When you think of professional social networking sites, LinkedIn is typically the first name to come to mind. This, of course, is a result of the obvious fact that the site makes no secret of the fact that it’s explicitly catered to the needs of professionals. Its users are typically there for one of the following reasons:
- Acquiring professional connections. From these connections, they generally expect to either learn about new job opportunities or gain an advantage in closing deals. Likewise, they’re also expected to be given an inside track on finding new potential business partners.
- List jobs to best benefit their companies. As LinkedIn is a site exclusively for professionals, the amount of unwanted responses is cut down significantly as the talent pool is less inclusive and generally includes only people who are more serious about their career goals.
- Share ideas and information. As a function of being a social network, users of LinkedIn’s services are granted the ability to collaborate on projects and more easily work with one another to accomplish their ends.
While there’s little who question the fact that LinkedIn successfully does these things, there’s also a rather large factor that, at least moderately, mitigates this. There’s a chance that Facebook may be more adept for accomplishing these types of things than LinkedIn.
According to a recent study by Harris Interactive, a New York based research firm, 29% of HR professionals use Facebook to screen candidates compared to only 26% for LinkedIn. Perhaps the two largest reasons for this are the facts that 1. There are significantly more Facebook users than LinkedIn users (350 million vs. 53.6 million respectively), and 2. Facebook users tend to be more active on the site than they are on LinkedIn. On average, LinkedIn members remain logged in for 13 minutes, a paltry number compared to the 213 average on Facebook.
What this means for social media marketing is that Facebook is a deceptively adept platform for showcasing a company’s culture, values, and identity. Although it’s clear that Facebook is, above all else, a socially oriented networking site, there’s little in the way to prevent companies from harnessing its potential corporate advantages.
Written by Kenny K.