Social networking is not just for teens, tweens and college kids. Check out Sermo.com, a social networking site for physicians. Additionally, people have been using social networks to look for job. Social networks are also changing and evolving businesses as we know it.

By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO

When radiation oncologist Michael Tomblyn recently saw a 21-year-old patient whose eye was protruding from its socket, he turned to his fellow physicians for help. Dozens of doctors offered suggestions, including fungal infection, HIV-associated lymphoma or a cocaine-associated sinus problem, eventually steering him toward the correct answer: rhabdomyosarcoma, a fast-growing cancer most often observed in young children.

The diagnosis didn’t take place in a doctor’s lounge. It happened on Sermo.com, a social-networking site for licensed physicians, which Dr. Tomblyn and 25,000 doctors like him visit regularly to consult with colleagues specializing in areas from dermatology to psychiatry.

“It is a way for us to commiserate and know we are still talking to others like us,” says 36-year-old Dr. Tomblyn, who works for the University of Minnesota Medical Center.

Online Schmoozing

Some DOs and DON’Ts for using professional social-networking sites:

DON’T:

• Offer to do business with someone you meet immediately.
• Give away information specific to your company.

DO:

• Share your perspectives on news that’s already public.
• Continue more intimate discussions over email and on the phone.

Social networking, popularized by teens sharing information with their friends online on Web sites such as Facebook Inc., is now blooming in the business world, thanks to new social networks that enable professionals and executives in industries such as advertising and finance to rub virtual elbows with colleagues.

Millions of professionals already turn to broad-based networking sites like LinkedIn to swap job details and contact information, often for recruiting purposes. Business executives also have turned to online forums, email lists and message boards to sound off on information related to their industries.

Now, online services are trying to promote a more personal type of business networking. Unlike relatively simple message boards that are open to all, these new sites — including Sermo.com for doctors and INmobile.org for the wireless industry — have features such as profile pages showing professional credentials; personal blogs that function like a kind of online diary; links to “friends” online; electronic invitations to real or online events; and instant-messaging.

Social networking is just one of many consumer technologies, including blogs, wikis and virtual worlds, to cross over into the corporate world. It is happening as social networking is moving more into the mainstream. Leading consumer social-networking sites attracted more than 110 million unique monthly U.S. visitors in July, up more than 40% from the previous July, according to comScore Inc.

For a variety of reasons, social networking has been slower to take off in the business world. Employees are wary of disclosing too much to potential competitors, and loose-lipped executives can easily embarrass themselves and their companies online. Policing these services’ memberships to weed out impostors can be difficult, and the sites are still in the early stages of turning their networks into sustainable businesses. Also, business users typically have less time to devote to socializing online and are willing to do so only if they believe they are getting a unique benefit from the site.

“Professionals are fairly protective about their social networks which they spend their whole lives to build,” says Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. He adds that the appeal of social networking is limited largely to industries where workers are fairly isolated from their colleagues on a day-to-day basis, like medicine, construction and sales.

Many of the new services are free to members. Revenue comes from advertising or charging outside businesses access to data and member discussions. For example, Sermo Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., generally charges $100,000 to $150,000 a year to nonmedical businesses like hedge funds, which use it to research such things as how doctors feel about new drugs. They can monitor online discussions, with the doctors’ names omitted, or see a tally of topics being discussed on the site — like a new medical device or a controversial cancer treatment — to determine what’s rising or falling in popularity.

The site, founded by Daniel Palestrant while he was a surgical resident in Boston and launched last year, discloses its business model to users when they register. Members say they don’t mind that their conversations are accessible to others, particularly since their identities are concealed. In this, Sermo is different from many other sites. Doctors are generally more interested in getting treatment advice and access to other doctors’ experiences than in networking for new business partners. As a result, the site doesn’t require users to use their real names, although Sermo itself verifies and holds the identities of everyone who registers.

INmobile.org — a social network for the wireless industry launched last year by Adam Zawel, former director of the Yankee Group’s Wireless US Research Program and the executive search firm IdealWave Solutions, based in Harvard, Mass. — has a different business model. Its basic services are free to its members, about 730 high-level executives at cellphone makers, wireless operators and media companies. But members can choose to pay $2,000 a year to list promotions and ads in a special “marketplace” section.

Some of the new sites simply charge a membership fee. This fall, for example, Reuters Group PLC is planning to launch a new social-networking service, tentatively named “Reuters Space,” for fund managers, traders and analysts. For a fee, which hasn’t yet been set, they will be able to log on to create profiles with industry-relevant information like their “asset class” and “instruments,” check financial news feeds and ruminate about the industry on personal blogs. However, the Reuters service will only allow employees to join if their companies are Reuters customers. It also plans to allow companies to block certain features like blogging and to archive employees’ online activities for compliance purposes.

Online networking services are trying to broaden their appeal with new ways of making sure their members are who they say they are. For example, Sermo authenticates each of its members by checking their credentials against several of the 10,000 databases they have access to. The service also requires users to answer three verifiable personal questions, ranging from their phone number to where they got their medical degrees before they can sign up.

INmobile.org relies on member referrals and email confirmations, but says it is looking into stricter methods, like calling up the person or their colleagues, since emails can be easily faked. The service says it turns away more than half who apply, admitting only director-level employees and above from large companies, top-level executives from smaller companies and vice-president level and above from midsize businesses.

Even after these measures, it can be difficult getting business people to converse freely with each other online. Alexander Pigeon, vice president of international for MLB Advanced Media LP, the interactive media and Internet arm of Major League Baseball, is guarded about what he shares on INmobile.org, which he recently joined to stay on top of big trends in wireless. “I certainly wouldn’t post something about my company that wasn’t publicly released,” says Mr. Pigeon, who instead sticks with “pontifications” on broad trends like the future of mobile music.

But taking a risk on an advertising social-network paid off for Angela Glenn of Long Beach, Calif. The 40-year-old graphic designer first joined a free social network created by the blog AdRants as a “lurker,” reading but not contributing to the site. Before long, she gained the confidence to debate topics like Web-site design, and she and one sparring partner grew so fond of each other’s styles that they eventually started an ad agency together, the GASP Company LLC. “You get to hear potential partners out and see how they think about things,” she says. “It’s the closest thing you get to a personal recommendation.”

Write to Jessica E. Vascellaro at jessica.vascellaro@wsj.com

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page D1

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit

Source:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118825239984310205.html#

by TMT Newswire

Sites offer many benefits, but pitfalls abound as job seekers learn the ropes

CHICAGO, November 17, 2009 – As the nation’s job seekers attempt to find any advantage in a tight job market, more and more are turning to social networking to stand out from the crowd. However, while these sites have the potential to revolutionize the job search, they could also prove harmful for those who rely too heavily on them or misuse them, warns one employment authority.

“The job search has changed radically over the last two decades with the advent of electronic mail, the Internet, social networking, smart phones, etc. However, it is important to remember that all of these technologies simply enhance the job search; they will never replace the face-to-face connections that are critical to a successful search,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., which provides job-search training and counseling to individuals who have lost their job.

“That being said, we feel that these new networking tools are essential and now advise all of the job seekers going through our program to open LinkedIn accounts and to consider other services such as Facebook and Twitter,” said Challenger.

“Of course, many of the job seekers going through our program do not need the advice as they are already among the millions who have signed up on social networking sites in recent years,” he added.

The number of Americans belonging to social networking sites has grown exponentially in the last five years. It is now estimated that 51 percent of online U.S. adults utilize social networking sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn, according to a recent survey by Forrester Research. That is up from the 25 percent of users who reported using social networking sites in 2007.

One reason the number of social networkers is on the rise is due to increased use among business professionals. In fact, the most rapidly growing age group represented on Facebook is the 35-and-older population.

Meanwhile, a study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals that 19 percent of Internet users are sharing personal and business updates on Twitter or other status-update services, up from 11 percent earlier this year.

“Social networking is an easy way for job seekers to build their network by reaching out to former colleagues and classmates, as well as fellow alumni and industry professionals. Job seekers can then use their networks to uncover available positions and to establish relationships with hiring managers or contacts who can give them a recommendation,” said Challenger.

“Just a few years ago, job seekers’ only search tools were newspapers and cold calls. Now, technology serves to instantly connect seekers with employers, recruiters and job leads.”

Job seekers are not the only ones taking advantage of these new tools. Employers are also jumping on the social networking bandwagon. A recent survey by Jobvite found that 80 percent of companies use or are planning to use social networking sites to fill vacant positions. While LinkedIn is still the most popular site used by employers, with 95 percent of companies using it, Facebook and Twitter are gaining ground. The use of Facebook has grown from 36 percent of recruiters in 2008 to 59 percent in 2009, while Twitter is currently being used by 42 percent of recruiters.

“Social networking should be used cautiously, however,” warns Challenger. “As these sites become increasingly intertwined, it will becomes easier and easier for potential employers to access the more personal aspects of job seekers’ lives.”

Status updates on Facebook can now be sent automatically to Twitter followers. A similar cross-service status updates was recently initiated between Twitter and LinkedIn. The problem, said Challenger, is that people tend to use these services in different ways, and these ways are not always compatible with the job search.

In fact, a job seeker is twice as likely to be eliminated from consideration than be hired based on his or her social networking site content, according to a survey of human resources professionals by Careerbuilder.com. In the survey, 35 percent of respondents said they ceased consideration of an applicant due to a social networking gaffe, with reasons ranging from provocative/inappropriate photographs and information to candidates having poor communication skills. Only 18 percent said they offered a position to a prospective employee due to social networking research, attributing that decision to seeing the candidate as a good fit for the company or the candidate’s site conveying a professional image.

“Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the Internet is the permanency and pervasiveness of any and all information that finds its way there. Comments on a friend’s blog, reviews on consumer sites and inside jokes made for a private audience on a social networking site’s public group page are all available at the click of a mouse to potential employers.”

“The other danger is that many job seekers tend to let the Internet become their primary, if not sole, job-search tool. It is too easy to simply sit in front of one’s computer all day, scanning job boards and expanding one’s virtual network through LinkedIn. However, these online connections are superficial at best. It takes a lot more work to turn them into meaningful relationships that can advance your job search. In the end, face-to-face meetings are still the most effective relationship-building tool available,” said Challenger.

Contact Information:

James K. Pedderson, Director of Public Relations
Office: 312-422-5078
Mobile: 847-567-1463
jamespedderson@challengergray.com

Colleen Madden, Media Relations Manager
Office: 312-422-5074
colleenmadden@challengergray.com

Source: http://www.talentmanagementtech.com/community/articles/3075_social_networking_explodes_as_job-search_tool_.html

Source: “Social Media at Work: How Networking Tools Propel Organizational Performance”

Google Wave – the next big thing in social networking

Massive changes in consumer marketing by travel companies and destinmations will continue into 2010 with the advent of Google Wave.
Altough still beta testing, the new form of communciation and collaboration online is expected to be the next big thing on the internet after Twitter.
Google Wave is expected to incorporate email, instant messaging and social networking.
This means consumers will not need to log in separately to individual social media networks.
“There is no doubt that this service will mean a Google Wave homepage is likely to be the first point of contact when users browse the internet in future and could become the strongest social platform on the web,” a report prepared for long haul destinations by UK travel PR and representation company BGB said.
The Longhaul Insight Report, being released at World Travel Market today (Tuesday), points out that social networks have received more traffic than any other category of website, with online reviews being seen as largely trustworthy.
Social networking website are now the second biggest traffic drivers to websites after search engines, according to internet research firm Hitwise.
“The massive changes in consumer marketing as a result of social media will continue,” the report predicts.
“After the Twitter growth in 2009 we predict that the next major disruptive technology for 2010, which long haul tourist boards need to be considering, is Google Wave.”
The report goes on to warn that next year is set to be “especially tough” for long haul travel from the UK from May because of the general election.
“After this, a new government is likely to bring in a raft of emergency measures to generate new income.
“Individual events such as the staging of the football World Cup in South Africa will mean June will also be a difficult month.
“Insecurity over jobs means that the trend of late booking and value-seeking will continue, with all-inclsuives, whether hotel or ship-based, continuing to prove popular.”
by Phil Davies

Source: http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1139334.php

Recent surveys of online Internet users shows the amount of time people spend on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter is growing, and it may be costing employers time and money.

In the U.S., 77 percent of workers who have a Facebook account say they check their updates at work.

In the United Kingdom, a similar survey of workers shows 57 percent regularly log on to social networks, resulting in 40 minutes of lost worker productivity per day.

“It isn’t just something you can do for half an hour during a lunch break but all through the day and because of that, it has a huge impact because people aren’t necessarily concentrating on what they should be doing during the day,” said Philip Wicks, a consultant at London-based technology research firm, Morse PLC.

Wicks estimates social networking during office hours costs businesses in the U.K. about $2.25 billion a year. Workplace consultants say the losses will grow as social and blogging sites attract even more users.

But instead of fighting a popular technology, William Beers at accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers says companies should be looking for ways to take advantage of it. “So instead of trying to shut it down, I think we should try to embrace these technologies, put in a nice policy that governs it and explain to users the risks related to it, provide some training and then see what business benefits we can have from it,” he said.

Some workers say networking sites are helpful in exchanging ideas, boosting morale or finding the right candidate for the job. “Certainly, ‘Linked-in’ on the professional level is a very useful tool in connecting with other professionals,” said one man.

But others argue online socializing is best left outside the office. “If you want to spend time at the weekends on it or in the evenings, fine, but I think most people are probably too busy, should be too busy, to do it at work anyway,” a woman said.

Studies show the amount of time people spend on social networking and blogging sites has tripled since last year. Employers are fighting back. A recent survey shows 54 percent of U.S. companies have already banned social networking and blogging while on the job.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-11-03-voa71.cfm

Here’s a comparison of Facebook to Myspace as researched from Hoover.com

When it comes to social networking, it’s wise to put your best face forward. Online directory Facebook began by connecting students through social networks at schools, but has since opened its service to the general public. Users post photos and information about themselves through online profiles. The site was launched in 2004 by undergraduates at Harvard, led by Mark Zuckerberg, as an online version of the Harvard Facebook. (The name comes from books of freshmen’s faces, majors, and hometowns that are distributed to incoming students.) Microsoft has a deal to be the exclusive provider of advertising to Facebook. Investors include Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel and Accel Partners.
Key Facebook Financials
Company Type: Private -Main Headquarters
Fiscal Year-End: December
2008 Sales (mil.) $0.8
2008 Employees 9

MySpace is one of the world’s largest social networks, with about 125 million users. Originally inspired by Friendster, MySpace quickly grew to become the world’s largest social network, before being overtaken by Facebook. User pages are highly customizable and support integration with widgets such as Slide or YouTube. MySpace provides users with a way to connect around content and culture.

Key MySpace.com Financials
Fiscal Year-End
2007 Sales (mil.) $0.1
Employees At This Location 1
Employees Total 1

Full article can be seen here:

http://web.ebscohost.com.libproxy.temple.edu/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=112&sid=c9375789-7e93-4ddd-941a-271b1ca95874%40sessionmgr111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=pdh&AN=jmp-20-3-106

This study included older adolescents and it’s purpose was to explore the motives they have for joining social networks and the affects the networks have on them. “The findings revealed that for the 703 older adolescents in this  survey there were four motivations for use of social networking sites: passing time,  entertainment, social identity gratifications and virtual companionship.”  This is also a good article because extensive research was done.

http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/3/0/5/7/pages230574/p230574-1.php

 Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Political Survey [October, 2008]

 Do you ever use online social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook?Subpopulation/Note: Asked of those who go online to use the Internet/send or receive email at least occasionally (77%) * = less than .5%.

36%  Yes

64   No

*    Don’t know/Refused

Survey by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and Princeton Survey Research Associates International, October 16-October 19, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2009 from the iPOLL Databank, The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut. http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu.libproxy.temple.edu/ipoll.html.

______________________________________________________________________________

A year later the results have changed:

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Values Survey [March, 2009]

Do you ever use online social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter? Subpopulation/Note: Asked of those who go online to use the Internet/Send or receive email at least occasionally (79%) * = less than .5%.

42%  Yes

58   No

*  Don’t know/Refused

Survey by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and Princeton Survey R

esearch Associates International, March 31-April 21, 2009. Retrieved September 29,

2009 from the iPOLL Databank, The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut.

http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu.libproxy.temple.edu/ipoll.html.

______________________________________________________________________________

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Values Survey [March, 2009]

How often do you use social networking sites? Several times a day, about once a day, every few days, once a week or less often? Subpopulation/Note: Asked of those who go online to use the Internet/Send or receive email at least occasionally and they ever use online social networking sites (42% of Internet users, 33% of sample) * = less than .5%.

19%  Several times a day

24   About once a day

21   Every few days

18   Once a week

18   Less often

*    Don’t know/Refused

Survey by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and Princeton Survey Research Associates International, March 31-April 21, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2009 from the iPOLL Databank, The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut. <http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu.libproxy.temple.edu/ipoll.html>.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5230543n

Video on Toils of Social Networking

http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:w-Gf2KdW4M0J:www.nielsen-online.com/pr/pr_060511.pdf+social+networking+statistics&hl=en&gl=us

Three pages of detailed statistical information of Social Networking use in 2006.

Social network analysis: methods and applications

By Stanley Wasserman, Katherine Faust

A book analyzing how social networking works and how it affects relationships.

Information Revelation and Privacy in Online Social Networking
http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/~acquisti/papers/privacy-facebook-gross-acquisti.pdf

Study done at Carnigie Melon University about social networking and privacy among students.