The Big Three Social Networks Have Emerged as Professional Networks: LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter

This is the first in a series of posts that Vanessa DiMauro and I will publish over the next few weeks, highlighting the more significant findings from The New Symbiosis of Professional Networks study that we recently conducted as part of our fellowship with The Society for New Communications Research.  Please visit both Vanessa's and my blog regularly for latest analysis.

The emergence and dominance of the popular Internet sites LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have taken shape as vibrant professional networks of mass “individuals” sharing experiences and collaborating around personal and professional issues, ideas, and interests.

These “networks of people” or Social Media Peer Groups (SMPG) as we have defined them are changing the dynamics of social and professional influence.

• More than nine in ten respondents form the New Symbiosis of Professional Networks research study indicated that they use LinkedIn and half reported using Facebook
• Interestingly, Twitter and blogs were frequently listed as ‘professional networks’
• Hundreds of other networks were mentioned, many by only one or two respondents

Note: N = 356. Respondents were asked to fill in top 5 professional networks

An overview of key membership and usage statistics of the top three networks provide an interesting picture of growth that supports these findings. 

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn has approximately 50 million users worldwide in 200 countries. The membership on LinkedIn is growing at roughly one new member per second. When LinkedIn launched in 2003, it took 477 days, almost a year and four months to reach the first million members. The last million took only 12 days. Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.
• Facebook: Facebook has over 300 million members with 150 million that log in at least once per day. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook are 35 years and older and according to Facebook more than 2 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared across the network, each week.
• Twitter: Twitter has more than 32 million members with the segment of 45-54 year olds being the top demographic and 25-34 year olds following closely behind at second. It has been found in other studies that baby boomers and senior citizens are more likely to join Twitter than their grandchildren.

The remaining group of professional networks identified by respondents in the study identified 100s of more specialized networks associated with role and function (e.g. CIO, CMO and developer communities); industry associations; and multimedia groups that have formed around sites like YouTube.

"I find that I will network offline at events and meetings where I establish connection with many people and I use online tools to follow up and maintain connect.  I may meet 20 or so people at an event and then immediately then put them into Plaxo or LinkedIn to keep and maintain connection.  I try to maintain my status and activity regularly to keep engaged and keep people informed."

The above quote came from an interview with a senior executive from the IT industry that we conducted as part of the New Symbiosis of Professional Networks study.

How do you use social networks to inform or support your decision making?

The methodology for this study involved a mixed methods approach supported by quantitative data gathered via online survey of 356 professionals to understand their perceptions and experiences with social media in support of their decision-making. Select interviews of 12 professionals were also conducted using a semi-structured interview guide as part of the second phase of the study. Key demographics of the research include:

• Close to a quarter (23%) of respondents identified themselves as CEO of their organization; 50% as “Director” (24%) “Manager” (24%)
• Company size ranged from less than 100 to over 50,000 full-time employees
• Age was well distributed with the greatest proportion in the 36-45 range
• 25 countries were represented, with 58% of respondents living in the US
• All respondents were either the decision makers or influenced the decision process within their company or business unit

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