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Hi, 

Here is your latest issue of Social Business Bites. 3 items this week.

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Google+ and LinkedIn drive few, but more engaged social referrals compared to Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest

Short link: http://tnw.co/1fw7pQa

This item reports on the results of a survey designed to answer the question, relating to activity on social networks, "What is our behavior post-click, when we actually interact with a link one of our friends shared socially?"

The results, illustrated nicely in an infographic, show why it is worth looking closely at how Google+ and LinkedIn feature in our social media strategy. As the article says:

We already know that LinkedIn and Google+ drive very few referrals compared to their competitors. Yet it turns out the traffic they do drive, is actually quite high on the quality scale.

YouTube is, however, "the undisputed champion" when it comes to social network engagement, as shown by its having the highest number of pages views, lowest "bounce" rate and longest average duration of visits.

Why chat apps are the next 'breed' of social networks

Short link: http://cnb.cx/1fNtDtJ

Some pundits are saying that Facebook's $19 billion bet in acquiring WhatsApp is a big mistake.

Clearly Facebook disagrees. 

But there is a bigger story about these "chat apps" generally. This article provides some context and illustration, not neglecting to include examples from Asia.

"The likes of WhatsApp, WeChat, Kakao Talk and Line - are the future of social networking," Claus Mortensen, a director of IDC's Asia-Pacific emerging technology research group told CNBC. "They are the next breed of social networks, especially in emerging Asia where the use of social networks is highly mobile."

LinkedIn's Content Publishing Flood: 4 Tips for Staying Afloat

Short link: http://bit.ly/1fNAPG9

I still meet people who can't be swayed from their belief that LinkedIn is nothing more than a glorified repository of resumes. Whereas it is a lot more, and becoming more, rapidly.

For one thing, it is becoming much more of a content publishing platform, not just for a few high profile "influencers" invited by LinkedIn, but for all members. Currently, the most obvious example of that is the new feature being rolled out for each member to be able to create and publish blog posts on the platform.

I used the feature for the first time just under a week ago -see The Art of Coaching Provocatively - and the results, in terms of views, shares and likes, have encouraged me to do more.

This is an excellent guide to what is happening, with four really good "tips for staying afloat".

The author observes:

"If you participate, whenever anyone visits your profile, they'll see a summary of your latest work, positioned just under your head shot. More importantly, your posts show up in LinkedIn's article search, making it increasingly likely that your audience will grow exponentially over time. What's not to like about that?"

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Till next time

Be well, be social :)

Des

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PPS: If you have any questions about any of these weekly bites, please email me at deswalsh@webartsco.com and I will do my best to answer or, if more appropriate, to point you in a direction where you can hopefully get a good answer.

PPPS: I have a new program to announce soon, hopefully by next week. I'm excited about it and I'm told others will be too! Watch this space.

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Email: deswalsh@webartsco.com

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