I have been using Twitter for a while now under a personal account. As of yesterday, I have finally decided to separate the more business and technology-oriented tweets into a different public Twitter account (@PingTweets). It will allow me to provide more frequent updates on business and technology ideas in between my blog updates. I will be updating my blog soon to show PingTweets on the sideline. In the meantime, you can follow PingTweets at http://twitter.com/PingTweets.
Tag: social media
Second Life Demographics Update
My previous blog “Rethinking Second Life Demographics” has attracted quite some search engine traffic from people who are looking for Second Life user demographics. Since the original demographic information that I linked to was a little old, I would like to point my readers to a newer and more authoritative demographic information source: Linden Lab itself. If you visit this Linden Lab’s Economic Statistics page, on the right side of the page, there is a link that allows you to download key metrics in an Excel (among other) format. The Excel file contains a worksheet called “Demographics” that provides information on SL users’ country of origin and usage hours by age and gender.
To give you a flavor of what is included there, here are some sample pieces of information provided by the latest (July 2008) key metrics:
1. Top 10 Countries by active user hours: US, Germany, UK, Japan, France, Brazil, Canada, Netherlands, Italy, and Spain.
2. Ranking of age segments by % of active hours logged: 25-34, 35-44, 45+, 18-24, and 13-17.
3. Males logged more active hours than females by an approximate ratio of 60/40.
The same Excel file also provides information on key SL economics, such as SL land ownership, business transactions, and LindenX currency exchange activities.
Best Practices — Cisco Learning Network
Starting with this entry, I am adding a new feature called “Best Practices” to my blog. Entries in this category will discuss in a succinct way some of the best business and marketing strategies in the current market. These discussions are meant to help both practitioners learn from others and to offer business educators current examples to use in the classroom. Today, I would like to talk about the Cisco Learning Network.
What is it?
This is a social learning network by Cisco. It allows IT professionals to share professional knowledge, network with others, and learn new professional skills. Read the CCNA blog to get more background information about the network.
Why is it a good idea?
The Cisco Learning Network is a good idea because it creates values for both its customers and Cisco itself in a clever way.
Benefits for customers (i.e., IT professionals):
(1) More targeted social/professional networking than generic sites such as LinkedIn;
(2) An opportunity for self-promotion to peers and to the source (i.e., Cisco);
(3) An opportunity to learn from the source.
Benefits for Cisco:
(1) In a helpful kind of way, Cisco Learning Network builds brand awareness and loyalty among IT professionals, who are Cisco’s target market;
(2) The Network creates an IT talent pool and helps identify influential IT professionals. Cisco can then draw from this talent pool at time of need, which is essential in the relatively tight IT market.