Archive for July, 2010
The Quiet Social Networks
When we talk about social networks, we are talking about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Myspace. Usually in that order. Let’s take a look at their number of users. Facebook is obviously the Goliath in the room.
These big four social networks are the most social, most active, most feature rich communities. Or are they? They certainly are the full featured social networks in the traditional sense. But there are many quiet communities out there that are building very significant numbers.
Should we be giving more thought to these quiet social networks?
Some things to consider
- Pandora is growing their member base faster than LinkedIn
- Farmville has more active monthly users than Twitter
- Gmail will soon be larger than Myspace
Yes, Pandora is just for music and has not built in many social tools. And Farmville is just a game with little interactions outside of clicking on farm images. And Gmail is private and email and not a basis for a true social network.
This is the thing though. These are massive user bases. And they are highly active user bases. A much larger percentage of Farmville and Gmail uses are active daily users than Twitter and LinkedIn.
Gmail is of course the biggest threat to somehow leverage this user base into a traditional social network, as recent rumors have Google entering the social networking sphere with a new product soon.
But anywhere you have these types of numbers in a community, already interacting with media or other people, and there are possibilities for marketers, for investment, and for integration.
What communities are you seeing quietly acquire large audiences?
The Looming Social Media Education Gap
I run a company, Social Fresh, that is built on providing social media education. We host panels and conferences, write articles on training and news, and just started a weekly newsletter. All of this is aimed at helping marketers do bigger and better things in the social space.
Occasionally I get the question “How long will there be a need for a company like Social Fresh?”
My answer is usually “I have no idea, but I think we are still just at the beginning of this thing.”
Where Do We Stand?
The community of thought leaders in social media is still very small. There are still only a few hundred community managers out there. And while there are a lot of marketers learning social media very quickly and doing some really cool things, have no fear. The audience for social media education is only growing.
Most companies are at least dipping their toes in the social media waters. Few are diving in head first (See Zappos, Dell, Best Buy, Intel).
Where Are We Going?
The education gap is growing because companies are learning just how much social media can do – how many of their employees they need to train to bring them up to speed.
A company can “be social” with just a community manager talking to a few customers on Twitter, Facebook, and a blog. A single employee. A small commitment.
But once they decide to invest in becoming an holistic social company, the education gap grows. The number of people they need to bring into the know explodes.
- Multiple departments need training on how to integrate social
- Departments must learn how to work together through internal social tools
- Chains with thousands of employees on the ground need training for consistency
- Groups of volunteers need training to support non-profits
- Groups of champions need guidance to support brands
- Sales forces need to learn
- Teachers need to learn
- Call centers need to learn
The potential for how social media can change businesses inside and out is unending. And with each realization of these oppotunities, the education gap grows.
For now, the number of people looking to learn social media, looking to utilize this new tool set for business, is small compared to where it will be.
So I say again, we are still at the beginning of this thing.
Image Credit: Shutterstock.com
