Social Information: Gaining Competitive and Business Advantage Using Social Media Tools

By Scott Brown

Information available through ‘traditional’ business and competitive resources can be complimented by information gained through social media tools. Social Information is a must-have book for competitive and business researchers in any discipline including librarians, information professionals, intelligence analysts, students and marketing personnel, and explores how more ‘traditional’ resources can be complimented by social media tools. The book outlines different categories of social tools, competitive and business applications of these tools, and provides example searches with screenshots. The book provides concrete search examples, as well as strategies and approaches for searching social tools that may be available today or that may emerge tomorrow. Readers will learn ways to quickly develop new search strategies as new tools and features emerge. The future of social tools and information, and the lasting impact that these tools have had on how information plays a part in our lives, our businesses and our careers is discussed. The title is structured into seven chapters, covering: the impact of social media, and the approach of the book; a brief history of business and competitive information and the rise of social tools; blogs and microblogs; video, audio and images; social search engines; and the future of social information.

• The book specifically explores business and competitive information and approaches using social media tools
• Written by a highly knowledgeable and long-time practitioner and researcher in the field
• Provides both practical and strategic search approaches, so that the skills learned will be readily transferable to other social tools, and to social tools as they evolve

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Jul 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781780633275

Scott Brown

Scott Brown is owner of Social Information Group (http://www.socialinformationgroup.com), an independent consulting and information practice focused on the effective use of social networking tools for finding and sharing information. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies, government and non-profit organisations, and individuals to help them understand and effectively use these tools. He has over 20 years experience in public, academic and corporate libraries. Most recently, he was a Senior Information Specialist with Sun Microsystems, providing strategic research services and competitive intelligence information for many groups across the company. He is a founding Board member of the SLA CI Division, and adjunct faculty at San Jose State University in California and University of Denver in Colorado, USA. He is a frequent speaker on the use and evolution of social networking tools and information work. He received his library degree from San Jose State University in California, USA, in 1999.

Book preview

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Introduction: the impact of social media and the approach of this book

The impact of social media on business and competitive information

We tweet, we blog, we post updates on Facebook and Google Plus. Our colleagues invite us to connect with them on LinkedIn, Orkut, Plaxo, Mixi, MerchantCircle, and any variety of other social networks. Social networking has had a profound global influence on how we connect with each other globally, and has, in fact, influenced our language.

Even if you don’t use Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, you likely have heard news stories about Twitter being used during elections and uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, and Iran, and the blockage of social networking sites in China. You’ve probably seen video online, posted by individuals not affiliated with any traditional news outlet. Social tools have not only impacted on our connection to each other, they are impacting on our societies and our politics.

It’s staggering to remind ourselves that in 2000, none of today’s highly influential tools existed. Twitter came into being in 2006. LinkedIn started out in the living room of one of the company founders in the autumn of 2002, and officially launched in 2003. As of April 2012, LinkedIn boasts more than 150 million users and participants in over 200 countries worldwide – a growth of 60 million users just since January 2011. Twitter gained over 95 million users in just five years.

For some perspective, compare this with the time it took the following technologies to reach 50 million users:

 radio: 38 years

 television: 13 years.

For an even more dramatic illustration of the adoption of social tools, Google launched Google Plus, its own version of a social network platform, in June 2011. Though opinion on the number of actual Google Plus members and level of engagement varies, as of April 2012, it is reported that there are over 170 million people who have a Google Plus account – from zero to 170 million in ten months.

The adoption of LinkedIn (and the even swifter adoption of Google Plus and Facebook – 50 million users in only two years) illustrates the exponential growth of social media tools. Even more astounding is the fact that using LinkedIn or Facebook is not a passive activity. Using a television simply means buying one, hooking it up and turning it on. LinkedIn requires active participation. Users fill out their employment and professional information, and connect with colleagues, friends, and professional contacts. The successful use of LinkedIn also requires ongoing attention and updating. Using LinkedIn is far from a passive activity.

While there are large segments of users who register for social tools and rarely look at them again, why do so many people get involved in tools like LinkedIn and Facebook, and devote so much time to them? Like all successful social tools, LinkedIn provides a forum for connection, based around a shared interest. In LinkedIn’s case, the shared interest is professional connection and networking. Because of its focus, LinkedIn provides an outstanding resource for business and competitive information for the savvy searcher. Other professional networking tools, like Google Plus, Xing, and Plaxo, can be rich sources as