When making the selection of which social media platform to use, consider the results of a recent survey.

For business leaders in four Midwestern markets, Facebook is the social media platform of choice. The survey was produced in conjunction with area Chambers of Commerce in North Dakota and Minnesota. A total of 696 individuals responded when asked about their use of popular social media platforms for maintaining either Personal and Business connections.

Facebook is the platform most frequently mentioned as the site used by respondents (n=490 for Personal; n=297 for Business). LinkedIn was the platform next most frequently mentioned as the site used by respondents (n=161 for Personal; n=284 for Business)

Twitter (n=116 for Personal; n=135 for Business) edged out Blogs (n=105 for Personal; n=138 for Business) as the third most frequently mentioned used by respondents

Three others in the survey lagged significantly in use by respondents. They are My Space, MSN Live Space and Wikis.

The survey was conducted in November 2009 via an online survey, distributed by area Chambers of Commerce to their membership

Interestingly, Facebook and LinkedIn were nearly even for Business use, while Personal use for Facebook accounted for the difference in the number of mentions

Individuals were also asked if their company has a plan for use of Social Media. Only 15 percent of 667 respondents were Very Confident or Completely Confident their company had such a plan.

By comparison, 64 percent were only slightly confident; to not at all confident, their company has a plan for the use of Social Media.

Selected comments from respondents:

• Businesses that are not using technology and social media sources are out of step with today’s productive workforce.
• There isn’t a sufficient user base to say reliably if most strategies are “effective” yet.
• [Social media] can be very effective to get your name out there and allow people to become familiar with your company.