68% of Fortune 500 CEOs still have no social presence on any of the major social networks
The number of Fortune 500 CEOs using social media is growing, new research from Domo and CEO.com has found, but 68 per cent still have no presence on any social site – including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
For those who do use social media, LinkedIn is the most popular channel, with 25.4 percent using the professional social platform, compared to 27.7 per cent last year, with more than a third having 500-plus connections.
“We’re seeing a new generation of CEOs leading the social revolution in the executive suite,” said Josh James, founder of CEO.com and Domo, a cloud-based software company that is redefining business intelligence.
“These social leaders understand that if you choose not to become a social leader, you are in danger of losing touch with your key stakeholders. Social media gives business leaders a way to burnish their personal and corporate brand, as well as listen to the community at large and respond to the issues that matter most to their company and customers.
"It also gives them a powerful communications channel to share what’s most important and drive understanding and alignment around key issues. CEOs who truly understand and appreciate the power of social media will have a significant competitive advantage in the future.”
The research also found that 8.3 per cent of Fortune 500 CEOs now have Twitter accounts, compared to just 5.6 per cent last year. However, only 69 per cent of those with Twitter accounts have used them in the past 100 days.
The most active CEO on Twitter is Jack Salzwedel of American Family Mutual Insurance Group, with an average of 4.82 tweets per day.
Instagram is now more popular than Google Plus among business leaders, according to the research, with 2.6 per cent using the photo-sharing site while only 1.6 per cent use Google’s social networking platform.