If giving and sharing denote a thriving group on LinkedIn, we've struck the right note.
Our moderated LinkedIn group, also Social Media Today, welcomed its 70,000th member yesterday. Begun just over four years ago, membership stood at 52,000 when CEO Robin Carey appointed me lead manager last fall and hit 60,000 late in December. As the group grows, so do substantive conversations about social media.
What is particularly striking about this community is the willingness of members to help others. Sometimes members get into deep discussions about social media approaches and sometimes they offer basic information to help new members who weren't around the first or second time a particular question arose.
Right now the busiest discussion, with 140 comments, began with the question "Is it necessary to have a dedicated social media department, staff or can a social media strategy be just as effective without one?" Close behind with 123 comments is "Is it worth it for a business to pursue social media if they don't see an economic benefit?"
The group at times resembles a raucous town hall meeting. You have the regulars who stand up and speak often, the larger crowd of quiet folks who rarely say anything, and another set that cautiously tests the verbal climate. One person wants to talk about his neighbor's loud dog and someone else wants to take up global warming.
It's usually a polite crowd. But anyone who manages a LinkedIn group knows that there's always the potential for conflict because we all hold our opinions dear and don't always take kindly to dissent. This is where it gets a little tricky since it's all about interactivity ─ and excessive control can be stifling.
Self-promotion and outright Spam is a cancer within too many LinkedIn groups and we try to stay on guard. This is an open membership group, but membership requests do require our approval and those new to LinkedIn or this group will see their comments moderated for several days. We also receive several hundred blog and article submissions daily which necessarily are moderated as well to keep the room open to true discussions.
I'm grateful to those who flag comments containing links that aren't relevant to the discussion. It gets harder when someone asks for suggestions about specific Web tools and others offers solutions that just happen to come from their own companies. I guess it's a situation-by-situation decision but I welcome your thoughts about this.
Looking at as many profiles as I do each day, I find it gratifying that most LI accounts now have user pictures. I mean, you don't wear a paper bag over your head at in-person networking events, so why be shy within what probably is the Internet's premier business networking community?
Far too many users miss a great relationship-building opportunity by failing to include an enticing summary in their profile. And what's up with those (other than LI newbies) who desire to join a group about all things social media but have absolutely nobody within their own networks? Gotta be social to be social.
With thanks to our fearless leader Robin Carey and her total support for transparency, see the images here containing an array of statistics about the group.