(Blog-Off II Entry) Why are Linked-In and Twitter SO...... SMALL!?

    I would like to wish the best of luck and success to the other BlogOff2 contestants.  

    There isn't one person that I know that doesn't have a Facebook account.  I decline friend requests daily from people such as ex-girlfriend's fathers, old professors that flunked me, and even an old boss from when I was 16.   EVERYONE is on it.   It is almost common practice to look at someone cross-eyed if they say they are not on Facebook.

 

    But how is it that NO other major social media site has gained nowhere near the popularity that Facebook has?  Over 300 million use Facebook.  Only 50 million each use Linked-In and Twitter respectively.   Selfishly, I want MORE people on Linked-In and on Twitter.  More people = more people for me to network with.    

    So I ask you, my friends, a very important rhetorical question.... WHY aren't more people on these other sites?  What's the hidden factor?  Don't cheat (by  scrolling to the bottom) .   The answer to this question is going to help you develop an extremely powerful network.  But in the meantime, I'll bet I can guess how you answered....

1. “Well, each site has it's different uses... so different users only see the need to join certain ones...”  And I would agree with you, at least on the different uses part.  Facebook serves the social community, Linked-In serves the business community, and Twitter serves both.  
   
2. “There is less of a use for Linked-In and Twitter than there is for Facebook”  If you believe this, then your priority is socializing.  (Those of you that have read my previous work know that I believe this is the ONLY reason for Facebook).  And this is okay, but improving your career is also a major priority in life (Linked-In) and so is staying in touch with events and information (Twitter.)
   
3. “There is less of an audience for those other ones...”    But are the audiences really that different?  The difference between the Facebook and the Linked-in audiences is that Facebook is probably used by most people from middle school up.  Linked-In users usually wait until the last year of college and later if they are going to join.  My 16 year old sister has a twitter account and I know of Grandma's with them too – so Twitter isn't reaching out to less people.   I am going to go out on a limb and say that we can exclude the most of the elderly population from the audiences of all three.   Certainly there may be different audiences, but the audience for Facebook can't be six times as large as the others.
   
   
4. And we know it's not advertising.  Have you ever seen an actual advertisement for Facebook, Linked-In, or Twitter

    Did I pick your answer? If I didn't, I am obviously curious for your answer, so please comment.   Now are you ready for mine?  You might recognize it.....

WE ALL FORGET TO PUT THE “SOCIAL” IN OUR “SOCIAL MEDIA.”

    How often do you push your real-life friends to get on Linked-In or Twitter?   Honestly!  When you signed up for these sites, did you skip the “invite my friends” page?   Instead, most of us are simply content to join and connect with the people already on them.   We don't create the BUZZ!  And we are hurting ourselves!  Twitter actually did not grow last month!  Viral marketing doesn't just stop spreading.  We are failing to create a viral market!  

    Facebook started with one mass email to a bunch of Eduardo Saverin's friends from a dorm room.   And then the viral phenomenon started.   And it continues to grow because you all tell your friends about it!  Everyone knows what Facebook is.  

    With Linked-In, I consistently get “What's linked-in?” And with twitter... “you actually use that!?”  Or people are simply misinformed.  “I don't need Linked-In because I have a job.”  Or “The only people who tweet are sitting on the toilet talking about what they ate for dinner...”  By the way, I do tweet from the bathroom, and I have used Linked-In for years.  

    In all seriousness, the true merits of Twitter and Linked-In are too cool NOT to share.   And I know you are all passionate enough to sell the value to all of your friends.  Go and get them into it!  

    One final thought to ponder: If I ask you share something on Twitter or I ask for your help with my career on LinkedIn, who is going to be more helpful... my real friends on these sites or those random connections I met a long time ago at a networking event?

    Spread the word and see what happens!

What Can You Do: Well, share the love!  The first step is to spread this message through the social media community.  Submit it to stumble upon by doing this....    Use the ShareThis button below and submit Technorati, and Retweets.... are all good ways.  Let's build our community!   And I would love to hear your thoughts here!

Conclusions: Sam Diener joins Blog-Off2 from Philadelphia, PA, US.   He started Stuff For Success, The Sam Diener Blog.    In five months, he has built an audience of nearly 25,000 readers, and has guest blogged for major US sites such as Under30CEO and the Personal Branding Blog.   Feel free to read more at the Sam Diener Blog.   

Comments

[Gunes]

Sam, great article! I enjoyed reading it. And you are right, I hadn't thought about the viral part for Twitter & LinkedIn. But I have to admit, I don't necessarily want to connect with my mother on LinkedIn. I'm OK with the fact that we're connected on FB; it helps keep her informed of what's happening in my private life. But I use Twitter and LinkedIn for professional reasons so what would my mother be doing in my professional network? And while inviting everyone on my email list would increase the number of people in my network, I am a strong believer that quality always trumps quantity. I prefer being connected with professionals that I can help, who can help me, where we can exchange ideas, collaborate, etc. My next door neighbor is not necessarily that person. (Hi John!)

Thoughts?

[Marilyn Moran]

This guy is crazy (in a cool way), but he makes very good points here. There's still something to be said about word of mouth. Telling our friends... or more importantly... inviting our friends to use the social tools that we are using. It is our job to educate them on why and how to use the tools properly and responsibly. :) Good read - two thumbs up!

[Conrad Hall]

Hi Sam,

There isn't another place for you to position a button. That's under the control of the blog administrator.

What you can do is add links to your posts. In this case, add links that connect your post to good examples from LinkedIn (your own profile, and that of others).

Linking to other content - inside and outside of you blog - is appealing to search engines. I.E. Link you second post to your first. Link your posts to outside content. Link other things you do (Tweets, status updates, posts to other blogs) to the content you're putting here for the competition.

Let me know if this helps.

Sincerely,
Conrad Hall

[Sam Diener]

Wow ---- very cool. I had no idea France had its own "business" network!

[Aiste]

Hi,
This could also be a country thing -- for example France has it's own professional network, similar to LinkedIn, so not many French people use it, but there's no French analog of Facebook. The same for Poland and some other countries.

[Sam Diener]

Beth - thats a good question... I would to love to know some ways. Maybe linked-in might think of some?

Sam

[Beth McDonough]

Hi Sam,
I agree with you that we are not effectively spreading the message, but all too often, people do not realize the importance of networking (internally and externally) until they are in the unemployment line.
Also, I do not think people actually realize how often recruiters view profiles on LinkedIn. It is a very effective and inexpensive way to prospect for candidates.
I am always amused when I watch the shocked responses as people learn how high the percentage of jobs found through networking actually is.
I would love to hear suggestions on what we can do to promote LinkedIn. I think it is a great tool and am always surprised when someone cannot see its value.
With kind regards,
Beth McDonough

[Sam Diener]

Russ - thank you as always for visiting my posts!

Sam

[Sam Diener]

Jeremy, I think the social media scene is not going to expand farther than linked-in and twitter.. to be honest.....

[Sam Diener]

Conrad - thank you for your comment. Where should I put the button other than the sharethis button?

Sam

[Sam Diener]

Carol.... you aren't the only one.... everyone seems to forget!

[Sam Diener]

Norma - thank you for your input!

[Sam Diener]

Jonathan - thank you very much for your comment. I think that the only three that will continue to exist are the ones I mentioned!

[Sam Diener]

Fred - Why thank you on the post... its actually for a contest. The blog isn't MY blog. I actually had to put it up on here. If you want to see my blog its www.samdiener. I think you might like it.

In any case, I still think people are using twitter wrong. The benefit is only revealed if you follow the right people. For example, I follow cheapskatephilly - for cheap up to the minute deals, digg2000 so you get only the popular content from the internet, or your personal friends.... if you use facebook, you already subscribe the status updates, which are their biggest feature!

[Fred Held]

Twitter is Ying and Linkedin. Is Yang. They have two different purposes and thus a small overlapping audience.

Many of my friends stop going to Twitter because the people they are following never answer when messaged. It is really nice to know that Sarena Williams is looking forward to her photo shoot in Beijing. Of more interest is Venus's reply that said she was bringing over a potato dish for lunch.

Linkedin is the most business facing social network on earth with the largest number of members and is growing rapidly. Not to worry about .

Nice blog and a great question but I hate to go to another page to read comments

[Norma Fares]

I think creating the link between a social networking i.e. LinkedIn to another one i.e. Facebook would make some successful cross "channels" promo. Adding the sharing bottom with i.e. digg, flickr, plaxo...including Facebook would help reaching the goal of spreading LinkedIn better. I personally find in LinkedIn more than just a business networking. Insight and spirituality are well present for people who are looking for Insights. It really depends on everyone's needs. But I also believe that every human being is in need of Insight –whether aware of that need or not-- to nourish his/her soul. People must discover that great facet of LinkedIn that I personally value and thank LinkedIn for being the way it is.

[Carol Warner]

Sam: Great insight as always. And you're right on target. I skipped the "invite" part. I'll have to go back and cover that.

[Beth McDonough]

Hi Sam,
You asked if the audiences for the various social networking sites are really that different and, personally, I think they are. I also believe the purpose of the sites are vastly different.
Most people who are on LinkedIn are seeking to network professionally, whereas many of those who are on Facebook are seeking to stay in touch or reconnect with former friends and colleagues.
Although there are occasionally LinkedIn profile photos that are not professional, most people make a concerted effort to project a professional image.
Good luck on the contest! I wish you the best!
With kind regards,
Beth McDonough

[Jeremy]

Great insight. How about providing some predictions of how all the social networks are going to shake out?

[Conrad Hall]

Hi Sam,

This is an interesting post. I haven't seen anyone addressing the issue of audience size from this perspective before.

Good use of graphics, too. Technorati and Blog Critics both encourage writers to include graphics - it increases you ability to capture attention.

The only thing I would add is a link or two to facilitate follow-through on your call to action. The summary recommends bookmarking and re-tweeting to build community. That's good.

Now take the next step by giving a re-tweet link or telling readers to use the ShareThis button. Readers are more likely to respond positively to clear, affirmative direction than they are to suggestion.

Thanks Sam. We're off to a good start.

And congratulations on your audience growth. Be sure to give them lots of links to #blogoff2.

Sincerely,
Conrad Hall

[Russ Kovar]

Sam:

It is always a pleasure to read your thought provoking bloggs and your insite to networking and people-networkee's (I think I invented a new word).....

Keep up the great work.

Best regards;

Best Regards;

Russ Kovar
Senior Business Development Manager
Sterlite Software USA,Inc.
Minority Certified Business Enterprise
708-383-4003 ext 107
708-383-4898 Fax
708-259-2200 Cell

http://www.linkedin.com/in/russkovar

"The more I help others to succeed, the more I succeed."

[Jonathan]

Alone each platform is small - together (and with other sites coming onboard) - they will be HUGE!