Postcards
Social networking 101: Do the guys really beat the girls?
June 28, 2011: 10:43 AM ETMen are savvier online professional networkers than women. So concludes a recent study by LinkedIn (LNKD).
The study garnered lots of attention in the blogosphere, but are LinkedIn's findings really correct?
The professional networking site picked seven large companies -- such as Best Buy (BBY), Wal-Mart (WMT), and Lockheed Martin (LMT) -- and counted the number of "connections" that each company's registered LinkedIn users had.
The results: Men had more connections than women.
Nicole Williams, LinkedIn's "connection director," deciphers the results this way: Women "can sometimes shy away from networking because they associate it with schmoozing or doling out business cards." She adds, "In reality, it's about building relationships before you actually need them."
This is true, but here's the thing: LinkedIn's researchers ignore the reality that networking isn't only about the number of connections you make. It's about the quality and depth of those connections as well.
To that point, the Pew Research Center released a study on June 16 that analyzes the user bases of several social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, as well as LinkedIn. Pew found that 52% of Facebook's users sign on everyday, while only 6% of LinkedIn users do. Moreover, 44% of LinkedIn users log on to the site less than once a month.
Another interesting fact that emerged is that LinkedIn users (there are more than 100 million in total) are predominantly male (63%), while 53% of Facebook's 750 million or so users are female. And it is that female-leaning Facebook universe that's "more likely to have a larger number of close social ties," report the Pew researchers. The Pew study concluded that that only 7% of a typical Facebook user's "friends" are people they have never met.
Back to the LinkedIn study, where the measure of "savvy connections" is quantity, not quality--the latter being the type you likely need to advance your career. LinkedIn senior PR manager Krista Canfield acknowledges that its researchers didn't analyze the strength of employees' connections; it was strictly a numbers game.
Which makes us wonder: Are guys really savvier connectors than girls? What do you think?
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Beyond AOL: Does Arianna Huffington want to be Oprah?
by Patricia Sellers
The most head-spinning thing about Arianna Huffington's deal to sell the Huffington Post to AOL (AOL)--besides the sweet $315 million price, which is 10 times HuffPo's 2010 revenues and almost all in cash--is her expanded job description.
Once the acquisition closes, Huffington will oversee all of AOL's media content including the recently purchased TechCrunch, Engadget, AOL Daily Finance, and MapQuest and Moviefone as well.
Her new purview--overseeing platforms that reached MORE
Patricia Sellers - Feb 8, 2011 2:58 PM ETPosted in: AOL, Arianna Huffington, blogging, Huffington Post, media, politics, Postcards, Power Shift, technology, Tim Armstrong -
Populism booms in banking and beyond
Are the populists taking over the world?
One rabble-rouser, Arianna Huffington, has concocted a remarkable stunt, which she calls the Move Your Money Project, to rally consumers to transfer their deposits from big banks to small community banks across the U.S. Alas, there's no run yet on Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), or Wells Fargo (WFC). But the Move your Money campaign--which the blog queen dreamed up MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jan 8, 2010 12:47 PM ETPosted in: Arianna Huffington, Bank of America, banking, banks, blogging, Citigroup, Huffington Post, JPMorgan Chase, Postcards -
2010 resolution: Slow down for success
I've never been big on New Year's resolutions, but a year ago, 15 minutes before 2009, I resolved to friend--a Charlie Rose fan--at a party in D.C.: "I'm going to DVR Charlie Rose every night."
Three weeks later, I found myself sitting next to the TV interviewer at a dinner in New York. I told Rose about my New Year's resolution. "So, are you doing it?" he asked.
"Uh, no, I MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jan 4, 2010 1:38 PM ETPosted in: Arianna Huffington, Blake Mycoskie, blogging, Huffington Post, management, Postcards, retail, TOMS Shoes -
Power Point: Talk straight to the people
"The great thing about blogging is that I don't need you journalists to interpret me anymore."
-- Whole Foods (WFMI) CEO John Mackey, in a Q&A with Fortune in July 2007. Back then, Mackey's blog campaign to acquire Wild Oats, a major competitor, drew the ire of the Federal Trade Commission. Now the controversy-courting boss is in hot water again over another piece of writing: a Wall Street Journal op-ed in MORE
Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter - Aug 18, 2009 7:08 PM ETPosted in: blogging, CEOs, john mackey, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, Postcards, Power Point, Whole Foods -
What's next for HuffPo's ousted CEO?
Betsy Morgan is out as CEO of HuffingtonPost.com -- and her firing came as a surprise to her, Morgan told me when we connected by phone late this afternoon.
"Bummer." That was the first word she uttered in our conversation. Morgan says she's not bitter, however. After all, what a ride Arianna's web venture has been these past 20 months. Morgan joined in October 2007 -- and I remember it well MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jun 16, 2009 6:11 PM ET -
Scenes from the Kindle DX press conference
When I arrived at Pace University at 9:30 this morning in lower Manhattan, the line was already snaking down the side of the building. The crowd, gathered to witness the announcement of a third version of Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle electronic reader, was feverishly tapping at gadgets galore and every so often stepping out of line to take camera phone shots of the assembled group. It seemed their excitement had gotten MORE
Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter - May 6, 2009 3:57 PM ETPosted in: Amazon, AMZN, blogging, CEOs, Jeff Bezos, Kindle, media, Postcards, publishing, Silicon Valley, technology -
BlackBerry and me: a tipping point
Did you hear that Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry Curve 8900 toppled Apple's (AAPL) iPhone as the No. 1 smart-phone in the first quarter? So says research firm NPD Group.
While I've never considered myself a barometer of technology trends, I have to tell you, the fact that I bought a Curve 8300 on Saturday says something about BlackBerry's surging popularity.
You see, I am the furthest thing from a gadget person. MORE
Patricia Sellers - May 4, 2009 2:59 PM ET -
Takin' a break!
Hi--I'm on vacation, and Jessica Shambora, my Postcards colleague, is too. Much needed!
We're taking a short break from blogging. But this is Postcards, after all--so you may hear peeps from our retreats. (Not the same spots, Jess and me, but both warm and sunny, we hope.)
You will definitely hear from me on Monday. I have a fabulous (!) cover story out that day. I'll send you the link.
We wish you MORE
Patricia Sellers - Mar 12, 2009 1:42 PM ET -
Power Point: Appreciate adversity
"Adversity builds character."
-- Charlotte Sellers, my mother, who died a year ago today, told me this constantly when I was growing up. I try not to use Postcards as a platform to get too personal, but if you'll permit today--to pay a tribute to her--I'd appreciate that. She was 87 and forceful and generous and beautiful until the end. My closest friend.
Marrying my father in 1944, she thought that she MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jan 29, 2009 5:24 PM ET
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In her first public interview since taking on the CEO gig at Yahoo, Marissa Mayer outlines her priorities both in and out of the company. Watch
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Fortune senior editor at large Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Marissa Mayer: Ready to Rumble at Yahoo," "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), and "Remodeling Martha" (Martha Stewart). She has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business" package every year since its launch in 1998. Pattie is Executive Director of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business and beyond. She oversees MPW programs that enable women leaders to extend their influence and empower the next generation—such as Fortune MPW Entrepreneurs and the Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership. Beyond her Fortune duties, she is also developing Live Content across Time Inc. Pattie grew up in Allentown, PA, graduated from the University of Virginia, and started at Fortune in 1984. Her blog, Postcards, is about how power players lead, manage others, and navigate their careers.
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The Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership brings rising-star women from countries around the world to the U.S. for three-week mentorships with participants of the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit - among them Ursula Burns of Xerox, Laura Lang of Time Inc., Marissa Mayer of Yahoo, and Tory Burch.
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