Facebook Puts a Happy Face on Latest Numbers

The war between Facebook and MySpace to reel in users continues to heat up, with Facebook reportedly drawing in more than 200 million unique worldwide visitors; more than 1 in 5 people who accessed the Internet in November stopped by the site, according to a report on www.techcrunch.com.

In December, 222 million people visited the site, according to newly released Comscore stats, a nearly 11% month over month growth rate. Twenty-two percent of the entire Internet audience went to Facebook in December.

Facebook now has nearly 100 million more worldwide users than MySpace, which brought in 4 million new users in December to 125 million total. The page view difference is more dramatic - Facebook had 80 billion monthly page views in December v. 43 billion for MySpace. Just six months ago the sites were about the same size.

For more on the story and reaction to it, visit http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/22/facebook-now-nearly-twice-the-size-of-myspace-worldwide/

Social Networking Conference in Miami Jan. 22-23

Social Networking Conference 2009 Miami is slated to be the largest convention ever attended by executives from the internet community industry.

Scheduled for the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Jan. 22-23, topics covered include: global business strategies for social networking, mobile, revenue models, social media marketing, venture capital for social networking and online personals, new technologies, partnerships, legal issues and payments.

For further information, visit www.snc2008.com.

Online Social Networks Generally Not at Fault

Anyone with children surfing the Internet is no doubt worried about just who may be watching their kids at the same time.

A recent analysis by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force points out that child exploitation on the Internet and elsewhere is a concern, however online social networks, like Facebook and MySpace, are not at fault for the majority of it since most reported cases preceeded their existence.

Other findings from the report include:

* Children are unlikely to be propositioned by adults online unless they are willing participants and are already at risk because of poor home environments, substance abuse or other problems;

* Despite some high-profile cases, "bullying and harassment, generally by peers, are the most frequent threats that minors face," both online and offline.

The task force was formed a year ago by the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking, a joint effort of the 50 federal state attorneys general, led by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard.

Finally, the task force evaluated age verification and identity authentication, filtering and auditing, text analysis, and biometrics technology that some feel could help strengthen the security of social networks. Ultimately, the task force discovered that many of the technologies had potential but that nearly all of them work in a way that some might see as invasions of their privacy.

The task force was comprised of organizations—including AOL, Facebook, Google, MySpace and Yahoo!

Pew Research Unveils Internet Use Survey

The share of adult Internet users who have a profile on a social networking site has more than quadrupled over the last four years -- from 8% in 2005 to 35% now,¹ according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project's December 2008 tracking survey.

According to survey findings, while media coverage and policy attention focus greatly on how children and young adults use social network sites, adults still account for the bulk of the users of these Web sites. (Since adults make up a larger portion of the U.S. population than teens do, the 35% proportion represents a higher number of users than the 65% of online teens² who use online social networks.³)

Still, younger online adults are much more likely than their older counterparts to use social networks, with 75% of adults 18-24 using these networks, compared with only 7% of adults ages 65 and older.

Specifically, the study found that:

Young people are much more likely than older adults to use social networks.

• 75% of online adults 18-24 have a profile on a social network site
• 57% of online adults 25-34 have a profile on a social network
• 30% of online adults 35-44 have one
• 19% of online 45 to 54 year olds have a profile
• 10% of online 55 to 64 year olds have a profile
• 7% of online adults 65 and older have a profile

Overall, personal use of social networks seems to be more prevalent than professional use of networks, both in the orientation of the networks that adults choose to use as well as the reasons they offer for using the applications. According to May 2008 survey findings that were released for the first time:

• 50% of adult social network users have a profile on MySpace
• 22% have a profile on Facebook
• 6% have a profile on LinkedIn

Online social network applications are primarily used for describing and maintaining personal networks, and the majority of adults, like teens, are using them to connect with people they already know.

• 89% use their online profiles to keep up with friends
• 57% use their profile to make plans with friends
• 49% use them to make new friends
• Other uses: organize with other people for an event, issue or cause; flirt with someone; promote themselves or their work; make new business contacts.

When users do use social networks for professional and personal reasons, they will often have multiple profiles, usually on different sites.

• 51% of social network users have two or more online profiles
• 43% have only one online profile

Among social network users with multiple profiles:

• 83% have those profiles on different sites
• 17% have those profiles on one site
• 24% have multiple profiles so they can keep up with friends on different sites
• 19% have multiple profiles to separate the personal and the professional
• 6% just use different sites
• 4% have different profiles for different parts of their personality
• 4% have older profiles on sites they do not use anymore

Most, but not all adult social network users are privacy conscious:

• 60% of adult social network users restrict access to their profiles so that only their friends can see it.
• 36% of social network users allow anyone to see their online profile
• 58% of adult social network users restrict access to certain content within their profile
• 43% of adults think it would be pretty easy for someone to find out who they are from their profile; 23% of teens say it would be pretty easy
• 33% of adults with profiles think that they would have to work at it, but that someone could eventually find out who they are; 40% of teens say the same
• 20% of adults think that it would be difficult for someone to find out who they are; 36% of teens say it would be difficult for someone to find out who they are.

The use of social networks on any given day is also increasing. In February 2005, only 2% of adult Internet users had visited an online social network "yesterday" while 19% of adult Internet users had done so in December 2008.

Social network users⁴ are equally likely to be men and women, but are more likely to be young: 75% of online adults between ages 18 and 24 have a social network profile, as do 57% of wired adults between ages 25 and 34. Profile ownership drops to 30% among 35-44 year olds, 19% among 45-54 year olds, 10% among 55 to 64 year olds and 7% of online adults 65 and older. Similarly, social network users are also more likely to be students -- 68% of full time students and 71% of part-time students have a social network profile, while just 28% of adults who are not students use social networks. Whites are less likely than African-Americans or Hispanics to have a profile on an online social network. Nearly one third 31% of online white adults have a social networking profile, compared with 43% of African-Americans and 48% of Hispanics.

For further information, visit www.pewresearch.org.

¹ The 35% data point and basic demographic information about social network users is from Pew Internet Project's December 2008 Survey. All other data in the report is from the Project's May 2008 survey, unless otherwise noted. ² This teen data point is from Pew's Gaming and Civic Engagement Survey of Teens fielded from November 2007 through February 2008. n=1102 parent child pairs and the margin of error is +/- 3% for online teens. ³ Pew defines online social networks as spaces on the Internet where users can create a profile and connect that profile to others (individuals or entities) to create a personal network. ⁴ Data in this paragraph comes from the Pew Internet Project's December 2008 Survey.

Cision Unveils Blog to Help Communication Pros

Cision, a provider of media research, distribution, monitoring and analysis services for the public relations industry is sharing the insights of its thought leaders in social media and other disciplines with the new CisionBlog, an interactive forum dedicated to "Helping Communications Professionals Navigate the Evolving Media Landscape."

Anchored by Cision executives Heidi Sullivan, director of Media Research, and Jay Krall, manager of Internet Media Research, CisionBlog's initial focus on social media will expand in 2009 to feature guest writers from Cision who will share their insights into public relations media research, media contact, news distribution, media monitoring and media measurement and analysis in the print, broadcast and online worlds.

"Cision has tremendous intellectual capital to share with the PR industry, and CisionBlog provides an excellent platform for our thought leaders on all forms of media and communication," said Stephen Debruyn, Cision's vice president, Marketing. "Heidi Sullivan and Jay Krall got CisionBlog off to a terrific start in 2008, and in 2009 we expect to broaden and deepen the online conversations we engage in on the blog - especially about integrated PR media management applications enabled by our CisionPoint dashboard and services."

Debruyn said CisionBlog complements the company's active webinar program focused on hands-on PR tactics and strategy, as well as its participation in numerous other PR knowledge-sharing activities. Cision's senior executives and thought leaders are active in industry associations, seminars and events that help set the agenda for best practices in PR. Cision's research department manages an extensive global CisionPoint media database, with more than 900,000 media contacts in 150 countries, updated more than 10,000 times a day.

Cision is also a global provider in print, broadcast and social media monitoring services and in PR measurement and analysis services. Its clients range from leaders of the Fortune 500 to small fast-growth enterprises to most of the world's top public relations agencies.

For more information, visit www.cision.com.

Small Businesses Optimistic Despite Economy

Although it is hard to find positive economic news in today's headlines, America's entrepreneurs appear to be optimistic about 2009.

According to a national survey commissioned by Microsoft Office Live Small Business (http://www.smallbusiness.officelive.com) and Elance Inc. (http://www.elance.com), nearly 60 percent of small-business owners believe that 2009 will be as good or better than 2008, while 37 percent are worried about 2009 but believe their businesses will weather the current economic storm. Despite it all -- and staying true to their entrepreneurial spirit -- 86 percent of business owners state that they are happier running their own business over working for someone else.

This survey was part of a joint effort to connect Office Live Small Business customers with skilled freelance professionals from the Elance network through a new service marketplace, available at http://www.elance.com/p/landing/olsb/buyerpromo.html. Office Live Small Business customers who hire a qualifying Elance provider for a $250 job can get a $50 credit to use toward services offered through the Service Marketplace for their next job.

Conducted by Decision Analyst Inc., the survey also revealed that 61 percent of respondents would continue to spend the same or more on marketing in 2009. In terms of staffing, just more than half intend to maintain their current staffing levels, while nearly a third believe they may need to hire contract or freelance help. Small-business owners surveyed were most likely to hire freelance workers to help with their Web design, marketing and sales efforts.

Although just more than half of the small-business owners interviewed did not have a Web site, almost two-thirds admitted that having a Web presence is important to the success of their business. Lack of budget, time and technical expertise were among the top reasons for not having a Web site, the survey revealed.

Tagnics Unveils New Service for Uploaded Photos

Tagnics (www.tagnics.com) is a new service launching in 2009 that Autotags and provides a Who’s Who service for your uploaded photos. They are currently offering their service for free while they gather feedback.

About the Company
Tagnics provides 2nd generation search and content management solutions in the digital media space.

Solution & Value:
According to a Nokia research report, more than 100 billion digital media files are newly created every year and uploaded online. However, the current technologies are at a loss when it comes to handling such explosion of rich digital media.

To accurately categorize, index, and retrieve digital media files based on their content in real-time has always been one of the biggest challenges of existing search and content management providers. Hence 60~70% of rich media files are lost or unable to be accurately searched online due to the fact that there is no proper way of indexing and retrieving them based on their contents. This is a huge loss of human creativities & talents for the whole society.

Tagnics solves this problem by enabling 100% content-based search on all digital media. This will turn lost treasures into vast resources for the public at the finger tips. By overcoming this challenge, Tagnics has been one step ahead of the competition and become the true leader in 2nd generation online search and content management service field.

History & Structure:
Founded 4 years ago and led by a high caliber management team with a combined 125 years in the technology business. Supported by renowned scholars and tenured professors from top universities such as Yale, MIT, Rutgers, and Sidney. Owns 5 patent pending technologies that pioneer the next generation rich media search and content management. Company has broad international operations.

To try out the service for FREE:
Try Tagnics Service for free. During the testing phase, you will need to upload your pictures to Flickr. If you haven't used the service before it is Free up to 200 pictures uploads. It also works in conjunction with Facebook. To upload photos on Flickr (www.flickr.com).

For those who want to upload large # of photos to Flickr, try downloading & installing this Software (uploadrxl.rutgersmit.com/Download/). It works! You can even try the whole folder upload.

Mobile Marketing Assisting Today's Businesses

Group text messaging is proving to be a recession buster for many businesses.

In today's busy world where simple is better, case studies are claiming a text message is the new 800 pound gorilla. Furthermore, case studies are supporting this statement showing texting can do wonders for sales/marketing or communications.

"During hard times organizations are looking for new ways to increase revenue, at TextHub we guarantee to help plant your money tree," said Mark Michuda, CEO at TextHub. "Technology is changing the way people approach marketing, a fraction can be spent on mobile marketing with an impressive impact."

On average 94% of text messages are read. Reports are showing over 10 x return on investment for companies embracing such marketing. 18-29 year olds use text(sms) more than voice to communicate.

Organizations are embracing online platforms to manage mobile marketing. These online tools allow an organization to create unlimited groups, send unlimited text messages, and build natural language responders with incoming keywords. Also enable any software platform to embrace text messaging technology.

Companies are recognizing they need to deliver mobile marketing campaigns in order to gain a competitive edge.

For more information go to http://www.TextHub.com email: info (at) TextHub.com phone: (1-877-839-8482).

CareerBuilder.com: Employers Take 'Wait and See' View

CareerBuilder.com has released the results of its latest survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, tracking projected hiring trends for 2009. The survey, titled "2009 Job Forecast," was conducted from Nov. 12 through Dec. 1, 2008 among 3,259 hiring managers and human resource professionals in private sector companies.

"The job market of 2008 suffered as the U.S. economy weakened and entered into a recession," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com. "Looking ahead, recruitment levels are expected to be lower in the new year, but employers are not out of the mix completely; instead they're taking 'a wait and see' approach to hiring. Fourteen percent of employers, surveyed by CareerBuilder.com, state they plan to increase full-time, permanent employees and 16 percent plan to decrease in 2009. The remainder of employers say they are unsure or don't plan to make any changes to their headcount in the new year."

Full-time

Fourteen percent of employers plan to increase their number of full-time, permanent employees in 2009, compared to 32 percent who anticipated increasing headcount in 2008. Sixteen percent plan to decrease staff levels in 2009 while 56 percent expect no change. Thirteen percent are unsure.

Part-time

Eight percent of employers plan to increase their number of part-time employees in 2009, down from 21 percent who expected to do so in 2008. Fourteen percent plan to decrease headcount in 2009, 62 percent expect no change and 15 percent are unsure.

Hiring By Region

Staff expansions are expected to be strongest in the South and West in 2009. Eighteen percent of employers in the South and 14 percent of employers in the West plan to add full-time, permanent employees compared to 13 percent in the Midwest and 11 percent in the Northeast. Employers in the Northeast are projecting one of the largest amounts of staff decreases at 19 percent, followed by 17 percent in the Midwest, 16 percent in the West and 14 percent in the South.

Hiring By Industry

Comparing select industries, job creation in Professional and Business Services and Information Technology is expected to carry into the new year. Twenty-eight percent of IT and 23 percent of Professional and Business Services employers plan to add full-time, permanent employees in 2009, followed by 20 percent of employers in Transportation and Utilities, 16 percent in Sales, 14 percent in Healthcare and 13 percent in Financial Services. Retail employers are also planning to expand staffs at 7 percent followed by 5 percent of Hospitality employers.

HIRING AND COMPENSATION IN Q1

Hiring

Seventeen percent of employers say they increased their headcount in the last three months. Twenty-two percent reduced headcount while 60 percent reported no change. One percent were undecided.

In the first quarter of 2009, 16 percent of employers say they plan to add employees. Sixteen percent will decrease headcount while 62 percent anticipate no change and 6 percent are undecided.

Compensation

With a large number of annual salary increases taking place in the first quarter, 56 percent of employers expect to raise compensation levels in the next three months. Forty-three percent estimate the average raise to amount to 3 percent or more while 12 percent anticipate an average raise of 5 percent or more.

Proper Relationships Key for Successful Business

Carrie Podber is a firm believer that proper relationships are critical to succeed in business. Podber has taken that belief into a company called echain (echaincommunity.com).

Podber, who began her career in software technology back in the mid 1990s, has spent the bulk of her career involved in start-up to expansion stage companies both from an education (how to launch a company) and capital raise standpoint.

echain was originally formed as a company called eChainReaction in 2005, where Podber connected with an investor/programmer in the interest of moving her consulting business to an online environment in order to facilitate the process of introductions that would result in investment into start-up/early stage companies.

According to Podber, the investor’s interest was to provide advice and knowledge to companies regarding why they are good or bad investments and what can be improved to make it a more viable investment; or pack up and go home. "Companies tend to continue on the path and end up in more debt and eventually have to close their doors anyway," Podber said. "We intended to help shorten that road."

After building the prototype and beta test, Podber recognized that it wasn’t just about an investor writing a check but rather the relationships in place were critical in receiving that check. echain community was formed to broaden the relationships to include strategic, synergistic and revenue as these are critical factors in a company receiving a check.

"I originally targeted the baby boomer generation because my contacts were primarily in that market, they had money to pay membership fees and we kept the community very exclusive," Podber said. "The baby boomer generation is a very difficult market for the online environment. They are not adapting the concept as well as the X and Y generation and as a result, I opened up the community to everyone."

Podber said she intends for echain to be the leader and number one online business social networking community.

To see the full interview with Podber, visit: http://www.bizsandiego.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1033

IT Pros Can Look to Alternative Fields for Work

The recession is heightening competition for a dwindling number of IT jobs, while exerting downward pressure on compensation.

Many IT professionals -- both employed and unemployed -- are considering changing careers, but are naturally concerned about wasting their investment in their education and experience. That concern can be dispelled by Debugging Your Information Technology Career (www.elegantfixpress.com), which features 20 alternative fields where computer professionals' technical knowledge will be advantageous. An added bonus: Most of these fields offer strong protection from both offshoring and recessions.

Janice Weinberg (www.janiceweinberg.com), the author, is a career consultant formerly with IBM and GE, whose IT background enabled her to identify the 20 careers she describes. While most of them aren't usually thought of as computer jobs, computer proficiency is a key qualification for success in each.

For example:

* An architect's knowledge of best practices in systems design would be a strong asset in a technology due diligence position.

* A business analyst who guided logistics staff in defining their IT requirements would be a credible candidate for a strategic alliance management position at a company marketing logistics software.

* A NOC manager who upgraded a change-management function would bring a valuable customer's perspective to a role as a change-management software product manager.

* A network security administrator could become a broker or underwriter of cyberliability insurance.

* A software engineer who supported CRM applications could parlay that experience into a position selling CRM software.

* Any IT professional who can assess the commercial potential of new computer technology could qualify for a position as an equity analyst covering the computer industry.

Most of the careers can be entered without further education beyond a BS in a computer-related discipline. Several -- for example, business continuity planner -- require a certification. Some readers may be motivated to become technology attorneys, forensic accountants or healthcare administrators. Many of the fields can be springboards for new consulting practices.

As Weinberg describes each career, readers will:

* Realize why computer expertise is an advantage in delivering top performance;

* Be able to imagine themselves in the field by reading the hour-by-hour Typical Workday;

* Understand how a recession could undermine job security, while learning career-planning strategies for minimizing or avoiding any negative impact.

Readers will learn job-hunting techniques tailored to specific fields, including guidance in identifying and approaching employers, and in selecting those aspects of their experience to highlight in their resumes and interviews for greatest impact. Although most of the fields are highly insulated from offshoring, where vulnerability exists, Weinberg suggests job-hunting techniques to minimize one's exposure.

While there are many books providing IT career advice, Weinberg's gives new - and broader - meaning to the term "computer job," demonstrating that an IT professional's knowledge constitutes precious currency in a world dependent on computer technology.

Bersin & Associates Expands Area to Social Networking

Bersin & Associates, a research and advisory firm focused on enterprise learning and talent management, is expanding its research coverage to encompass talent acquisition, including the areas of corporate recruiting, sourcing, and talent planning. The company has also added a new principal analyst, Madeline Laurano, to its research team.

Laurano will cover a wide range of topics - including onboarding, applicant tracking and assessment, sourcing strategies, employer branding, talent acquisition systems, and the use of social networking in corporate recruiting. She has recently completed two research bulletins: Social Media as a Recruitment Tool and Employer Referral Programs in Today's Economy, both available for a limited time on a complimentary basis.

Laurano has also created All Aboard, a new blog covering all aspects of talent acquisition. Recent postings cover the use of Twitter for corporate recruiting, recruiting in a recession, and talent acquisition predictions for 2009.

Laurano has already begun work on the company's first industry study of talent acquisition systems, scheduled for publication by June 1. The study, based on both quantitative and qualitative data, will examine the current use of talent acquisition technology in organizations, the user experiences related to these applications and tools, along with a comprehensive view of the market and profiles of major technology providers. Corporate recruiters, solution providers, and social networking companies interested in participating in this study can email info@bersin.com.

Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, Laurano served as the research director for ERE Media, where she created the ERE webinar series, published the Talent Acquisition Industry Analysis and Buyers Guide, led community discussion groups, and had responsibility for various research products and services. Laurano also worked as a research analyst for the Aberdeen Group and as a research director for Linkage Inc., where she co-edited Best Practices in Leading a Global Workforce and Secrets in Succession Planning.

Laurano is conducting two upcoming webinars: Onboarding, A Generational Melting Pot, Jan. 14, 2 p.m. EST; and Social Networking Sites to Effectively Attract Top Talent, Feb. 26, 2 p.m. EST. Registration for both webinars is complimentary.

For more information, go to www.bersin.com or call 561-455-0622, ext. 223.

Obama: 3 to 4 Million Jobs Can be Saved or Created

In one of his final radio addresses before becoming the 44th President, President-elect Barack Obama said Saturday an analysis of his stimulus proposals demonsrates that between 3 million and 4 million U.S. jobs could be kept or created by 2010, nearly 90% of them in the private sector.

The analysis of Obama's estimated $800 billion plan to take the country out of a year-long recession was submitted by the chair of his council of economic advisers, Christina Romer, and by Vice President-elect Joe Biden's chief economic adviser, Jared Bernstein.

According to his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama noted, "The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries. And they'll be the kind of jobs that don't just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term."

One day earlier, staggering numbers from the U.S. Labor Department showed that U.S. employers cut more than half a million jobs from their payrolls in December, moving the unemployment rate to 7.2%.

According to the President-elect, his plan would create nearly 500,000 jobs by investing in clean energy, by committing to double the output of alternative energy in the next three years and by producing the energy efficiency of 2 million American homes.

Analysts have estimated that Obama's plan will cost some $800 billion.

Commentary: Breast-feeding Takes Hold of Facebook

In today's challenging economy, business professionals must avoid any slip ups at all costs to keep their job.

But what about those women who must feed their children who join them at their place of business?

Although the numbers may not be high, it does exist. More importantly, what about the woman at home who just wants to nurture her child on a regular basis? Would a social networking site have an issue with that? In the case of one California woman, apparently so.

Last summer the social networking site Facebook began removing any photos it deems obscene, including those containing a fully exposed breast, which the site labels as "showing the nipple or areola."

On Dec. 27, approximately 11,000 protesters held a virtual nurse-in by uploading breast-feeding photos onto their Facebook profiles, and 20 or so women showed up at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., to breast-feed there. By Dec. 30, more than 85,000 members had become members of a Facebook group called "Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!"

The group, founded by San Diego mom Kelli Roman, urges Facebook to change its obscenity policy. According to the petition the moms put together, "We expect you to realize that nursing moms everywhere have a right to show pictures of their babies eating, just like bottle-fed babies have a right to be seen. In an effort to appease the closed-minded, you are only serving to be detrimental to babies, women, and society."

Canadian group Topfree Equal Rights Association (TERA) began posting on its Web site photos that breast feeders claim were removed from Facebook.

Facebook, in turn, says that its company's guidelines regarding exposed flesh allow many breastfeeding photos. However, Facebook draws the line at a visible nipple or areola. The company also nixes pictures showing the gluteal cleft.

While I go look up the definition of gluteal cleft, I'll check out some of the photos the moms have posted. As I see it, the moms are in the right here. Being a guy, I know better than to argue with a breast-feeding mom.

Job Losses Continue to Mount in U.S.

The news should not come as any surprise that December brought an end to a brutal year for job losses in the U.S.

According to a U.S. Labor Department report released today, the year's total job losses amounted to 2.6 million, marking the highest level in more than six decades.

The economy lost 524,000 jobs in December and 1.9 million in the year's final four months, following the credit crisis that began in September.

Noting more bad news, the unemployment rate increased to 7.2% last month from 6.7% in November - its highest rate since January 1993.

November, in which 584,000 jobs went by the wayside, and December marked the first time in the 70-year history of the report where the economy lost more than 500,000 jobs in consecutive months.

Report highlights:

* Job losses spread across a large spectrum of industries. Manufacturing lost 149,000 jobs, the leisure and hospitality industries trimmed 22,000 jobs, and the mining industry removed 1,000 positions.

* Professional and business services jobs fell by 113,000. And financial services jobs fell by 14,000.

* A mere two of 10 industry categories were hiring in December. Government hiring, which has stayed relatively strong throughout the downturn, increased another 7,000 jobs in December. Education and health services also added payrolls by 45,000 employees.

* Construction employment dropped further by 101,000 jobs, and the rate of construction unemployment increased to 15.3%.

Social Networking a Key to Success

With many businesses struggling to make a go of it in today's tough economy, social networking is proving more valuable than ever.

In order to help businesses do well not only in good times, but survive the current challenges, GOSOCIALNETWORK spoke recently with Carrie Podber, founder of echaincommunity.com.

GSN: How can social networking help one's business in today's tough economy?

Carrie Podber: In today’s economy we will learn now more than ever the importance of building the proper relationships in business. Social Networking when used appropriately is also a cost effective way to market, advertise and serve as a public relations tool in the areas of blogging, article write-ups and social media.

Social Networking is driven by critical mass and we have now reached that mass over the Internet. The ability to tap into the knowledge base of thousands of Internet users, read their personal bio, company profile, blogs, engage in interaction and build your strategic, synergistic and revenue relationships has created a new wave of business possibilities. Allowing users to tap into such a database is a compelling reason in itself for business minded individuals to become involved in the social networking space.

Currently our business community is comprised of the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. Generation Y has been predisposed to incorporating social networking as they enter the workforce by having already involved themselves in networks like MySpace, Facebook and YouTube. These sites have introduced millions of students under the age of 21 to the process and as they move into the business world they will expect tools like these to be available to them. A portion of the Baby Boomers and Generation X have been predisposed by way of dating sites and now an increasing number utilizing Facebook to find old friends and keep in contact with present ones. These same tools enable intergenerational collaboration as we tap the energy of our diverse youth, the productivity of our middle-aged workforce, and the wisdom of our elders to build our next generation of business.

Content Management is a key driver in Social Networking. By definition content management is a computer application that is used to create, edit, manage, and publish content in a consistently organized fashion. General uses include news articles, operators' manuals, technical manuals, sales guides, and marketing brochures. The content managed may include computer files, image media, audio files, video files, electronic documents, and Web content.

Rich media specifically is used to describe a broad range of digital interactive media. It is either downloaded or embedded in a webpage. When it is downloaded, it is viewed or used offline with media players. When it is embedded it is uploaded to an online environment such as YouTube, where it can either be played on their site or the code can be embedded on another site such as Facebook, MySpace, echain community or your own personal web site. Another words, it is not housed on your server or actually even watched on your site although it appears to be but is available to the masses.

Rich Media is dynamic motion and can involve user interaction. Streaming video and Webcasts are examples of rich media. Often times webcasts can be coupled with a slide show. For example when I appeared on The Profitability Channel, I went into the studio, filmed my show and it was either watched live or available for viewing at the viewers leisure. In conjunction with the video, I put together a PPT presentation, which ran simultaneously next to the video. Areas that would benefit from rich media are Education, Continuing Ed, Corporate Training, Informational (products/services) etc. and allow for user interaction. In addition, we can allow the community to ask questions regarding these videos on their time and they are answered on your time. Social Networking only works when the users are active participants.

GSN: For those businesses who fail to have relevant Web sites, blogs, etc. what are the dangers for them in today's competitive world?

CP: Today’s competitive dangers are two fold. We have hit realization that a business is comprised of the product/service it offers, its Management and its employees. Therefore, it is critical that your web presence is both company and individual based. Not only do you need a web presence showcasing your products/services, we as users of these products and services now more than ever want to know about those providing them. The Internet is your foot in the door to introducing your company while social networking is the door to building synergistic, strategic and revenue relationships.

The process for business is simple. First you have to know you need a product or service, second you have to know who provides that product or service, and third you need to feel confident that you trust the product or service you are purchasing. The majority of business comes from referrals, whether that is from an individual or from research obtained from PR (press releases, write-ups, and media). The first place the majority of people go to in order to obtain such information is the Internet in turn the Internet is driven by such content. Therefore, if your company and its employees don’t have a presence on the Internet they won’t be found. If they can’t be found then the general public either doesn’t know you exist or doesn’t have a level of trust because there is no information substantiating it.

Customers and clients no longer want to talk to a barley speaking individual overseas through an 800 number. The process of making the phone call, being placed in a cue, providing standard information, being forwarded to the “correct department”, sitting again in cue and then repeating your issue to an individual who can not understand you for the mere purpose of cutting corporate costs overseas is no longer acceptable. These so called customer service representatives are programmed individuals without the ability to conduct a conversation that yields results and often ends up causing frustration.

echain community is a combination of Social Marketing/Media/PR coupled with the ability to build proper relationships with companies and individuals. We are not about having you enter a black whole in the worldwide web. We are about helping members properly showcase themselves and their products/services through bios, profiles, blogs, community interaction, social media (sharing of videos/pictures), while simultaneously helping members build relationships for long term results. The online interaction dictates the offline face-to-face and facilitates the process, it does not replace it.

It sounds simple to say, I have a profile online or I belong to all these different social networking sites. Unfortunately, it’s not simple and it’s not enough to say I have a profile online. In order to be successful you need to understand the different sites and their uses. Then you need to understand how to become an active participant. Everyone needs to be on board and if you’re not, you are late to the game. The good news is we are experts who have been deep into this space way before it was even termed in the marketplace and are available to help you build your presence. It requires time, expertise and the willingness to be an active participant to make this work. If there was ever a time to call on an expert it’s now. This is a game where the winners will emerge and the losers will be non existent. The only thing separating the two is working with an expert to build your Internet presence.

GSN: How can services like echain, etc. help businesses?

CP: echain community utilizes a proprietary platform to build client relationships via an online community. We bring together the latest techniques in social networking, social media, and online collaboration.

The echain community process provides proven methods for building relationships. Member generated content is combined with advanced Community administration, privacy, and security to create an effective community environment.

Social networks like MySpace, Facebook, Dating Sites and YouTube have already introduced billions of people to the phenomenon. Our same tools enable intergenerational collaboration as we tap the energy of our diverse youth, the productivity of our middle-aged workforce, and the wisdom of our elders.

The echain community has a solid process in place. Built into one software program are a number of social networking techniques and collaborative tools, packaged with the best practices for building relationships among members. By using proven tools and process for community engagement, echain provides the shortest path to building a strong business community.

echain utilizes such features as Front Page Community BLOG, BLOG Roll, Panel of Experts, Featured Member List, Recent Visitor List, RSS Feeds, Community Streams, Third Party Widgets (ie: Social Media), Polls, Bookmarks (community favorite sites), Q/A Community Participation, Member Profiles, Company Profiles, Member Mini BLOGS, Photo Galleries, Groups, Events, Agendas, Jams, echain Connections, echain Introductions, echain Message Center. These features have been proven to be of highest value across many social networking sites.

After login, social networking, collaboration, and real fun happen privately. Community Members help grow the network. They add content through comments and their own blogs, interacting with other members through introductions, referrals, connections, group activities and events.

GSN: Where will social networking be a year from now?

CP: It is important to understand the cycle of the web in order to understand Social Networking, where it falls and where it will be a year from now.

The turning point for the web came in the fall of 2001 with the dot-com bust. Common patterns dictate that technology generally crashes round one to make room for a big splash in round two, allowing for a separation between those with the ability to succeed and those that are set to fail.

Web 1.0 was informational and the sites that simply provide information are at a brick wall. The one-way model of submitting content and awaiting its arrival to a site is no longer acceptable. Web users are demanding more content delivered at a faster pace to include real time interaction with other visitors allowing for the building of relationships, sharing of knowledge and advice.

Web 2.0 brought about what is now known as “Social Networking”. Collaborating among web participants is the now generation for what was formerly referred to as “stale content”. Instead of one-on-one interaction - user to web site, a new level has been added removing the barriers to sharing information - allowing for a many to many exchange in what is now commonly known as a “community”. The Internet is content driven. Without content, we have no Internet.

Social Networking results have provided the ability for more people to contribute with a much wider variety of content. Experts can now gain recognition, showcase their products and services and utilize the Internet for both learning and a marketing tool. The more content and knowledge a web site holds, the more visitors and members it will attract.

We are at a stage where in addition to individual users joining several social networking sites, most corporate websites will have a social networking component to it. These sites will be used for bridging the gap between virtual employees, market research, measuring consumer product awareness, product introductions, testing customer reactions, and tracking how customers use products and services.

These communities will reach across corporate boundaries as rapidly forming partnerships require the capacity to build trusting relationships through the virtual world.

echain community’s experience involves both on/offline Social Networking, Marketing, PR expertise in addition to being a technological liaison between companies and technology. So whether you are an entrepreneur, small to medium sized company or corporation we can assist you with both your web presence or building your inter office social community.

For further information, visit www.echaincommunity.com.

Welcome to GOSOCIALNETWORK

GOSOCIALNETWORK is a blog created to help business professionals market themselves.

Especially in today's challenging economy, marketing yourself to gain the best job possible is now more important than ever. And even if you have that dream job, creating more business is important too.

By social networking, you can make new business contacts, strengthen current relationships, and stay one step ahead of the competition.

This site will also publish information on the latest job markets, the economy, the latest social issues impacting the Internet and more.

Welcome to GOSOCIALNETWORK!