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Posted On
Jul 03, 2008
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Do you really believe that social networking sites are relevant enough to cater to the ever growing needs of the job market? Are they capable enough to provide quality manpower to organizations? Is it a good and reliable solution?
I would like to tell you my story in few lines.It really feels strange that I got my job through a social networking website. None is ready to buy my story, but it is as true as the sun rising in the east. Everyone is amazed that I landed up with such a good job when others really have to slog it out scanning sites, looking for opportunities and mailing resumes. Things just don’t end here and have to keep waiting for the response. Luckily I joined the famous Indian student networking portal – www.collegespeaks.com, where I would regularly post comments in the ”Quotes” section and that helped me grab my first job offer even before I finished my college. Read More
 After the dot com boom a lot of jobsites came to the fore which could supplement the traditional hiring structure. Referrals also started gaining popularity. But still the job market was not completely untapped.Now comes the social networking way of finding candidates which many professinals and HR recruitment firms consider better than many job sites. So the questions- do you Orkut, or are  you linked with LinkedIn, the most popular professional networking website, or is your face among the millions faces in Facebook, or have you had your space booked in MySpace, aptly fall in line in the series of questions that I have put up so far.
Social networking websites have suddenly caught the fancy of job seekers and the  recruiters alike. The stats are not very much in favor of jobsites as they still account for 15-20% of lateral recruits in industries (Figures are in Indian context which may vary from country to country). Social networking Websites offer special avenues and special challenges simultaneously to both the entities- the seeker and the provider.
Pros and Cons of Hiring Through Social Networking
Mine is not the only isolated case to be sourced through a social networking site. If you make a search you will find a good number of people getting plum offers through various social networking sites. And a small fraction is of people like me who would never care to post resumes due to lethargy. Let’s see what job market is all about in the present day.
The job market consists of two types of persons. The proactive ones will search through different job sites emailing their resumes. Another category is of those whose resumes are not present on the job sites meaning a good number of quality man power is latent. But by engaging social network sites, the chances are very high that those latent potentials will be lucidly available. One can get in touch with persons who are not actively into the job market as per the organization’s needs and offer the proposal.
Social networking sites (SNS) also play an important role when you are trying to set up a new venture in a foreign land or an alien country. Sites like LinkedIn can definitely help you in finding the right candidate who fits the bill. These sites are basically for professional or business networking. So when you compare them with jobsites they have a definite edge on the number of profiles on a SNS over the number of CVs stored in the database of jobsites. Another important factor why companies are looking at shifting from jobsites to networking sites can be attributed to the good number of youth accessing the latter.
 Communities, forums or user groups have a particular type of user base which consists of people having penchant for particular things. Take for example: Orkut has communities like Indian Journalists. If a media organization wants to appoint a journalist in India, he can visit that particular community and take a look at the profiles as per its requirements. Social networking site thus present a better idea about the candidate as people are more open in social networking to express their feelings.
The major factor that goes against SNS is credibility. Some argue that SNS are more credible than jobsites as the profile is in the public domain with all the references like friend lists, fans or testimonials. However, on the yardstick of credibility both hold equally and one must check through references in either case. 
Apart from the question of credibility, investment- both in terms of time and money also goes against SNS. Generally, job portals return with results quickly as compared to SNS. E-sourcing requires special set of skills to effectively spot the right talent.
For the Job Seeker and the Recruiter  The recruiter and the job seeker - these are the two who enter into a new relationship. So the impetus is on both to help each other. The job seeker can use keywords and describe about him or her. And this one is a must- join communities where he/she thinks that prospective recruiters will come, but they according to his interests.
Hiring agencies, organizations should be careful that they get across all the necessary references before they finally decide upon the candidates. We must remember that hiring through social network is still in infancy. Thanks to Web2.0 and other technologies that are really making it happen.
The Times Ahead 
Human resource is unequivocally the major asset of any organization and it involves a lot of things before a candidate is finally handed the offer letter. So it’s imperative that the organizations have to be diligent about the prospect.
The future seems very bright for the social networking sites. But nothing concrete can be said as when. Sites like LinkedIn have their profiles featured in the Google search pages. That is a big advantage for a prospective recruiter or a job seeker as they can specify the search details. Many companies have already started searching profiles in different sites that suits their taste. Experts believe in today's competitive world, it is important to target active as well as passive job seekers.Many other such sites are already are looking at options to make their profiles or user database Google searchable.
The trend of recruiting from social media sites is here to stay and will grow eventually as targeted hiring can take place for free and that too with a background check on all social media sites like LinkedIn and Orkut. Though the person commenting on the prospect can be found to be bias at times, the prospect might be also connected to other networking sites where they have a different set of people to interact with. The reviewer can visit other social media sites to know more about the prospect in question and form a conclusion by synchronizing all comments. Apart from recruiting through job portals, campuses and other mediums; social media sites are going to be one of the coolest ways to recruiting talent. Job portals are here to stay but for how long, we can just speculate.
So what say! Haven’t I given you a valid excuse to keep Orkutting? Happy surfing and start building your network, after all business is all about networking.
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Posted On
Sep 14, 2007
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Facebook is booming in popularity; MySpace is ruling the headlines again; Bebo is growing incredibly; Orkut relaunched; LinkedIn is becoming 'People Search'; Friendster is now restocking itself to enter the market again.
Put simply, social networking is popular and hot and there are plenty of efforts being put in to overpower the competition. But my question is, ‘Is it getting in any profit?’
Social Networking hive
Even if you think you too old for signing up Facebook or Linkedin, its impossible to ignore the impact these networking sites have on the web.
We all have seen how social networking sites are getting hotter day by day. It has become a very useful way to find like-minded people online, either to pursue some interest or goal, or just to help to establish a sense of community among people who may never meet in the real world.
Its not just a teen thing anymore. Infact it has become collaborative style of communication that every age group and every business has understood and is further finding creative ways to incorporate into their communication plans. A number of businesses considered adding podcasts,
seminars and video presentations to their marketing plans and get their business development staff hooked into LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook.
Consumer-based businesses jumped on this trend to create their MySpace page, Facebook appls, Twitter account or YouTube promotional video.
A hive of social networking sites have already created a lot of noise, but what most of us have yet to realize is just how productive the hive really is and how powerful it can be when it is directed in the right direction.
In fact, I think it's hard to exaggerate the coming impact of these social networks on business: They start trends but fail to build immense waves of interest in specific products. They serve giant, targeted audiences to advertisers, but can anybody see any difference in returns.
This platform that forms an authentic, peer-to-peer channel of communication that is far more credible than any corporate flackery. And all this only after four years of development, Surprising!
By the time we realize the actual productivity of social networking sites, Im sure half a million more people will jump into Facebook and Myspace with their own particular purpose in mind.
Problems faced by companies while advertising on social networking sites
Despite generating a good amount hype in media there a number of social networking sites like Youtube and Myspace who are still trying to look out for a way to use this publicity to generate advertising revenues, or may be we can call it significant advertising revenues.
While some social networking sites are trying hard to work on the unfiltered user-generated content that keeps off most the companies from advertising with them, there are few other sites that would never be able to attract any companies.
Last week I came across this article where Youtube tried launching some advertisement, prompting numerous complaints from its users, some who threatened to stop using the site.
Youtube is just one the few examples by me that shows that reflects the issues that surrounds the social networking sites. Its members abuse the freedom to upload any video freely and mention stolen content that nobody had a copyright for, not even Google.
A lot of news sites included an article over why so many brands refuse to place adverts with Youtube just because they carry loads of illicit content and videos.
A lot of reports online also spoke about how Youtube can earn advertising revenue by including some premium content from distribution deals with companies like Viacom Inc., NBC and Walt Disney Co, but the same was declined by them, I think that was simply because they were asked to pay for it. Anyways, who knows?
One of the best social networking sites, MySpace is still struggling to offer advertisers an environment that doesn’t threaten the safety of a company's brand. On the other hand if they don’t restrict or filter user-generated content they might never be able to support brand advertising.
Another reason that I came across for this ruckus being created with advertising on social networking sites are the middlemen. I think its very important for companies to know where exactly their adverts are placed. There are a lot of big companies that are completely ignorant when their ads showed up through adware products, saying that they had no idea they were supporting the practice.
I would like to give you an example here:
Few days back a number of British companies were shocked with their ads on the Facebook social-networking site appeared on the profile pages of the British National Party, a far-right wing political party that's generally seen as racist and fascist. The companies pulled their ads from the site, and now the British government says it won't advertise on user-generated content sites for fear that its ads would run alongside contentious or undesirable content.
Nobody willl deny with me here, this is certainly a very serious concern for many companies that doesn’t want to see them being associated with certain groups or types of content.
Today, almost all the social networking sites are caught up in a vicious circle of quality advertisers being scared off by the site content. They are left with no choice but to face the challenge of figuring out how to monetize their heavy traffic.
What should social networking sites do to overcome this problem?
From last few years, its been more than just a challenge for social networks to get in more adverts. It includes a lot of thinking and effort to develop a big project that is a big sale. It is happening, but much of it is still experimental.
What I think that all that a social network can promise advertisers are the ready connections they carry among similar groups of users, giving advertisers an opportunity to take advantage of word of mouth and enable the rapid spread of viral campaigns.
Further marketers and social networks should try and focus a lot more on the techniques such as creating groups and profiles to sustain their growth in that area.
Contextual ads (like those from Google Adsense) carry a uselessly low click-through rate and have a correspondingly low CPM value. This is obvious even though MySpace is a kind of social recommendation search engine for the rest of the web: why should one listen to a advertiser who doesn't know you when your friend is recommending stuff already?
Social networking sites have found their audience, and in case of Facebook and Youtube they have made a sum of money inform of buyouts. But the question is how will they pull revenue and turn their profits into business, a test on their permanence.
In a general sense I think Facebook has introduced advertising successfully, but who would want to place adverts on kid’s MySpace or on personal pages?
Advertisers look for something more viable, more controlled text for their ads, and we all know what a hit and miss these social networks can be in terms of inappropriate content.
Looking at monetization of social networks, I would like to give them some suggestions as follows:
Branded advertising
This can be a very effective way to put through your message and confirms to the wallpaper style branding that MySpace users already have. The best way one can make branding work in this context is by giving users a choice of who their sponsors should be (will they get paid if they prove sufficient traffic?).
Emotional attachment with the brand and the personal website should be established over time to gain the maximum value for both parties.
More immersive advertising experiences are needed to cement brand awareness in reality.
More consumer involvement in the advertising process in the form of sponsored widgets
As brands aim more effectively to influence the power of social networking sites to maximize their exposure. Widgets or stickers involve a great interactive element that each visitor who visits the site can participate in or put on their own blog. The true potential of these viral widgets will soon be seen in the coming years. The most common inserted item will be videos, just as it's already common to have music players with favourite songs.
These widgets are rarely sponsored right now but the viral potential alert marketers to their value.
Advertisers who hold interest in this space and want to create their own should keep in mind the following values to the consumers: Direct value (such as Adsense which pays you), Indirect value (that drives traffic to your site or increases participation with your page and conversation etc.) and Emotional/Social (conversation point, gets you recognition and ideally praise etc.).
I would like to explain you this with an example of MySpace as their users already embed widgets in their page and add "friends" that are largely unknown bands or brands. Why not encourage them to embed larger adverts or "sticker-sized" ad-snacks. If the advert is cool or funny enough, there's no reason MySpace users wouldn't be tempted to show the world their interests. Rather than consumer-generated advertising, this will be consumer-chosen advertising.
Time for online marketers to mark a change
I can see a whole new industry rising in the coming few years only dedicated to social media optimization, that will focus advertisers approach on social networking environments.
Then, in turn, the social networks may have to develop new revenue models to reflect the changes.
As read by me in a lot of articles, I think when advertisers set up a presence for their brands on the networks, they have not been very sure of the process adopted by social networks to monetize it.
I believe that consumer-generated content, of the kind seen on YouTube will become more widespread and its impact on consumer purchasing behaviors will come to dominate the role played by advertising.
The most tempting response among advertisers and among their agencies is to believe that the most significant changes are in media choices and viewing behavior, which requires the smallest response — change the venue in which ads appear, and change their format as dictated by the new media. Doing the same will certainly make a lot of difference to determine a change in advertising venue and will be more or less sufficient to restore the power of advertising.
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Posted On
Aug 25, 2007
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If the messengers of the world (the IM ones) led the way of chatting and finding new friends, social networking provided a better way of meeting people with matching interests. With the rise of social networking sites. Orkut revolutionized the way people stayed in touch.
From quite some time now, Orkut has been seeing a whole lot of popularity all over the world. With more and more people joining in daily I think Google now looks very keen changing the overall appearance of the site to enhance the entire brand image. Just a couple of days ago they introduced some new features like photo and rich content scrap, favourite videos and feeds, making communication much easier with friends and share content. They have also translated the site into 12 languages further making it easier for users to add friends globally.
Why is Orkut changing its interface?
From the past few years Orkut has been dominating social networking. After Orkut claiming the best position in this segment a lot of companies worldwide couldn’t resist grabbing a piece of action.
Today Orkut has realized that it’s not just a game of more features and a better software, but it’s about creating a better platform that gives a rich user experience to internet users.
As the competition soars more and more social networking sites are sky-scraping. MySpace, Linkedin and Facebook have been flooded with more users and also have been pulling a lot of user base from Orkut.
If the software and the content is not appealing, it becomes very comfortable for people to try new networking sites. So the question arised for Orkut, will they stick to their old dull site or will get a more innovative interface for a rich user experience. And there they are taking it in their stride.
How can Orkut increase their user base?
So, it looks like Orkut has changed its look finally!
But will it help them to fit in? After all, its Facebook, MySpace and more other social networking sites standing high.
My opinion is that Orkut will have to make a choice for different services than others, quite like what is not in the market today.
Internet users now look for a rich web experience in this prevailing competition. This richer experience, however, is the USP of any social networking site. The site should carry rich content and information, should be less complexed and less prone to errors.
Users now expect Social networking sites to deliver a more compelling experience with expanded offerings, improved usability, and at an absolute minimum, they expect the site to work properly regardless of their browser and system preferences. Users are growing increasingly impatient, and have zero-tolerance for sites that fail to work as expected. Consequently, when users experience site failures, they more likely try other networks.
And at last, Orkut should carry the most quality, relevant links as it wins the internet. The main aim of any social networking site is to increase their userbase. So Orkut will have to make sure to use all of the methods for enhancing their services to users to achieve reliable and lasting results.
Orkut into the Future
To Internet companies around the world, it has become more than apparent that Internet users are embracing Orkut with great enthusiasm. The Internet is becoming more than just a place to find information - it is now a place to interact, communicate, learn and opine on a wide variety of subjects. Orkut has a forum that has popped up all over the site in order for members to share information, ask questions and even form relationships. This is a trend which is not going to fade away anywhere in near future.
Orkut has a population of teenagers and middle aged people also. Every year new users join Orkut and the chain is ever growing. The bubble of Orkut has not burst and does not look like it is going to burst in near future. There are other social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook but it has kept its feet firmly planted. The trend in Orkut will not only be in social networking but also business networking.
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