “cool new videos” and “cool new people,” users will see items such as news stories, ways to call up local weather, links to entertainment portions of the site, and images of top MySpace bloggers. There will also be a cleaner navigation toolbar, a new MySpace TV player with full-screen viewing, and an improved search function that makes it easier to find people, music, and media. “It is more the portal-like model,” Anderson says.

I’m not sure how this will play out. I’m not a big fan of portal sites – but many people seem to visit and enjoy them. I am however, eager to see the page though.