Is all social media worth it?

twitter-292994_1920It seems we all use social media these days; Facebook, Linkedin, Whatsapp and even Skype have become common, if not essential, everyday communication tools.

However in the work environment, LinkedIn still seems to dominate.

The accepted thinking is;

  • LinkedIn is serious, professional and for business
  • Facebook is for friends, family and posting pictures of your cat

And many LinkedIn users seem quite forthright agreeing with this, jumping to defend the integrity of ‘their’ network.

Post something more personal or deemed less professional on LinkedIn, and comments certainly seem to follow.

Personally I also held this view and have always preferred to keep each network quite separate…..  ‘the two shall never meet’ was my approach too…

A statistical realisation

However, a recent statistic from statista has prompted a re-think.

statistic_id272014_global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users-2016

I knew that Facebook dominated, but I was amazed by just how much.

LinkedIn is undoubtedly targeted, tightly focused on its user group and extremely useful in a professional/business environment.

However Facebook has a larger user base than LinkedIn…. not by a bit, but by a huge factor of 16x…. it now represents over 20% of the entire global population.

Not a Facebook person?

Admittedly, I am not really a Facebook person; Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp kind of make sense, but Facebook is one I have struggled with.

However, then I found Facebook groups, especially those in my local community, which have quickly become my source of most local news.

This is something Facebook seems to do best…. building community…. I would recommend trying it.

But what about work?

Social media has undoubtedly been an area of interest in business for a while.   It is a great medium for consumer advertising and there are plenty of reports to help you understand its growth.

The information online can also be invaluable, providing useful data for decision making and indeed hiring.

But in terms of personal presence, and especially from a professional point of view, it seems we may all need to have a blended network strategy.  It is important to be on not only the networks you identify with, but also those with the greatest reach.

Is all social media worth it?

Yes, it certainly seems so…but, which ones..?

….this may help… “social media explained through doughnuts

(PS…I can now be visited on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter..!)

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