The Business of Social Networks
Selected resources discuss the evolving effects of the social networking phenomenon on the business world.
Books
Selected Articles
Due to contractual arrangements, access to some articles may be restricted to the Stanford community, and subscribers of the "Library Databases" offered through the GSB Alumni's Lifelong Learning Program. Inclusion below does not imply University endorsement of the ideas expressed.
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The Follower FactoryNew York Times, 1/28/18
Everyone wants to be popular online.
Some even pay for it. Inside social media’s black market. -
More Americans are turning to multiple social media sites for newsPew Research Center, 11/2/17
Americans are more likely than ever to get news from multiple social media sites, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. -
'We sold our home to build a social network'BBC, 5/3/17
The Hughes family in Manchester have quit their jobs and put everything they own into building a social network aimed solely at sports fans. But can they take on the giants? -
Predicting the impact of social networksUDaily, 3/20/17
University of Deleware's Xiao Fang uses analytics to understand, predict social media interactions. -
‘Big Social’ and Facebook’s Moral CoreNew York Times, 12/8/16
Facebook’s decision to comply with censorship regulations in order to do business with China. -
The new social: brands are embracing private sharingThe Guardian, 11/2/16
The growing profile of messaging apps has given rise to a new form of personalisation and new opportunities for communication. -
Twitter's First NFL Broadcast Draws Average Audience of 243,000WSJ, 9/16/16
According to NBC, the average audience for the live-stream of last Thursday's matchup between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos available on the NBC Sports app, NBC.com 'TV Everywhere,' and NFL Mobile from Verizon totaled 278,000 viewers. -
Social Media and the Business of TrustEuropean Business Review, 7/12/16
How far is too far in gleaning user data and handing this over to advertisers, even though the aim is to continue to provide a valuable but free user experience? -
Facebook, Twitter play different roles in connecting mobile readers to newsPewResearch Center, 5/9/16
Facebook sends by far the most mobile readers to news sites of any social media site, while Twitter mobile users spend more engaged time with news content, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of audience behavior metrics from 30 news sites. -
Social media in business: 10 years onInformation Age, 4/5/16
Businesses must now consider a strong social media strategy to ensure they are prepared for changes in user behavior. -
How Facebook's Social Network For Work Will Change BusinessFortune, 3/2/16
Technically speaking, Facebook at Work, a social network for the workplace, isn’t an official product yet. But that’s likely to change within “coming months,” according to the executive leading the project. -
The World's 21 Most Important Social Media Sites and Apps in 2015Social Media Today, 4/13/15
The concepts behind “social networking” aren’t anything new – ever since there have been humans, we have been looking for ways to connect, network, and promote with one another – but they’ve taken on an entirely new meaning (and momentum) in the digital age. -
How a Social Network in India Is Doing Social GoodEntrepreneur, 1/6/15
India’s poor are finding a voice -- or, more accurately, a social-media platform that lets them to share it -- on Mobile Vaani, the voice-based social network. -
3 Ways Social Networking Is Impacting The Freelance EconomyForbes, 7/3/14
Social networking is transforming many aspects of society and the labor force is no exception. -
The Pain & Pleasure Of Branded Social MediaForbes, 4/20/14
For big social media-minded consumer-facing brands — from technology to automotive to CPG — having large social followings is a blessing from a communications and control perspective. -
The Confluence Of Content And Social Media: Insights For Success In 2014Forbes, 2/4/14
Here are some important takeaways from the latest research about social media success and selling online in 2014. -
New Research Finds a Serious Gap Between Executives’ Knowledge About Social Media and Its Use at Their CompaniesStanford Business CLDR, 2013
Less than a third of companies today use social media to support their corporate strategy and risk management practices, according to new research conducted by Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance, the Center for Leadership Development and Research at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and The Conference Board. -
How Social Media Moves Consumers From 'Sharing' To 'Purchase'Forbes, 7/22/13
The top line findings of Vision Critical's recently published study, From Social to Sale. -
4 Takeways on Social Media Listening from Top BrandsSalesforce, 6/3/13
At the unveiling of the social media command center at Salesforce headquarters in San Francisco on 5/30, four brands spoke passionately in a panel about social media listening and how it has changed the nature of their business. -
When Social Media at Work Don't Create Productivity-Killing DistractionsBloomberg Businessweek, 4/1/13
Workers who are encouraged to tweet, chat, like, and Skype on the job are among the most productive, new academic research says, shooting yet another hole in the managerial argument that social media in the workplace leads to goofing off and slacking on company time. -
Global CEO Report: Proritizing Social Media and CollaborationCommunity Organizer 2.0, 2/1/13
The 2012 IBM CEO Study, released January 2013, offers clues to the future of the social business, with implications for the networked nonprofit. -
Small-Business Owners Spending More Time, Money on Social MediaEntrepreneur, 11/5/12
More small-business owners are focusing their marketing effortson social media than in years past. -
The New Rise of a Summer Hit: Tweet It MaybeNew York Times, 8/21/12
The success of this summer’s hit, Carly Rae Jepsen’s cheerfully flirty “Call Me Maybe,” shows how much the hitmaking machine, as well as the music industry itself, has been upended by social media. -
CEOs don’t do Facebook: surveySmartplanet, 7/13/12
Chief executive officers at leading corporations don’t participate in most of the popular social media sites. Is it because they don’t have enough time? -
Business social media use is highest by far on FacebookSilicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, 6/20/12
More businesses are using Facebook by in their social media strategies than any other network, a new study says. -
Six Social Media Trends for 2012.Harvard Business Review, 12/12/11
Each year at this time, David Armano looks forward and predict trends in social media for the coming year. -
A Print Focus on Social Media.New York Times, 10/16/11
Four new monthly magazines advising business owners on how to use social media tools will go on sale on Monday. Each publication focuses on one of the major platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Google and LinkedIn. -
State of the Media: Social Media Report.Nielsen, 9/29/11
Nielsen’s “State of the Media: The Social Media Report – Q3 2011” presents a snapshot of the current social media landscape and audiences in the U.S. and other major markets. -
In Turn to Politics, Facebook Starts a PAC.New York Times, 9/26/11
Social media companies are integrating with the political landscape in a season in which these businesses are growing presences in the campaign conversation. -
Google+ may pass Twitter, LinkedIn, survey shows.San Francisco Chronicle, 8/7/11
Google's new social-networking service may grow to claim 22 percent of online U.S. adults in a year, passing Twitter and LinkedIn to be the second-most-used social site after Facebook, a survey found. -
Social networking for bricklayers.Fortune, 7/21/11
Proven.com wants to prove there's a job site for skilled tradespeople somewhere between the white collar networking of LinkedIn and the anarchy of Craigslist. -
Facebook, Zynga, Groupon are social-network stars.San Francisco Chronicle, 6/5/11
The smashing Wall Street debut of Mountain View's LinkedIn last month intensified the spotlight on social networking, whetting the appetite of investors who hope to eventually buy stock in social games maker Zynga of San Francisco and Palo Alto's Facebook. -
Measuring Social Business Success.PC World, 4/12/11
How do you measure for success when it comes to devising a social business strategy? -
Is Business-centric Social Networking a Revolution -- or a Ruse?Knowledge@Wharton, 3/2/11
Programs like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have become a popular way for families and groups of friends (or groups of strangers) to share information and organize their lives. Now corporations are hoping they can tap into those capabilities as a way to improve employee productivity, collaboration and communication on the job. -
TV Industry Taps Social Media to Keep Viewers’ Attention.New York Times, 2/20/11
As more and more people chat in real time about their favorite shows — on Facebook, Twitter and a phalanx of smaller sites — television networks are trying to figure out how to capitalize. -
Restaurants Reach Out to Customers With Social Media.New York Times, 1/19/11
Restaurants and bars thrive on repeat business, but customers increasingly expect more than just good service, food and drinks. They want to be engaged and entertained, and some food establishments are turning to location-based social media to help keep customers happy and loyal.