My Social Media Expert

We see lots and lots of statistics about who’s using social media.  And most of the time, the data are so poor that they tell you virtually nothing.

But for once, some decent data have come out, from a good research institute (Pew), collected by a good survey organization (Princeton), with a solid sample (probability sample, telephone interviews).

Here are some of the highlights:

• Adult use is exploding, quadrupling since 2005:  from 8% of adults in 2005 to 35% now.  That means more than 1 in 3 adults uses these sites.
• Although the use is higher among teens (65%) than among adults, adults–not teens–make up the majority of social network users.  That’s because adults make up a much bigger portion of the American population than teens do.
• Not surprisingly, younger adults use these sites much more than their older counterparts:  75% of those 18-24 have a profile, 57% of those 25-34 do, 30% of those between 35 and 44 have a profile.  The rate falls to 19% among those between 45 and 54, 10% for those between 55 and 64, and 7% among those over 65.
• Contrary to what we might expect, men and women are equally likely to use these sites.
• Use is higher among both blacks and Hispanics than among whites.  That’s particularly interesting when we consider that the rate of entrepreneurship among Hispanics is growing faster than that of any other ethnic group.
• Social network use is lower among higher-income than lower-income people:  45% of those earning less than $30,000 have a profile, compared to only 31% of those earning over $75,000.  Given the fact that use stands higher among younger than among older users, that’s not surprising–if we accounted for age, we might see a different income pattern.
• Social network use is significantly higher among urban than among either suburban or rural residents.

So here’s some good information you can put to work in your business, to tell you more about if and how you can reach your target market through social media.

A new survey from Marketing Sherpa documents what most assumed:  As recession increases pressures on marketers to “do more with less,” many of those marketers are turning to social media/Web 2.0 to generate and convert leads.

That’s not surprising.  But what is surprising is that developing Web 2.0 content doesn’t rank as high on their list of priorities as one might expect, ranking below 4 other priorities listed in the survey.

The reason?  Many are unsure about their ability to develop Web 2.0 content and integrate social media into their marketing activities.

This suggests, then, that we can expect to see many new entrants–and much bigger players–in the social media space.

But it also makes it clear that many marketers are unsure about how to make social media work for them.  This points to an opportunity for those who are skilled in social media use and development to market those skills, as more and more “traditional” marketers try to ramp up their skills in using social media–particularly in using video, blogs, and podcasts.

The guys who did the new study on social networks and happiness also did a follow-up study on social media–online social networks.  It suggests that we should all make sure we’re smiling in our profile pictures, if we want to succeed!

The researchers coded pictures of 1700 college studeents who are interconnected on Facebook.

In part of the study, they coded whether the students were smiling in their profile pictures.  They “mapped” the network of students and friends, noting who was smiling and who wasn’t.

The “map” of the network of friends showed that smiling folks, who are presumably happier, clustered together; not surprisingly, the less happy folks also clustered together.

What’s more, the people who were smiling were more central in the network than the folks who weren’t smiling.

This study suggests that we should make sure our profile pictures show us smiling and happy, so we can attract more “friends” and customers!

The message has been spread all over the media this week:  A new study shows that our social networks affect our happiness.

But there’s more to the story, and the implications for how we build and use our social networks, than has been covered in the media.  There are powerful messages here about social network strategies that haven’t been covered in the news stories.

For example, one finding that the media isn’t talking about is the effect of centrality in social networks.

Centrality means the extent to which someone is at the “core” or “center” of a social network–so if you’re central, you’re in a position that’s much like the “hub” in a wheel.  You’re at the center of a bunch of different connections, which means you can reach a lot of different people easily.

Cenrality is a big deal in social networks, online and offline.  For example, we advise clients to spend some time getting the “lay of the land” when they go into a new social media space (an online social network) and to look particularly for people who are central there.  When you’re trying to get connected, linking to those people can be a wonderful strategy.

Obviously, whether you’re networking “offline” or in social media, being as central as possible in networks of connections–whether they’re in a niche social networking site online or the Chamber of Commerce “offline”–is a good goal.

This new study on social networks and happiness tells us more about the importance of centrality in social networks.

The results show that people who are more central in social networks are more likely to be happy, while those on the “periphery” are more likely to be unhappy.

Is this just showing us that happy people are more likely to be central–sought out by lots of people?  The authors tested that possibility and found it wasn’t the case:  Centrality in a network leads to happiness, not the reverse.

This is just more evidence, then, of the importance of making lots of connections in social networks and of trying to connect to central people, the folks “in the middle of it all,” online and offline.

After showing how social networks affect health (obesity and smoking), two leading researchers have now documented what we’ve long suspected:  The people around us–members of our social networks–affect our happiness.

The new study, published in the British Medical Journal this week, uses survey data from the Framingham Heart Study to document patterns in the “structure” of happiness of social networks.

The results show that we’re more likely to be happy if the people we’re connected to in our social networks are happy.

So happiness “spreads” in social networks, producing “clusters” of happy people.  Unhappiness spreads, too, but not as strongly as happiness does.

First, the results remind us of several important facts about social networks:

• They remind us that social networks and networking aren’t just online and they’re not just collections of business associates.  Our networks include everyone to whom we’re connected, in any way, online AND offline, personally and professionally.
• Because of that, social networks don’t just help us get jobs or promotions or sales leads, they affect every aspect of our lives–our health, our happiness, our job satisfaction, our income.
• Building, maintaining, and using those social networks effectively, then, is critical to both our personal and our professional well-being.

The results also remind us of the critical role “indirect connections” play in social networks.

• The researchers found that it isn’t just the people to whom you’re directly connected that affects your happiness, although those effects are the strongest:  the “friends of friends” (people 2 degrees away) and the “friends of friends of friends” (3 degrees away) also affect your happiness.
• That’s the same thing they found with obesity and smoking–so it appears that the people within “3 degrees of separation” in our social networks have big effects on what happens to us.

They also remind us that just having more connections is not, in and of itself, the key to successful social networks:

• The study found that having a bigger social network only increased your happiness if those “extra” social network members were happy themselves.

What does all this mean–should you dump all your unhappy friends, relatives, and neighbors?  Of course not.

The take-home message is about understanding the powerful effects that our social network members have on us, and we on them.  Knowing that gives us tremendous power.

• If we’re conscious of these effects, we can make informed choices about how we spend our time.
• Being conscious of the fact that “sadness” can spread in networks can also help us combat those effects.
• When we consider this study with all the other evidence about social networks, it reminds us of how critically important our social networks are to who we are, what we do, and what we achieve.

This study is yet another reminder that we need to be building diverse social networks to lots of different kinds of people and we need to think consciously about the power of those social networks for our work and our lives.

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There’s an interesting piece in the LATimes this morning on stress reduction techniques.  The author tries to go beyond some of the conventional stress reduction tipes (”take a hot bath, breathe deeply) to cover some of the recent research on stress reduction.  She also cites our research on the role social networks play in combatting disaster-related stress.  You can take a look at it here:

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-whatworks1-2008dec01,0,699224.story.

A new research study provides a new twist on the benefits of social networks by showing that GIVING social support brings positive health effects.

We’ve known for a long time that RECEIVING social support improves our health and extends our lives.  That’s why it’s so critically important for us to maintain the personal as well as the professional sides of our networks–so that we continue receiving that all-important social support.  We know, too, that keeping the relationships of our social networks alive requires giving, as well as receiving, support.

That’s why we spend so much time urging people to make networking, online and offline, about GIVING, not just receiving.

But this new study puts a new slant on the importance of giving social support. It shows that older people who spent at least 14 hours a week caring for a spouse lived longer than those who did not.  These effects held net of such demographic characteristics as health, age, race, gender, and net worth.

The study’s author speculates that the psychological benefits of helping another person may reduce the stressful effects of watching him or her suffer.

This is fascinating, important new evidence of the benefits of social networks and the importance of giving of ourselves to others.

The all-too-familiar drill is beginning already here–making sure we have what we need, if Gustav fulfills the predictions.

Like other small business owners, I have to make sure that not only my family, but also my business is ready.

So why am I writing blog posts and not scrambling for supplies?  Because we have a good disaster system in place, for our family and our business.

We have some work to do, no question.  But we’re primarily going to be getting the always-last-minute-items, such as extra water and gas for the generator.  Most of the other supplies, such as food and and a base supply of water, the generator (and a room air conditioner it can run!), are here.  If the predictions hold, we’ll be securing the house this weekend.

There’s not really much to do in our business, either.

• We keep our insurance policies up to date (you can’t make changes, once the warnings go up).  We’ve scanned those policies into our computer files, along with copies of our tax returns.  That ensures that, if we needed to apply for SBA disaster insurance, we’d have the most critical information.
• But how could we get to our computer files, if a disaster struck?    Our offsite data backup system backs up our files constantly.  We can access the files from any location.  (That costs us less than $50 per year, per computer).
• Our business is home-based, which means our generator and the power inverters can charge cell phones and run laptops.  Our family disaster supplies will take care of our “staff.”

Stop and think for a minute about where you’d be if your business lay in Gustav’s sites.  Would you be ready?

Don’t think you’re safe because you’re not on the Gulf coast.  ALL businesses stand vulnerable to some form of disaster.  Fire and terrorism threatens us all.  For almost every business, the threat of at least one natural disaster–whether it’s wildfires, blizzards, earthquakes, or tornadoes–remains constant.

And don’t dismiss disaster planning as something that isn’t worth the investment:  42% of New Orleans’ small businesses didn’t reopen in the year following Katrina.

Many of those businesses THOUGHT they were ready.  But their data backups lay underwater, many couldn’t find their employees for months.  And sadly, many of the businesses that did survive aren’t ready now, as Gustav prepares to enter the Gulf.

Do yourself a favor– get your business ready for the worst.  And get your family ready, as well.  What’s the worst that can happen if you do?  You’ll spend a little time and money keeping safe what you’ve worked so hard to build.  And just remember the worst that can happen if you DON’T prepare is that you could lose it all, in an instant.

As I forked over the $70 to enter the amusement park on Sunday afternoon, I was very tempted to suggest we just forget this idea and go home.  $70?  For an afternoon of rides?  But I had promised my daughter that we would visit this park before summer ended and my opportunities to fulfill that promise were eroding rapidly.

So in we went.  And as I watched her face on the Tilt-a-Whirl, my reservations vanished.  Pure, unbridled joy lit her face as she squealed with delight.  I hate to sound like the Master Card commercial, but this really WAS priceless.

What’s more, I was laughing right along with her.  I hadn’t had this much fun in a while.

Three more times on the Tilt-a-Whirl, a few rides on the Scrambler, a couple of spins on the ferris wheel–we tried out most of the rides that seemed even remotely reasonable for a six-year-old.  She loved it all, even the trip on the Xydeco, the ride that pinned me against the side of the car with such unexpected G-force that I held on for dear life.  We only tried that one once.

We ended the day with a chance for her to “drive” one of the “Model-T” cars around the track.  She was ecstatic.

I don’t know when I’ve heard so many choruses of “thanks, Mom” or when we’ve just had so much fun together.

What does this have to do with networking?  Everything.

Networking is all about balance.  It’s about

• balancing the business and the personal sides of your network, by making and maintaining a wide range of contacts;
• using business contacts effectively, so you have more time and less stress;
• relying on your personal contacts when you need them, so you can stay in the big meeting even if it’s time to pick the kids up from soccer;
• getting the support you need from both sides of your network, so you can decrease stress and cope more effectively with the stress you can’t eliminate.

And the simple fact is that we can’t make or maintain our networks, or do any of these things effectively, if we don’t step back from all the to-do lists, and the networking itself, to just have fun.

So on Monday morning, I wasn’t remotely sorry that I left the piles of laundry and the unread articles and the unanswered e-mail and the mounds of dog fur to have fun with my daughter.  Because on Monday morning, I woke up to face all those things feeling better than I had on any Monday morning in a long time.

I think we’re going to do this more often.