1. Leveraging on LinkedIn and other professional social networking sites, platforms and
services for marketing collaboration and engagement:
Analysis and Case Studies
By Rodelio Concepcion
Comm 455 Literature Review

2. Table of Contents
Introduction
Literature Review
I. Definition – Professional vs. General/personal
II. Reasons for professionalizing social media
III. Examplesof Professional Social Media Networks and Platforms
A. General Professional Networks
1. LinkedIn
2. Other examples(Xing, BranchOut)
B. Industry-specific social networking sites
1. Efactor – for entrepreneurs
2. Mediabistro – for content/creative industries
C. Social Network Enterprise
1. Yammer
2. Chatter
IV. Ways on how marketing professionals can leverage on social media – Case Studies
A. Follower Engagement – Salesforce
B. Accurate Contact Management
C. Lead Generation - Evalueserve
D. Recruitment and Talent Building – CH2M HILL
E. Intra-organizational Collaboration – StarCommMedia Vest
F. Reputation Management – Anvil Media
V. Rules of Engagement for Users in LinkedIn and Other Professional Social Media
VI. Issues and Emerging Trends on Professional Social Media
Conclusion
References

3. Introduction:
The rise of public social media has provided marketers with an additional tool to utilize for their
marketing efforts targeted at consumers. With almost everyone having their own identities and
profiles in social media sites, friends, fans, consumers, customers, partners are most likely
available and can be communicated and reached out online. Such has been true for business-to-
business (B2B) and intra-organizational communications as well. Niche professional social
networks geared towards businesses, enterprises and specific industries are recently emerging,
as the social media sphere evolve. Professional social networks and enterprises rise in order to
cater to these types of communications. This rise brought up the concept of social business,
which is defined as “defined social business as activities that use social media, social software
and social networks to enable more efficient, effective and mutually useful connections between
people, information and assets”1 However, there is a fine line that separates these social media
from the rest of the other social media available to the public, that clearly defines how to do social
business. For marketers, what are the different ways on how to leverage their marketing efforts in
order to maximize the utilization of these networks depending on their needs? Which engagement
processes should be considered that sets these apart from public social networks? A careful
analysis and look at case studies are essential for marketers to see the impact of these social
networks and how these will be more beneficial to their work.
It is important to take a look and analyze the phenomena of professional social media and take a
look at how companies leverage on the benefits of these media. Below is an outline of the
importance of this study:
 To understand the concept of ‘professional social media’ as opposed to ‘public/general
social media’
 To identify ways on how professional social media can be maximized in marketing
 To analyze how other enterprises use professional social media
 To identify rules of engagement and behaviors
 To identify the issues faced by marketers as well as emerging trends in using
professional social networks and platform
1
Kiron, D., Palmer,D., Phillips,A. N., & Kruschwitz, N. (2012).What managers reallythink aboutsocial
business. MIT Sloan ManagementReview, 53(4),51-60. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1023762000?accountid=9840

4. I. Definition – Professional vs. General/personal
According to Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, social media is "a group of Internet-
based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,
and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content”.2
Social media has proliferated over the past decade, although its history traces back
together with the history of the Internet.
General/personal social networking sites are social websites that cater to the general
consumption of the public. Examples of these websites are FaceBook, MySpace, Google
Plus and Twitter. These websites focus on building relationships among people with similar
interests and activities and allow them to post anything personal or opinionated freely.
On the other hand, a different type of social media has evolved that cater to a more
professional use and consumption of the technology. Professional social media cater to a
more collaborative, career and business oriented online social interaction among
professionals, businesses, corporations and industries. The rise of LinkedIn has paved the
way in popularizing a more professional use of social media, and has influenced as well a
professional use of even the personal social media websites like FaceBook, MySpace and
Twitter.
II. Reasons for professionalizing social media
Just like traditional communication, communication among and between professionals,
businesses and enterprises exemplify a different degree of communication methods
compared to public communications. The recent developments in the social media sphere
have urged companies to adopt social media strategies and policies, as well as usage in
order to achieve their goals and objectives. These adoptions require a less personal but
more professional when it comes to dealings with other businesses and individuals online.
Companies and professionals also see the need for an added security and privacy. They
need social media with a polish that felt safe for business, and that kept social networking
to a minimum.
Different aspects of people’s job functions and activities are starting to go online through
social media. In an online article, Courtney Jansson said “Web 2.0 technologies are
2
Kaplan,Andreas M.; Michael Haenlein (2010) "Users ofthe world, unite!The challenges and opportunities
of Social Media". Business Horizons 53(1):59–68.

5. changing the approach to the traditional job search. No longer are job searches confined to
just a resume. It's now all about your web presence.”3
Similarly, numerous companies are starting to build their online identities and presence,
which makes collaboration easier by searching and contacting these companies through
their social media profiles. This opens activities done by companies involving social media
to be collectively known as social business. In the study entitled, “What Managers Really
Think About Social Business,”4 it has been found out that the importance of social business
to organizations is expected to grow over the next few years. Media and technology
industries are early adopters. Respondents indicated that the top two business challenges
that could be addressed by social software were managing customer relationships and
innovating for competitive differentiation.
III. Examples of Professional Social Media Networks and Platforms
A. General Professional Networks
1. LinkedIn
LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com) is a publicly-held social networking site for
people in professional occupations, as well as for companies looking for B2B
collaborations. According to the company background section of LInkedIn on its
website, LinkedIn started out in the living room of co-founder Reid Hoffman in
2002. The site officially launched on May 5, 2003. At the end of the first month in
operation, LinkedIn had a total of 4,500 members in the network.5
LinkedIn has a diversified business model with revenues coming from hiring
solutions, marketing solutions and premium subscriptions.
Currently, LinkedIn is ahead of its competition in terms of the number of members
(161 million subscribers). In the article “LinkedIn or LoseOut”, Wayne BreitBarth
3
Jansson,Courtney.Use Social Media to Professionalize your Online Presence.
http://www.examiner.com/article/use-social-media-to-professionalize-your-online-presence
4 Kiron,D., Palmer,D., Phillips,A. N., & Kruschwitz,N. (2012).What managers reallythink aboutsocial
business. MIT Sloan ManagementReview, 53(4),51-60. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1023762000?accountid=9840
5
http://press.linkedin.com/about

6. listed down the benefits of why professionals should consider using LinkedIn.6
These are as follows:
a. LinkedIn is the largest and best database for finding business professionals in
the world. With millions of members around the globe, its keyword search looks
at a vast database to look for potential employer, customer, vendor, supplier,
partner or even a speaker for an event. LinkedIn also helps out in leveraging
relationships developed with individuals.
b. You can see relationships that exist between your friends and their friends.
After connecting with a friend, one can see who they know and who their
friends know on LinkedIn.
c. You and information about your organization are now keyword searchable in
the world’s largest business database. Optimizing personal and company
profiles make it easier for one to be found in searches.
d. Your competitors are undoubtedly using LinkedIn, and you can keep an eye on
them.
e. We could all use a free 24/7 virtual assistant.
f. More business is transacted online.
g. Your profile, or “resume on steroids,” will display your credibility and expertise.
h. Experts from throughout the world are available to answer your business
questions.
i. Researching companies and the people who work there just got much easier.
j. It is free and easy.
2. Other examples(Xing, BranchOut)
There are two social networks considered as close competitors of LinkedIn: Xing
and Viadeo. Xing (http:// https://www.xing.com) is a social media platform for
enabling a small-world network for business professionals in German-speaking
countries. By displaying how each member is connected to any other member, it
visualizes the small-world phenomenon.7 According to its website, it is a platform
where professionals from all kinds of different industries can meet up, find jobs,
colleagues, new assignments, cooperation partners, experts and generate
business ideas.8 It offers personal profiles, groups, discussion forums, event
coordination, and other common social community features. Basic membership is
6
Breitbarth, W. (2011).Linked in® or lose out. Quality Progress, 44(7), 18-22.Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/888057324?accountid=9840
7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XING
8
http://corporate.xing.com/no_cache/english/company/xing-ag/

7. free. However, core functions such as searching for people with specific
qualifications or messaging people to whom one is not already connected, can only
be accessed by the premium members who pay for a fee. Also according to its
website, it has around 12 million members worldwide as of June 2012. The
platform was officially launched on 1 November 2003 in Germany, and was
renamed Xing form OpenBC in November 2006.
Paid memberships (subscriptions) is currently their core business to date, and has
expanded into the e-Recruiting, Advertising and Events markets where they have
successfully established their business model.9
It also offers the system for closed communities, called Enterprise groups with their
own access paths and interface designs. The platform serves as the infrastructure
for corporate groups, including IBM, McKinsey, Accenture and others.
On the other hand, FaceBook came out with its own version of professional social
networking through BranchOut (http:// http://branchout.com). It was founded by
Rick Marini in July 2010, and is designed for finding jobs, networking
professionally, and recruiting employees. It is a free Facebook application, which
allows users to create professional profiles that include their work history and
education (personal information, like photo albums and status updates, is not
included within these profiles)10. Once the user installs the app, a dashboard is
displayed that shows the user’s corporate relationships. It generates revenue from
job posts and enterprise solutions.
According to its website, BranchOut has three types of enterprise products for job
seekers and recruiters: RecruiterConnect allows recruiters to search millions of
BranchOut profiles for qualified candidates. CareerConnect gives companies the
ability to publish job postings on their Facebook page. SocialJobs allows people to
display inside connections within a job slot, and share job posts on Facebook and
Twitter11.
B. Industry-specific social networking sites
1. Efactor – for entrepreneurs
9
http://corporate.xing.com/english/investor-relations/
10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BranchOut
11
http://business.branchout.com/about-home

8. According to Wikipedia, Efactor (http://www.efactor.com) is an online community
and offline community for entrepreneurs. It is a social network that connects
investors and entrepreneurs through networking events in various cities throughout
the United States and the world. EFactor is a place where entrepreneurs can find
tools and resources to build their own business or startup company12. It is currently
tagged as the fastest growing social network for entrepreneurs and investors that
offer health insurance to its members. According to its website, it provides
resources that every small business owner needs: funding, knowledge, gain
revenue and save cost13. This means that by giving entrepreneurs online and
offline social tools, its users can connect, promote, and find funding. The website is
multilingual and currently has users in 185 countries. It was founded in March
2008.
Further information according to its website, EFactor helps members find funding
by carefully selecting qualified investors appropriate for their specific enterprises.
By networking with other EFactor members in similar industries or via EFactor
resource channels, members can gain further knowledge about their own industries
as well as other businesses in similar domains.
2. Mediabistro – for content/creative industries
Mediabistro is a Web site that publishes various blogs and job listings for
journalists. According to its website, it is a place “dedicated to anyone who creates
or works with content, or who is a non-creative professional working in a
content/creative industry.” Their mission is to provide opportunities to meet, share
resources, become informed of job opportunities and interesting projects and news,
improve career skills, and showcase the members’ work.14 Laurel Touby founded
the site in 1993. Mediabistro.com has since grown into an international resource for
media professionals. The site claims 1.4 million users have registered for its
diverse services which includes job postings, educational courses, events, forums
and AvantGuild, its premium subscription service. Mediabistro.com also hosts a
number of industry-specific blogs isuch as TVNewser (covering broadcast & cable
news), GalleyCat (book publishing), UnBeige (design), AgencySpy (advertising),
PRNewser (public relations) and MobileContentToday (mobile apps).
12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFactor.com
13
http://www.efactor.com/about/
14 http://www.mediabistro.com/aboutus/

9. On July 17, 2007, WebMediaBrands acquired the site for $20 million in cash plus a
two-year earn-out that could result in an additional $3 million.15
C. Social Network Enterprise
1. Yammer
Yammer is a freemium enterprise social network service that was launched in 2008
and sold to Microsoft in 2012. It is used for private communication within
organizations or between organizational members and pre-designated groups,
making it an example of enterprise social software. It originally launched as an
enterprise microblogging service and now has applications on several different
operating systems and devices. Access to a Yammer network is determined by a
user's Internet domain, so only those with appropriate email addresses may join
their respective networks.16
According to Brian Giesen, Yammer is a microblogging service that allows users to
post messages, follow others’ updates and tag comment. The only difference is
that only individuals with the same e-mail domain can join any given network.17
2. Chatter
Chatter is a real-time collaboration platform for users developed by
Salesforce.com, a global enterprise software company known for its customer
relationship management (CRM) product. It was released in June 2010. The
service sends information proactively via a real-time news stream. Users can follow
coworkers and data to receive broadcast updates about project and customer
status. Users can also form groups and post messages on each other's profiles to
collaborate on projects.18
Employees and colleagues want to be able to connect with each other from within
web and mobile applications, instead of conversing through standalone Web 2.0
tools such as blogs and wikis. Salesforce.com just introduced a business
collaboration application called Chatterbox that monitors activities on Salesforce's
15
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediabistro.com
16
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yammer
17 Giesen,B. (2009).How digital tools can improve comms efforts. Strategic Communication Management,
13(6), 8-8. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/203581640?accountid=9840
18
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salesforce.com#Chatter

10. Force.com against a set of rules defined by users. When a rule is triggered, users
linked to that rule are notified and a Salesforce Chatter stream is started.
Chatterbox searches constantly for events that trigger those alerts and encourages
collaboration in response to a situation.19
IV. Ways on how marketing professionals can leverage on professional social media –
Case Studies
As professional social media is relatively new and slow in development until the global
market was hit by a financial crisis, which made people more concerned with building their
online presence for recruitment and collaboration, I have identified some key areas where
marketers and professionals can really benefit from the maximized use of LinkedIn and
other professional social media and platforms.
A. Follower Engagement – Salesforce.com
With the increase of companies creating profiles and engaging in professional social
media sites such as LinkedIn, the ability to network with one another has been easier.
Through networking, companies can reach out to potential customers and
professionals who will be able to collaborate with one’s business to achieve some
common business goals. Salesforce.com, the enterprise cloud computing company,
used its network on LinkedIn in order to collaborate with potential attendees to its
events. Salesforce.com has built a solid reputation for the quality of its events that they
do in person and online, including Cloudforce, which is held in various cities globally
every year.
“Our objective is to drive an audience to attend – not just in person, but also online,
because we broadcast these events online,” explained by Jennifer Burnham, director of
content and social strategy for salesforce.com in an interview done by LinkedIn for its
marketing case study. In addition to using its social networks to publicize Cloudforce,
salesforce.com uses LinkedIn to spread the word about company news and updates.
Burnham added, “our followers want to hear more about the salesforce.com culture,
our leadership, and social enterprise trends.”20
19 http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/blogs/all/how-one-company-uses-salesforcecoms-
chatter/?cs=41450
20http://marketing.linkedin.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/LinkedIn_SalesforceCom_CaseStudy2012.pdf

11. The challenge for salesforce.com’s social strategy team is pushing out content and
updates to followers without wearing out its welcome – especially for news aimed at a
regional audience or a specific demographic. Other challenges that the company had
were: engaging followers and drive event attendance; avoiding message
oversaturation; and reaching regional audiences with localized content.
However, they chose LinkedIn because it enables them to do precise targeting to help
them reach their desired audience. Targeted Status Updates allow organizations with
LinkedIn Company Pages to deliver status updates to well-defined groups of followers,
which can help increase engagement and improve brand loyalty. Marketers can target
followers based on company size, industry, function, and geography, among other
parameters. It allowed them to target a geographic area and create more frequent and
tailored updates, mentioning local speakers and venues.
LinkedIn also allows them to use relevant updates that drive higher engagement and
stronger brand loyalty. It allows the events team to focus their messages at a regional
or industry level to can delight audiences with relevant content. It also allows them to
reach beyond their core follower base and not just employees.
Because it is easy to administer, it encourages easier adoption among its members. It
allows Burnham’s team to give control of content to regional social media managers,
who can customize updates based on what they know about their specific audiences.
Finally, a real-time result tracking helps marketers refine their strategy.
With salesforce.com’s adoption of LinkedIn, they were able to achieve the following
results: 30% increase in engagement by followers; 30% increase in amplification
(sharing) of messages; local social teams can customize messages for greater
relevancy; and ability to increase frequency creates more opportunities for
engagement.
B. Accurate Contact Management
One of the challenges with contact management and customer retention is maintaining
accurate information. Many organizations use a pull method of information
management. The pull method consists of employing an individual or firm to collect

12. data using traditional methods such as phone survey, email, or snail mail. In these
methods the customer of organizational member is contacted and the information is
asked of them in a manner that is outside their daily routines or customary norms. In
contrast to the pull method, the social media site has become more of a push source of
data where members are not prompted to update but feel compelled to let others know
about recent changes in their profiles. The member is pushing the information to the
organization in the daily use and updating of the social media site.
In her research entitled “Utilizing Social Media and Networking for Accurate Contact
Management: Contrasting the Push/pull Methods of Data Research and Maintenance”,
Joanne Hamilton studied a LinkedIn group which was created from an existing
Facebook group and a traditional database. Members were encouraged to engage with
each other through online discussions and periodic group Skype calls. They were also
encouraged to give support to other members and individual feedback. The outcome
was a forum that served for personal betterment for the group as a whole. Within 2
months of the creation of the group we began our survey. 21
Initially, we sent out emails to all members within our traditional database. These were
individuals who had given their contact information in a traditional manner. We
documented how many email addresses were no longer functional and compiled any
responses received. We then moved on to the Social Networks and Web 2.0
community emails and sent out to all existing members of both the LinkedIn group and
the Facebook group simultaneously. Finally we undertook a twelve week phone survey
campaign where we called every individual within the traditional database. There were
145 individuals that were both in the traditional database and members of the social
networks and therefore received multiple contacts for survey purposes. Many
acknowledged the receiving of emails during the phone surveys and expressed an
intention to reply.
The findings they got were that member information maintenance from Web 2.0 social
media utilization versus traditional methods was shown to be as much as 4 times more
accurate. Social media members were willing to spend 2.3 times longer engaged in
surveys. Members of social media sites displayed community involvement and concern
that exceeded those not involved with the social media. Social media members pushing
21 Hamilton,J.(2011). Utilizing social media and networking for accurate contact management:Contrasting
the Push/pull methods ofdata research and maintenance. Competition Forum, 9(2),334-338.Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/912867883?accountid=9840

13. information to database managers resulted in 80% of social media member information
being updated. The use of a pull method of information with non-members yielded
4.1% of non-member information being updated. When calculated using total
membership, social media members constituted 30% of total database updates, non-
members constituted 2.8%.
C. Lead Generation – Evalueserve
Evalueserve, according to its website, is a global specialist in knowledge processes
with a team of more than 2,600 professionals worldwide22. It provides knowledge
process outsourcing (KPO) services.
One of the challenges encountered by its global sales and marketing team is identifying
the key contacts at organizations for the initial contact, and eventually scheduling
meetings with these contacts has been a challenge. The team has been doing cold-
calling but it was not very successful due to the fact that there has been no background
information for the contacts being called. Reaching clients through traditional media
(press releases, white papers, etc.) has been useful in general brand building.
However, LinkedIn helped the company a lot in creating greater impact for their present
and prospective clients, and get them to recognize Evaluseserve as a large knowledge
services firm.23
The Sales team gains direct access to C-Level people without having to go through
numerous rounds of calls with secretaries. Using LinkedIn, one gets to know the focus
of the profile being contacted and can customize the pitch accordingly to garner
maximum interest. This helps the company in reaching the right audience, saving a lot
of time and improving their success rate.
For branding, the Marketing Communications (Marcom) team has been encouraging
the controlled use of forums for the distribution of white papers, articles, etc. or for
answering questions asked by members, researching events and more. New white
papers are systematically posted (excerpts or links) in relevant groups or forums.
Selected professionals of Evalueserve regularly browse LinkedIn forums to post advice
on queries. The Marcom team also regularly checks forums and questions, and
22
http://www.evalueserve.com/site/
23 http://www.indiasocial.in/case-study-evalueserve-–-using-linkedin-for-lead-generation-and-brand-building/

14. arranges answers/forum posts to be published. Guidelines for Social Media have been
included in the global Media Communication manual.
By posting white papers on LinkedIn, we have received several requests from
traditional media or blogs. Several Client Engagement Managers have also received
messages through LinkedIn about their posts. We have also noticed the influx of
external recommendations on LinkedIn. Using LinkedIn for marketing has helped us to
improve our visibility and catch the attention of our target audience; traditional media is
still used as a tool to reach out to a more general audience.
D. Recruitment and Talent Building – CH2M HILL
CH2M Hill is a multinational engineer-procure-construct company that provides
consulting, design, design-build, operations, and program management. In a SMART
conference held in January 2011, David Masson, head of talent acquisition for CH2M
HILL, talked about how LinkedIn helped them recruit globally with less volume of
applicants but get more quality of candidates. In order to do this, his team focused
efforts on social media, Internet networking, developing its own website and research-
based techniques. They have had significant success with LinkedIn as a direct
recruitment tool but also as a way to raise their employer brand and engage with
specific targets 24
Further to Broat’s article, as a global company with 25000 employees around the world
with 70 internal recruiters, it is necessary that recruitment be done efficiently by using
social media that allows them to source and target the right people.
To do this, they set their recruitment strategies as per below according to Laurent
Brouat:
1. Harness social media to attract candidates: test and try different social media
platforms
2. Targeting Candidates effectively: using the right tools and ways to target
candidates
3. Using social media to attract new geographical audiences: attract local candidates
vs. expatriates and develop a diversified pool of talents
24 http://linkhumans.com/blog/how-a-company-used-linkedin-and-social-media-to-recruit

15. Broat further added that CH2M HILL bought licenses for the recruitment solutions in
order to have access to the 90 million members of Linkedin with 50 inmails per month
and per license. Through this, they can solve their recruitment issues faster. David
Masson cited a specific example of when they needed to hire a very specialized civil
engineering post in Korea. With Linkedin they were able to produce a long list of 100
target candidates in 30 minutes. This was soon trimmed down to make a short list of 10
candidates. Interviews were conducted with these shortlisted candidates and were able
to match one of them to the post without the use of an expensive recruitment agency.
Broat also mentioned that the company profile on Linkedin is fully customized with
banners on the side driving traffic to the careers page of the corporate website but also
there is a video of employees presenting the company. The careers page on Linkedin
goes a step further as there is a huge banner at the top redirecting to the careers page
on the website. And they have a widget integrated with their careers site that allows
searching of their ATS for jobs within Linkedin.
And finally they sow all the jobs they posted on Linkedin on their company page,
careers page (customised according to your location and profile) and to their
followers. With the recruitment solutions, they have a number of postings per month
and CH2M HILL is clearly maximising the number of the job board option.
Part of strategy and part of the Linkedin service, CH2M HILL used campaigns with very
targeted adverts.
According to Broat, CH2M HILL succeeded on their use of LinkedIn for recruitment due
to the following:
1. They discovered that the demographic of the user base on Linkedin is aligned with
the current type of professionals they target ie 43 years old and the level of
qualifications they look for
2. They put their careers page on the corporate website at the center of their strategy
with many banners coming from Linkedin careers page and all the employees
profiles directing to the website
3. They just tried, did it and learnt on the job. They clearly realised that Facebook and
Twitter were not the ideal tools to recruit directly

16. 4. They focused on the candidate experience by using a great design, customising
career pages, and exchanging as much personal information as they could (videos,
career paths, pictures, usability…)
5. They always tried to provide content and exchange with current employees and
candidates, they did real efforts to engage even if the results were mixed
6. This is a great company to work for as they have received awards and their strong
selling point is that it is employee-owned, with 14,000 of the company’s 25,000
employees owning shares that are not tradable outside the company. If you
provide a bad experience to your employees, social media won’t change
anything…and employees won’t participate in any social media activity…(look at
Zappos case!)
The results were very positive, with 98% of hires in the US are directly sourced, 95% of
all hires outside of the US are also the result of direct recruitment activities. They
reduced significantly the cost and time to hire.
Linkedin leveraged their global strategy by providing a professional image, enhancing
their reputation and driving traffic to their careers page.
E. Intra-organizational Collaboration – StarCommMedia Vest
Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) is one of the largest and most celebrated brand
communications and consumer contact organizations in the world, with 110 offices in
67 countries. SMG’s 6,200 global media professionals looking to build captivating
connections between consumers and brands for hundreds of clients, including many of
the world's most powerful marketers such as Coca-Cola, P&G, Walmart, and Kraft.25
According to the case study published by Yammer, in early 2009, leaders within SMG’s
Knowledge Management team recognized that email communication was often
constraining information within offices, regions, and divisions. Looking into collaboration
software, the group started a Yammer network. Particularly because the firm’s success
depends on its ability to deliver and execute on creative ideas, streamlined information
flow is vital. As Yammer usage rapidly spread across the company, it became
25 https://www.yammer.com/customers/casestudies/smg/

17. increasingly apparent how much institutional wisdom had gone untapped, restricted by
the undiscoverable nature of email. 26
According to the case study posted on Yammer website, SMG Chief Digital Officer,
Sean Finnegan leveraged Yammer to keep employees up to date in real-time on high-
level conversations happening as part of a global portal tour with key industry partners;
Google, Yahoo!, Facebook & MSN. SMGers around the world could follow the tag
#portaltour in Yammer to review meeting updates and pose questions or dialogue with
senior management as part of the message threads.
Because SMG serves some of the largest companies in the world, often across multiple
markets around the world, the firm must coordinate global work related to these clients.
SMG relies on Yammer groups for just that. For example, SMG employees have
formed the Coca-Cola Global Group as well as regional groups like Coke USA, Coke
Mexico, and Coke Europe. This way, all professionals working with Coca-Cola can
follow international efforts while also coordinating by region. For P&G alone, SMG has
a total of 25 internal groups with over 1,000 members. With 25 groups, each region
working with P&G benefits by seeing the best P&G-related work and applying these
best practices to their local region.27
Further to the case study retrieved from Yammer website, SMG has made
crowdsourcing creative ideas a regular practice, finding that the best ideas can come
from the most unexpected places.
As part of the strategy to improve connectivity among SMG’s 110 global offices, the
firm has launched Market Week, a program run entirely through Yammer. According to
the case study, Mauro Ravicini, Director of Communications for SMG’s Europe, Middle
East and Africa region, identified an opportunity to encourage greater communication
and camaraderie among SMG’s global offices. He developed a program to allow each
country in the network to informally introduce itself and its staff to the global community,
sharing unique information about life and work in that specific country.
The case study further added details on the Market Week program, which is an effort
for global offices to showcase their own personalities that will be interesting to other
26 https://www.yammer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Yammer_Success_SMG.pdf
27 https://www.yammer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Yammer_Success_SMG.pdf

18. employees in other regions. Each week, the CEO from one of SMG’s international
markets uses Yammer’s Announcement feature to post case studies, photos and
videos about the regional office to the global SMG network. The personality of each
region shines through in these posts, giving them distinction among other regional
offices. The Market Week program has helped SMG’s media professionals connect on
deeper levels as well. Market Week has sparked remarkable engagement among
employees within the SMG Yammer network, stimulating around 22,000 interactions
(likes, replies, video views, etc.) within four months since it was launched.
According to the case study, with the use of Yammer, SMG was able to achieve the
following:
1. Collective employee expertise is leveraged, surfacing key emerging topics.
2. Meeting highlights and action plans are easily captured via threads and shared
globally in real-time.
3. Employees feel engaged and empowered to be part of key management dialogue.
4. In 3 days, 151 messages were shared with 1549 active followers.
F. Reputation Management – Anvil Media
Compelling content, strategic connection building and search engine optimization
(SEO) are just a few tools that Anvil Media president Kent Lewis uses to gain prestige
via LinkedIn. 28
Founded in 2000 by Lewis himself, Anvil Media, Inc. is a search engine marketing
agency specializing in SEO, pay-per-click management, search engine marketing
public relations, online reputation management, and social media marketing services.
Lewis works to continuously plow both the firm’s reputation and his personal brand.
To proactively connect with prospective clients and partners, Lewis requests
introductions from existing contacts and uses the “People you may know” feature on his
LinkedIn homepage. His goal is not to make as many connections as possible, but to
make quality connections. The main reason Lewis makes an effort to grow his contact
base is to “flatten out the six degrees of separation” to the people he wants to meet.
28
http://www.mcbru.com/review/MCBRU/August10/files/MProfs_LinkedInCSC.pdf

19. Lewis gives priority to a high number of recommendations. He would usually ask for
recommendations for every experience he has added on his profile. This helped boost
up his brand with 84 recommendations today covering every position he has held.
He also lists every experience he has had and included pertinent keywords in every
description in an attempt to optimize his profile, giving it a greater chance to show up
on search results in both LinkedIn and Google. This way, Lewis gains control of his
own personal brand to be searchable and easily found by prospects who will make a
search of particular keywords either through LinkedIn or through Google.
Furthermore as per mentioned on the case study, LinkedIn lets users list three links on
their profiles, so Lewis uses this space to describe each link with industry keywords
instead of the default titles of “my website” or “my portfolio.”
LinkedIn has some applications that Lewis took advantage of, like SlideShare,
WordPress, and Events, to display his expertise and maintain his name prominently
featured on connections’ homepages.
During the time when Twitter can be synched with Linkedin profiles, Lewis also
synched his Twitter profile to his LinkedIn profile in order to broadcast interesting news
in order to highlight his being up-to-date especially with what is going on with the
industry. He actually gets more interaction through the cross post in LinedIn than in
Twitter, he said.
Lewis also uses LinkedIn Polls wherein his network and connections are notified
everytime a new poll is launched. Lewis takes the chance to share both the initial
feedback and final results he collects from respondents. This showcases his credibility
and his deep understanding and knowledge of the industry.

20. Finally, Lewis is able to build and maintain his brand authority by answering questions
related to his line of work through LinkedIn Answers. He would usually do this by
answering three to ten questions per week. He was able to reach 28 responses that
were considered as “best answers” which makes him appear as one of the top five
experts in his network, boost and promotion of his authority as seen by his contacts.
“Create messaging so compelling that people are likely to share it, vote it a
‘best answer’ and contact you directly,” Lewis says in the case study article from the
MCBRU website. “When someone reads your answers and then takes the time to learn
about who answered it, they’re already sold by that point.”
His responses on LinkedIn Answers, the details about his background and experiences
shown on his profile are instrumental in establishing Lewis’ authority and Anvil Media
as competent person and company in the industry.
The case study concluded with Lewis reporting that LinkedIn is one of the top three
sources of qualified leads for Anvil Media. It has helped him identify and connect with
key clients, such as the firm’s largest one, Borders Books. It also helped him secure a
keynote speaking engagement at SEM4SMB in Austin, Texas, and aided in the
development of an important partnership with an out-of-state company, for whom he
may become a strategic advisor.
V. Rules of Engagement for Users in LinkedIn and Other Professional Social Media
Lida Citroen in her article entitled “Reputation Management Tips: Using LinkedIn for
Personal Branding” listed some pointers on how to best use LinkedIn to make connections,
share content and promote oneself29. This also applies to other professional social network
sites and platforms. Her pointers are below:
1. Nothing is private. Anything you post online (regardless of privacy settings) is public
information. Since LinkedIn is a business tool, keep specific client information, project
details and confidential information off your posts and comments. They are searchable
within the site, and are indexed by Google to be searchable outside of LinkedIn.
29
http://unleashingyourbrand.com/reputation-management-tips-using-linkedin-for-personal-branding/

21. 2. Project a good image. Pay attention to your headshot and the tone of your profile.
3. Use all the features. LinkedIn gives one the opportunity to fill out a robust and
informative profile. Take advantage of as many of the apps and plug-ins as make
sense. For instance:
- Include a Summary of your experience in your Profile. Be sure this isn’t just resume-
content. Use the Summary to describe who you are and what you do (what are you
passionate about)?
- Add the Amazon app plug-in to share your favorite books with your connections. Be
sure to include a review of the book and whether you would recommend it to others.
This gives your connections more insight into your interests.
- Include your past career experience – not as a resume. What were your successes at
that job? What contribution did you make? What did you learn? What did you enjoy the
most?
4. Seek recommendations. Recommendations are a great way for others to see how you
work and how you contribute. The beauty of LinkedIn recommendations is that they
must be attached to another person’s profile, which adds to the credibility of the
comments. Additionally, you have an opportunity to view and edit the recommendation
before it is posted. Pay attention to how you want to be perceived. Then ask yourself,
“Does this recommendation support the perception I want my network to have of me
and my work?” If necessary, go back to the endorser and suggest key phrases or key
words to help strengthen their recommendation of you and your work. Always follow
your company’s social media protocol when considering whether to offer a
recommendation to a colleague. Many companies do not approve of employees
endorsing or recommending staff or colleagues, for legal and human resources
reasons.
5. Use keywords. LinkedIn is highly searchable. Consider key words in your summary,
title, and experience descriptions that make your profile more findable to prospects,
colleagues and partners. I used several key “tags” or words to make my profile more
findable to someone seeking “personal branding” “personal branding for executives” or
“reputation management.” Under a search (people) for “reputation management” there
are almost 150,000 results returned.
6. Join Groups. LinkedIn offers you hundreds of groups to choose from, where you can
become engaged and involved in conversations around areas of interest, alumni
groups, causes and business initiatives. Choose the groups wisely – you build your
own reputation in part through the groups with whom you associate. Once you join a
group, post and comment where appropriate and comfortable. Ask questions, offer
insight and share information around the topic of the group. Be aware of posting

22. guidelines (often shared at the outset by the group administrator) so you don’t
inadvertently post a job opening to a group that prohibits such posts. Be aware that
groups are highly conversational and participatory. If you make a post about something
you are passionate about, expect to receive feedback, input and possibly even
negative comments from others. If this becomes uncomfortable, speak to someone in
your company’s marketing department before engaging in an online (public!) conflict.
7. Research. Consider adding LinkedIn tools to your research arsenal. For instance,
suppose your business involved real estate development. A search for “land
ownership” returned over 9,000 results under “people”, 234 results in companies; and
10 in groups. Imagine the connections, data and resources you could uncover. The
information, connections and awareness that can be harnessed by using LinkedIn as a
research tool are amazing!
8. Get connected. Sending a request to a professional contact or colleague is easy with
LinkedIn. If you know the person well, send the invitation. If you do not know the person
well, be sure to personalize the invitation beyond the default language the system
generates. Identify where you met them, how you know them (“we share a common
interest in environmental sustainability,” or “we both worked for XYZ Company”) so the
recipient can quickly identify the connection. A personalized invitation is always
preferred to the standard, cold default message; “I’d like to add you to my professional
network on LinkedIn.”Similarly, apply discretion to accepting invitations to connect on
LinkedIn. Most of the time, invitations will come to you from people who see a
mutually beneficial professional relationship with you, or appreciate your posts and
comments and would like to be connected. There are, however, spammers and
companies/people who use LinkedIn as a tool to build databases. I recommend you
review and evaluate each invitation and weigh the merits of the connection for yourself
rather than connect with just anyone who wants to link with you.
9. Update regularly. Sending an update to either your LinkedIn status or profile, groups or
apps ensures you stay top of mind with your network. When someone signs up for
LinkedIn, they have the option of choosing how often they want to hear from their
contacts. Most people opt for once a week, or once a day (can be quite a lot!) Rarely
do people choose not to hear from their network, since the point of LinkedIn is to stay
connected. Posting something relevant every 7-10 days increases your odds of being
top of mind in the digest of most of your contacts. This average seems to work well for
most busy professionals.Some ideas of things to post: updates on your career,
professional interests or business, links to articles, blogs or news that would interest
and inform your network, comments or ideas or celebrations about trends, happenings

23. and topics of interest that relate to your business, industry or professional circle of
influence.
10. Be authentic. While LinkedIn doesn’t have the social appeal of a network like
Facebook, the need is still very strong to connect with professionals who are genuine
and approachable. Showing your authentic enthusiasm, passion, talent and interests
create a well-rounded profile of yourself and what others can expect to experience if
they work with you. In the online world of social networking, strive to be authentic in the
content you post and comment on, particularly in LinkedIn.
While there is still no definite rule of engagement proliferating around on how to best use
LinkedIn and other professional social networking sites, I agree with Citroen with the above.
These activities are similar to what should an employee do in the actual workplace to
expand his networks and improve his personal brand. The arena has just changed and was
brought online through LinkedIn.
Citroen further added the following tips that will be helpful in being successful in LinkedIn30:
1. Consider your LinkedIn profile as a marketing piece. Use every tool and feature to
create an impression of your experience, passion, interests and goals.
2. Get very clear on your target audience. Simply pursuing “hiring managers” is not
specific enough. Be clear about what kind of hiring managers, what kind of companies,
where they are and what they are looking for. Then, you can tailor your personal profile
content to be consistent with their goals and needs.
3. Do not just put your resume up on LinkedIn. Customize each section to meet your
goals and attract your target audience. Be specific about what you are looking for, what
you enjoy, what you’re good at and why people value you.
4. Seek specific recommendations. They give viewers an idea of how others have viewed
your work. But don’t leave them up to chance. When someone offers to give you a
recommendation, suggest key words, phrases or specific experience for them to
comment on. This is your marketing piece, and you should direct it.
5. Consider Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Populate your profile with key words and
phrases that increase your likelihood of being found when a prospect searches for you.
6. Get connected. The main purpose of LinkedIn is to connect with other business
professionals. Strive for a healthy amount of quality contacts, based on your personal
brand strategy.
30 http://unleashingyourbrand.com/reputation-management-tips-using-linkedin-for-personal-branding/

24. 7. When you ask for connections, personalize the invitation. No one likes to get the
default invitation – it is impersonal and appears too casual. Instead, refer to the
place/time/location where you met the person, offer insight into how you’ve come to
know them, or mention your goals in wanting to connect with them. This gives you a
better chance of a relationship with your new contact, not just a connection.
8. Don’t accept every invitation to connect. I recommend clients be discerning when
accepting invitations to connect. When you connect with new contacts, you are in
essence inviting them into your professional network and leveraging the credibility of
your personal brand.
9. Pay attention to the image you use. Strive for an image that is consistent with your
desired personal brand and reputation.
10. Update your profile or status every seven to 10 days. This degree of frequency will give
you a high likelihood of staying top of mind with key prospects and audiences.
VI. Issues and Emerging Trends on Professional Social Media
Privacy concerns have been raised on the risks of providing too much personal information
online. Furthermore, there is a perceived privacy danger in relation to placing too much
personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a
profile to be produced on an individual's behavior on which decisions, detrimental to an
individual, may be taken. In addition, there is an issue over the control of data—information
that was altered or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to third
parties.
Abril, Levin and Del Riego in 2012 discusses the future of employee privacy in social media
through their paper “Blurred Boundaries: Social Media Privacy and the Twenty-First-
Century Employee”. The paper reviews the extant legal landscape with an emphasis on
three general areas of employer activity related to employees’ online activities: (1)
monitoring and surveillance of employee social media profiles, (2) evaluation of applicants’
social media profiles and online speech in making hiring decisions, and (3) limiting
employees’ off-duty online activities. It also reports the results of an empirical research
project into the expectations of young employees regarding the role of social media in the
workplace. The authors asked respondents about a wide range of topics related to social
media, such as the extent of personal information they post online, the privacy-protective
measures they employ on social media sites, their level of concern regarding their privacy
online, and their attitudes and expectations regarding the use of social media in the
workplace. Despite granting employers access to information about their private lives by

25. participating online, respondents expect that work life and private life should be generally
segregated — and that actions in one domain should not affect the other. Guided by the
survey findings and legal examples from international jurisdictions, they offer workable
recommendations designed to protect employees’ desire to maintain some separation
between personal and professional contexts.31 They concluded that in light of the ubiquity
of social media, employers and employees need guidance on how to view social media in
the workplace context and how to shape appropriate policies on their use. Recent
international debates and decisions have also provided instruction on privacy expectations
in the workplace.
Barnes, Nancy Dupre, PhD;Barnes, Frederick R, JD in 2009 mentioned about additional
risks that could organizations should explore. These are legal risks and operational risks.
For legal risks, copyright and trademark or logo-related issues might occur, while
proprietary information and confidential data of a personal nature must be monitored by
organizations. On the other hand, each organization must strategically plan and examine its
operational policies and procedures before implementing a social networking site in order
to prevent any financial, operational or legal repercussions in the end.32
On the other hand, social media advances has led to a much more growing adoption of
social media by companies and marketers on their policies and strategies.
According to Wikipedia, companies have begun to merge business technologies and
solutions, such as cloud computing, with social networking concepts. Instead of connecting
individuals based on social interest, companies are developing interactive communities that
connect individuals based on shared business needs or experiences. Many provide
specialized networking tools and applications that can be accessed via their websites, such
as LinkedIn. Others companies, such as Monster.com, have been steadily developing a
more "socialized" feel to their career center sites to harness some of the power of social
networking sites. These more business related sites have their own nomenclature for the
most part but the most common naming conventions are "Vocational Networking Sites" or
31
Sánchez Abril, P., Levin, A. and Del Riego,A. (2012),Blurred Boundaries:Social Media Privacy and the
Twenty-First-Century Employee.American Business Law Journal,49: 63–124.doi: 10.1111/j.1744-
1714.2011.01127.x
32 Barnes,N. D., PhD., & Barnes,F. R., J.D. (2009).Equipping your organization for the social networking
game.Information ManagementJournal, 43(6),28-29,31-33,47.Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/227726153?accountid=9840

26. "Vocational Media Networks", with the former more closely tied to individual networking
relationships based on social networking principles.33
In the coming decade, chief information officers (CIOs) will need to develop strategies for
implementing four key technologies: cloud computing, context- based computing, pattern-
based computing, and social computing. Although some might view these technologies
independently, it’s important for CIOs to recognize how they weave together as part of a
social media strategic plan. 34
CIOs will likely need to lead the effort to define their organization’s social media policy,
engaging as many business colleagues as possible to ensure the organization can reach
its goals. Beyond knowing what the company wants to achieve, you’ll need to know what
works for your organization. Different industries use social media in different ways, so
there’s no recipe outlining where to start or how to proceed. Just be sure to tie your social
media strategy to one or more corporate strategic initiatives and to make the strategy
measureable.
Conclusion
Professional social media have truly invaded business and it is becoming part of one’s
professional life. Companies and organizations have realized the advantages that these
social media sites and platforms bring that facilitate a faster, more effective and efficient
interaction and engagement for companies to attain their goals. Truly, these social media
networks and platforms help companies in engagement, accurate contact management,
generating leads, recruitment and tapping the right people to join the organization,
collaboration among employees, and reputation management. However, in order to fully
maximize its benefits, companies should allow employees to explore all features and usage
of these professional social media such as LinkedIn. Professional social media have a
different type of engagement compared to personal social media so as users, one should
be conscious of how to deal with networks and other people and contacts online.
Concerns on privacy, legal and operational risks still occur, as with other social media
networks and platforms, which professionals, businesses and companies should take
33 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service
34 Prohaska,B. (2011).Social media for the collaborative enterprise. ITProfessional Magazine,13(4),64-
63. doi: 10.1109/MITP.2011.67

27. further precaution so as not to be affected with the legal, financial and reputational
repercussions these would bring in the end.
On the other hand, further studies need to be done in order to fully understand behavioral
patterns exhibited by users of professional social media compared to its public counterparts
as these will be beneficial for marketers to fully understand when they prepare their tactics
and strategies online. As LinkedIn and other social media websites and platforms have just
recently emerged and slowly developed, most of the practices being done today emerged
through trial and error. Studies about professional social media have just started quite
recently and further, much more focused analysis is needed in order for the engagement of
professionals with the said media be understood.

28. References:
Barnes, N. D., PhD., & Barnes, F. R., J.D. (2009). Equipping your organization for the social
networking game. Information Management Journal, 43(6), 28-29,31-33,47. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/227726153?accountid=9840
Blakeman, K. and Brown, S. (2010), Part II: Social media: Essential for research, marketing and
branding. Bul. Am. Soc. Info. Sci. Tech., 37: 47–50. doi: 10.1002/bult.2010.1720370121
Breitbarth, W. (2011). Linked in® or lose out. Quality Progress, 44(7), 18-22. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/888057324?accountid=9840
Chatterjee, P. (2011). Drivers of new product recommending and referral behaviour on social
network sites. International Journal Of Advertising, 30(1), 77-101.
Christidis, K., Mentzas, G., & Apostolou, D. (2011). Supercharging enterprise 2.0. IT Professional
Magazine, 13(4), 29-35. doi: 10.1109/MITP.2011.70
Elefant, C. (2011). The "power" of social media: Legal issues & best practices for utilities
engaging social media. Energy Law Journal, 32(1), 1-56. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/869071042?accountid=9840
Fichter, D. (2012). Tools of influence: Strategic use of social media. Online, 36(4), 58-60.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1023798780?accountid=9840
Ford,Caroline O., C.P.A.,PhD., & Lim, J. (2011). Are you linked in? Journal of Accountancy,
211(3), 48-51,12. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/855813024?accountid=9840
Giesen, B. (2009). How digital tools can improve comms efforts. Strategic Communication
Management, 13(6), 8-8. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/203581640?accountid=9840
Hamilton, J. (2011). Utilizing social media and networking for accurate contact management:
Contrasting the Push/pull methods of data research and maintenance. Competition
Forum, 9(2), 334-338. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/912867883?accountid=9840
Kaplan,Andreas M.; Michael Haenlein (2010) "Users ofthe world,unite! The challenges and opportunities of
Social Media". Business Horizons 53(1):59–68.
Kiron, D., Palmer, D., Phillips, A. N., & Kruschwitz, N. (2012). Social business: What are
companies really doing? MIT Sloan Management Review, 53(4), 1-32. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1023762094?accountid=9840
Kiron, D., Palmer, D., Phillips, A. N., & Kruschwitz, N. (2012). What managers really think about
social business. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53(4), 51-60. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1023762000?accountid=9840
Kleinschmidt, J. (2009). Cross-company knowledge sharing. Information Management, 19(8), 56.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214669795?accountid=9840

29. Prohaska, B. (2011). Social media for the collaborative enterprise. IT Professional Magazine,
13(4), 64-63. doi: 10.1109/MITP.2011.67
Sánchez Abril, P., Levin, A. and Del Riego, A. (2012), Blurred Boundaries: Social Media Privacy
and the Twenty-First-Century Employee. American Business Law Journal, 49: 63–124.
doi: 10.1111/j.1744-1714.2011.01127.x
Slutsky, I. (2010). Why LinkedIn is the social network that will never die. Advertising Age, 81(43),
2-23.
Case Studies:
Salesforce
http://marketing.linkedin.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/LinkedIn_SalesforceCom_CaseStudy2012.pd
f
Evalueserve
http://www.indiasocial.in/case-study-evalueserve-–-using-linkedin-for-lead-generation-and-brand-
building/
StarComm MediaVest
https://www.yammer.com/customers/casestudies/smg/
https://www.yammer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Yammer_Success_SMG.pdf
CH2M Hill
http://linkhumans.com/blog/how-a-company-used-linkedin-and-social-media-to-recruit
Anvil Media
http://www.mcbru.com/review/MCBRU/August10/files/MProfs_LinkedInCSC.pdf
Other Online Resources:
http://www.examiner.com/article/use-social-media-to-professionalize-your-online-presence
http://press.linkedin.com/about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XING
http://corporate.xing.com/no_cache/english/company/xing-ag/
http://corporate.xing.com/english/investor-relations/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BranchOut
http://business.branchout.com/about-home
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFactor.com
http://www.efactor.com/about/

30. http://www.mediabistro.com/aboutus/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediabistro.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yammer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salesforce.com#Chatter
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/blogs/all/how-one-company-uses-salesforcecoms-
chatter/?cs=41450
http://marketing.linkedin.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/LinkedIn_SalesforceCom_CaseStudy2012.pd
f
http://www.evalueserve.com/site/
http://unleashingyourbrand.com/reputation-management-tips-using-linkedin-for-personal-
branding/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service