Social Media: What Is It, Why Should I Care, and How Do I Control Risk?
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 >800 million active Facebook users.
If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world.
50 percent of all active users log on daily.
People spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.
Sources: CheckFacebook, Facebook
As of 3/21/12 |
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 100 million worldwide active Twitter users monthly.
55 percent of users are mobile users.
250 million tweets are now being sent daily.
In the past year, there has been a 182 percent increase in Twitter mobile users.
Sources: Business Insider, Twitter,
Huffington Post, Ad Age®, CMSWire
As of 3/21/12 |
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 As of November 3, 2011, LinkedIn operates the world's largest professional network on the internet with more than 135 million members in over 200 countries and territories.
2 + million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages.
LinkedIn is currently available in 14 languages.
"Apply with LinkedIn" - A new plug-in will allow job applicants to apply for a position using their LinkedIn profiles as a résumé.
Sources: http://press.linkedin.com/about, http://developer.linkedin.com/apply
As of 3/21/12 |
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 Over 10.4 million registered users, 9 million of which are also on Facebook.
97.9% of Pinterest users are female.
Pinterest was started in late 2010, in 1.5 years they have gone from nothing to over 11 million unique visitors which is the fastest any site has ever done that.
Average time on site per user is 97 minutes.
Sources: Business Insider, TechCrunch,
CruchBase, Mashable
As of 3/21/12 |
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What is Social Media?
- Media designed to be disseminated through social interaction and social networks
- Media created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques
- Examples: posts, tweets, groups, and applications
What is a Social Network?
- A social network service focuses on the building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people who share interests and/or activities.
- A social network provides instant communication to the masses and a feeling of community.
This means your employees, customers, consumers, and affiliates are most likely using social media. If you are blocking access to it at work, then employees are likely accessing it from their mobile devices.
Burying your head in the ground, blocking all social media access, and ignoring social media can be fatal to a company. Companies are no longer controlling the message about their organization; people control that message now. Individuals are in control of what is being said about your company, and how you are perceived. As a result, you need to have a presence to respond to the public and what they are saying to help shape that discussion in a positive manner.
Crowe's social media risk assessment can help you identify these risks, along with many others, to give you an overall picture of your social media risk.
Even if your plan is not to engage in social media, risks still abound. Since the conversation can happen without you, and anything can be said, you need to understand what is being said so you can take action when necessary. As part of Crowe's social media risk assessment, we offer you the ability to monitor the wire for mentions of your company. This gives you a picture of what is being said about your company, and allows you to craft an effective response to it, if you so choose.
At the end of the day, social media is here to stay. It is growing at an exponential rate. It can no longer be ignored. While companies themselves can choose not to participate, they need, at the very least, to be aware of the conversations that are taking place about them and without them.
If you are interested in learning more about how Crowe can help you assess and take control of your social media risk, please contact Vicky Ludema at 800.599.2304 or vicky.ludema@crowehorwath.com