Social Networking has revolutionized the way people communicate every day. Not only is the phenomenon of social networking expanding at a rapid rate, scientists appear to be leading this expansion. Hugh Kennedy of PJA Advertising & Marketing says, “Scientists really were the originators of what today we call online discussion groups”. Furthermore, a recent survey revealed that half of life scientists surveyed “use social sites to facilitate the sharing of ideas with the scientific community”.
Social Networks are Exploding
• Facebook is growing by 153% a year
• MySpace has over 100 million active users and is attracting 300,000 news users daily
• Bebo is growing by 32% a year
• Imeem is growing by 1,590% a year
• 20% of Americans use social networking websites
• LinkedIn has more than 25 million users from over 150 countries; growing 485% since 2006
• 17% of UK internet users have social networking site profiles
• 51% of online Indians use social networking sites and sites such as Orkut and Facebook account for 44% of time online
• In China, social networking sites are attracting millions of members
• Brazil has the highest usage of social networking sites in the world
• XING is user represent over 190 countries
So it’s evident Social Networking is growing exponentially and that scientists utilize these sites all the time. Scientists deserve a platform specifically designed for them. I’ve noticed just a few. Who’s doing it well? LabRoots is a new professional networking website that just launched. Seems to be the one. http://www.labroots.com/
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