Utilising social networking

It’s amazing how long social networking has been around as the latest and greatest tech tool. By now I’ve generally seen and heard most of the news but it was interesting to hear MySpace’s mobile guru give his take at the recent NetEvents Asia Pacific Press Summit last month.

You rarely meet someone so suited to their job as Jason Ling. He symbolises everything that is MySpace. He lives and breathes social networking and unconsciously reaches for his mobile phone every few minutes during media interviews – just to make sure he’s not missing out. By the way he dresses and acts you can tell he’s not one of the vendors, but his fidgety manner and casual air hides an incredibly smart guy who is very switched on.

This time last year it was reported that MySpace was already making more than $30 million a month and it’s only gone up from there. The rise of social networking has created a demanding new Generation Y that expects high-quality technology that works perfectly every time. It’s this generation that companies need to attract as early as possible to their workforce.

But what about the older generations? Is everyone adapting and tuning in to YouTube, Facebook or MySpace? Ling touted Linked In as the big thing for anyone outside of Gen Y – but how many people are using it to further their business? Are you using the site?

Ling went on to explain that social networking will soon be available on every mobile device. And this is a man who can make such a claim considering his looming launch of MySpace Mobile.

One analyst representative at the press summit said their research showed that 75 percent of people in the Asia Pacific region use social networking tools – but how many people are actually using it for business purposes? Is your business benefiting? Let us know...

Helen

hfrost@techpartner.news