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Top three social networks for South Africa
Deciding which social networks to take part in is a tough decision purely because there is so much choice.
The problem with starting in a new social network environment is the time it takes to network yourself to a point that it starts to work. So being a part of too many networks may just dilute your efforts and lead to more quantity but much less quality.
Our recommendation for any professional person would be to focus on three main networks. Check these often and if you can link them all together using a service like ping.fm or hello.txt. If you would like more information on linking social networks you can read this article on a social networking experiment we conducted a while ago.
So which networks do you choose? The ones that you have the most connections on currently. Especially the ones with the connections that you really want to keep in touch with regularly. In personal experience the TOP THREE to focus on in South Africa would be Facebook (due to the sheer popularity of the network), Twitter (as this seems to be taking off amoungst South Africans and is more business friendly than facebook) and Linkedin (the network for professionals).
Facebook is seen as primarily a social platform however I have received high traffic volumes on business related articles off facebook so it seems that the business value is still worth considering.
Twitter is the middle ground between facebook and twitter. It is used for both professional and social aims and both have roved successful for twitter users.
Linkedin has a focused professional outlook on the networking function and provides powerful tools to promote business and individual professionals to like minded businesses and people.
Our recomendation would be to start with these three but remember it is more fun going to a party where your friends are. The same happens with social networks, so pick a network where you have friends, associates and future networking opportunities.
