A Call for Executive Engagement: 7 CEO’s Driving Conversation in Social Media
Fortune 100 CEO’s have not embraced social media. Let me rephrase that. They’re not even participating in social media. According to a report from UberCEO, only two of the top 100 have Twitter profiles and all 100 are ghosts in the blogosphere.
In addition, a Forbes Insights study (sponsored by Google) titled “The Rise of the Digital C-Suite” revealed that only 1 percent of those over the age of 50 provide daily contributions to a work-related blog. So what does this mean? If you’re old and powerful, you’ll likely not be active in social media? No. It just demonstrates the gap between those who entered the work force with a reliance on fax machines, phones and letters vs. those who live in an environment where Facebook, blog posts and tweets dominate the communications.
So what’s a newbie social media user who happens to run one of the world’s largest companies supposed to do? For starters, let’s take a closer look at seven CEO’s who are doing it right - regardless of fame or Fortune status. Follow them. Better yet, ask them a question. They know what social media is about so don’t be surprised when they respond to you.
1) Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: @zappos
2) Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson: @richardbranson
3) Digg CEO Jay Adelson: @jayadelson
4) Technorati Founder David Sifry: @dsifry
5) Federated Media CEO John Battelle: @johnbattelle
6) Mozilla CEO John Olilly: @johnolilly
7) DoSomething CEO Nancy Lublin: @dosomething
BusinessWeek also did a feature on close to 50 CEO’s on Twitter. Check out http://www.exectweets.com for more business leaders sharing their voices on Twitter. To all the other CEO’s not yet participating in social media, I think Nancy Lublin’s organization says it best.
Filed under Posts | Tags: Adelson, Battelle, Branson, Digg, DoSomething, Federated Media, Hsieh, Labin, Mozilla, Olilly, Sifry, social media, Technorati, Virgin Group, Zappos | Comments (3)7 Social Media Milestones-at-a-Million
It’s almost been a million years since our last post or at least it seems that way. As a result of the million-follower march on Twitter last week, we wanted to take a closer look at 7 of the most notable social media milestones-at-a-million.
7) Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN for One Million Followers on Twitter – Twitter has captured the imagination and interest of companies, celebrities and everyday citizens fascinated with the limitations and possibilities of communicating in 140 characters. The pop culture frenzy took an epic turn when Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN to see who could be the first to a million followers. While Ashton edged out CNN to the throne and proclaimed “a media revolution,” the real impact will be felt by the recipients of mosquito nets in Africa through Malaria No More. Kutcher, Larry King, Ryan Seacrest, Oprah Winfrey and Demi Moore pledged to buy thousands of nets to help prevent the spread of malaria. Hey guys, how about a race to a million nets that challenges the entire Twittersphere?
Source: Chartbeat
6) Crowdsourcing the News Gets Big When Digg Surpasses One Million Registered Users – Being featured on the front page of any media outlet is a noteworthy accomplishment, but empowering the community to create the headlines touched a nerve and created a new way to showcase popular content on the Web. Over the past 365 days, the top three stories that users have Dugg have been CNN.com stories on President Obama.
5) Second Life Reaches One Million Residents – What to do when you want more than just your own life? Create a second one in Linden Lab’s Second Life, “a free online virtual world imagined and created by its Residents.” This world captured the attention of both individuals and companies eager to reach a captive audience. The one millionth account or Resident was registered on October 18, 2006 and even produced a virtual real-estate millionaire named Anshe Chung. This week, Linden Labs reported that Second Life is surging in user-to-user transactions. The housing “bubble” is back!
Source: BusinessWeek.com
4) Ning Creates One Millionth Social Network – Everyone (including your mom) is on the major social networks that dominate the headlines. But how many people have created their own social networks around specific interests they care about most? Go on Ning and you’re likely to find a community that fits your lifestyle, with networks such as One Million Dancers or One Million Gardens.
3) Wikipedia Publishes One Millionth Article – As “the most popular general reference work on the Internet” with 12 million articles (according to Wikipedia’s Wikipedia entry), the one-million-article (in English) milestone on March 1, 2006 proved that the wisdom of the crowd was a wise way to build a library of content. The milestone article is about the Jordanhill railway station in Glasgow, Scotland.
2) Fred Figglehorn Reaches One Million Subscribers on YouTube – Would you guess that a 15-year-old kid in Nebraska would have the largest online video audience? Lucas Cruikshank plays a fast-talking (yes, we mean very fast, as in high-pitched) Fred who has squealed his way to a million subscribers and thousands of dollars in monthly revenue. If “Fred Figglehorn” was an online network TV show, it would only trail “Lost” and “Saturday Night Live,” lead “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Heroes,” as well as double the viewership of “Scrubs” and “Survivor.” Here’s looking at you kid! Fred gives thanks to his million subscribers.
1) Barack Obama Reaches One Million Fans on Facebook – The impact of social media in Obama’s Presidential campaign was felt in record-breaking fundraising, far-reaching support and even recognition as the number one marketer of 2008. Today, President Obama has more than six million fans on his Facebook page (plus another million in a group dedicated to him). On June 17, 2008, Senator Obama (at the time) promoted the historic milestone of reaching his first million fans on his page with this message: “Today we crossed an important threshold: one million supporters for Barack Obama on Facebook. The Obama page has by far more supporters than any other page – whether it’s a politician, celebrity, or band – on all of Facebook. For those who have touted the conventional wisdom that young people don’t care about politics, there couldn’t be a better testament to the energy and enthusiasm of young people today. One million Facebook users have made clear that not only are they engaged with the political process, they are ready for change to come too.”
Source: Facebook
Share your thoughts on additional social media milestones-at-a-million.
Filed under Posts | Tags: CNN, Digg, Facebook, Figglehorn, Kutcher, Ning, Obama, Second Life, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube | Comment (1)How Social Media is Changing 7 Industries
Social media is playing a significant role in how consumers participate and share information online. Instead of our weekly video on the top 7 stories, we’re taking a closer look at how 7 different industries are creating new opportunities and relationships through social media. Law firms, healthcare, action sports, real estate, travel/tourism and colleges are all examined further. If you’re in any of these industries, we encourage you to provide additional examples or share insights in the comments below.
Filed under Posts | Tags: college, Facebook, healthcare, law, real estate, sports, tourism, travel, Twitter, YouTube | Comments (2)