If it were only to keep up with people's birthdays, Facebook would remain a winner, even though I am willing to concede that I am not closely connected to all of my 4046 friends. But, it is fun to see what people are doing and thinking about; watching families grow; and getting links to interesting stuff. Also, there is no better way I know to reconnect with people from previous stages of your life -- schools, places you have visited or lived in, jobs. It is a great way to share my own photos from interesting places and to see those of my friends. Finally, this blog is republished there as a note. Please friend me here.Twitter is my librarian. While about 5000 people follow me, I only choose to follow 167. For the most part, these are people or organizations who link to articles and websites that I am likely to find of interest. I no longer have to read any journals in fields that I care about. If something good has been published, someone on my list is bound to tweet it. Also, this blog is fed automatically to my Twitter feed. Please follow me here.
And then there is LinkedIn,who efficacy I have yet to figure out. Look at this summary page:
While this is a wonderful example of the power of exponential functions, what other value does it offer? I find Linkedin to be clunky to use and ugly to boot. But, I usually say yes to anyone who wants link to me, in the hope they find it useful.
What are your favorites? Have you dropped off of any sites? If so, why? If you choose to answer, please indicate your age, as I think patterns of use differ by generation.
Don't forget to check out how effective you are at your sphere of influence by going to klout.com....putting in your twitter names and FB....
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I tell people about social marketing is that it is not enough to be followed or read what others say - you must touch the keys and respond - it is "the conversation" that is the most effective...
LinkedIn is quite useful for those who are quite a bit below the CEO level. If I'm looking for a job, I'll look in my network (and 2nd degree.). If I'm looking to get someone new on my team, I'd look in my network (and 2nd degree.)
ReplyDeleteI don't get LinkedIn either... Seems like an elaborate job site. Twitter is a wealth of info. Also a REALLY good website is scrubsmag.com - geared to lifestyle issues of nurses but some very interesting pieces. Good bloggers. Thanks for this post.
ReplyDeleteFrom Twitter:
ReplyDeleteI dig @Paulflevy's description of Twitter as his "librarian".
Great post. I utilize Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and a few other networks. I seem to get the most interactive conversation through Facebook but a further reach through Twitter..
ReplyDeleteWow, you're one popular cat. Hopefully one day I'll have such a following.
ReplyDeleteAs id said, if you're still working on building your career up, LinkedIn can be a great tool, helping you network with other professionals to find work, new opportunities, groups that offer insight, etc. At your level? Probably not that useful to you.
ReplyDelete