The study also revealed that in a year the number of Inc 500 companies which have a corporate blog has grown by 20% now up to 39% in total, compared to 11.6% of Fortune 500 companies up from 8% a year before.
Social media in this study referred to blogging, podcasting, online video, social networking and wikis, which is not the full gambit.
The Social Media in the Inc. 500: The First Longitudinal Study is a statistically significant study that proves that social media understanding and adoption in corporate America is growing at an astonishing pace, with the leading, most exciting and quickest growing companies leading the pack.
In South Africa it appears that most companies are still testing the water but it is significant that corporate head hunters are starting to scramble over the few people in South Africa who get social media. I know of three significant appointments this month alone and more on the horizon.
Yet another one is the extent of the interest in social media in public talks on the subject. The few who are able to talk with authority on the subject are packing out venues and we are finding that knowledge on the topic ranges from total ignorance to a voracious appetite for understanding.
What is clear, however, is that the application of Web 2.0, which is the technology enabling the social phenomena, has moved from the domain of geeks into the strategic realm. The hype is becoming good business sense. This fact has still only dawned on the quickest-thinking businesses which realise both the enormous opportunity presented by social media but also the tremendous risk of becoming irrelevant in a rapidly connecting world, a world in which South African consumers are leading players.
