Turner's Perspective

Two weeks ago my borker asked me if I had ever heard of twitter.  he could set up an account but the only agent in the office he would be following would be me. Yawn, boring. :)

I don't think this is high, in fact, the more I think about it, it could be low.

Lots of folks have profiles up, lots of people use forums of one type of another. If I asked my father if he used soc nets, he'd say no, but he belongs to several forums- he just doesn't think of them as social networking. 

So, your point about information is valid. We don't know what the study asked or how it asked, or who it asked, although 100,000 people is a lot for any study.

What's amazing about this twitter conversation, is that it took place in under an hour. 

FYI, I was very interested to know how my own 1500 (ish) person brokerage was doing online, so I used LinkedIn to look for every other agent with an account.  I found a number of agents I knew, but weren't connected to, making it a worthwhile effort, but only 30 of us had more than 20 connections.  Only a few of us had more than 100 connections.  And this is from the #1 brokerage (by sales $ and unit volume) in the epicenter of the RE.NET world.

Question...Wonder if the authors are aware of the response to their article?  Makes you think about how social media is changing not only the context but the verification of the content of information. 

Hey Jeff,  I was wondering what the heck you guys were talking about.  I hopped on twitter for a minute and saw a few of these tweets.

I admit that I did not read the whole article but IF they are saying 67% belong to A social network then it is probably right.  I did not see where it mentions that they are part of a social network for business. So if they have an account for classmates.com does that constitute a social network?  Or, maybe an account with the local newspaper website?

Also, how many agents think that a group like toastmasters or BNI constitute for a 'social network' ?  :)  Just sayin.  We will never really know what the questions were that they were asked.  67%- could be high, could be low.  IMO it depends in what context the question was asked. 

Sorry to be difficult about it.  :)

I think we are dealing with what I call the Bandwagon Effect.  Agents are quick to jump on the latest trend, especially if there is the promise of making more money, but they are not very likely to do the follow-through necessary for mastery.

That's a great question and observation. I caught it on Twitter also but did not respond there. Looks like a great way to get info very quick. In Akron, Ohio it has to be closer to 6 to 7 per cent.

Every time I invite anyone to twitter or Utterli or even Active Rain, they just grin and roll their eyes at me.  I wonder where the article got their statistic?  Maybe people are signed up, but they certainly don't use it.

You know, this is sort of off topic...but some of these responses remind me (especially Lola and Joe's) - anyhow they remind me of when agents finally got a website which by that time a typical website was already outdated and those ahead of the curve were already blogging.  Wish I had been one of those.  :)

If these numbers are accurate does that mean that there is another shift coming to online marketing?  Just makes me wonder, what is next?

Mmmm...thought provoking and a timely alert.    Am mulling your post.

May I recommend Now Is Gone, by Geoff Livingston?  The title says it all.

Jeff,

Thanks for the post. I am in agreement with most of the comments. Perhaps the numbers reflect those who have signed on to a social network, not those necessarily active. additionally, there may be considerable double counting, as people sign onto multiple sites.

Stephanie, I don't think you're being difficult. This post is less about their numbers and more about the conversation around their numbers. If we all believe it's misleading, and I think they are, then the reality should tell us something. What is it? It's telling me there is no compelling reason for the majority to act and that the behavior and performance of those who are is not providing adequate impetus to do so.

There are way too many unanswered questions about how the data was collected.  My initial gut reaction was no way - but the comments above make you wonder about how the questions were asked that got them to 67%.  If an agent thinks that just being signed up for a profile somewhere (anywhere) means they participate in social networking, I can see where that high percentage might come from.  Active participants?  Not a chance.

Jeff - It is an interesting phenomonen to say the least.  The power is amazing... who is actually using it in terms of percentages... who knows ?  I guess the good news for us is that we can concentrate on what we can control which is building our online presence !!!  Through social media, our site and our blog !!!

Jeff, I was in a meeting last week in which the presenter brought up the importance of applications like Twitter for area brokers.  It would have been interesting to be able to share this example. I think that Google Alerts are even more valuable because they cover a much broader medium of conversation, but the immediacy of Twitter is compelling.

Isn't active participation the only criteria that really moves the needle?

What a day for me to be the twitter diarreah mouth.  Uhg.  I'm now spilling over onto Active Rain.  Run!  Where is that any key any way?

Jeff, No you didn't just post my whoopie cushion picture here. LOL

My Twitter has been frozen all day! I' m lost, I tell ya.  Anyway, if Quantum polled 10,000 agents, that's not a lot especially if you look at Active Rain alone, there are 100,000 plus members. Most are inactive, but still. We have (I think) 10k agents just in NE Ohio. California must be five times that much in each major metro area.  67% sounds high no question. I think we should all email quantum and ask for specifics. 

I think the number is off by a factor of 10.  Yes, that means I think that less than 10% would be social netowrk active...  There are estimates as high as 2 million agents, and 62,000 on A|R... and only a few hundred that use the site.  Twitter probably doesn't have more than 20k agents. 

Jeff - First, I just realized that this company is based right here in Austin, so perhaps I could pay them a visit in person to figure out how they derived their numbers.  :)

Second, I still think the Pareto Principle (80-20 rule) applies to social networking at this point.  Despite the fact that Twitter and ActiveRain were both launched in 2006, I still think that those of us who are actively using these tools are early adopters. 

According to NAR, there are about 1.3 million Realtors nationwide, yet the top real estate social network (this one) has attracted only 10% so far, and a far smaller number are really using the site at all. 

If these numbers are accurate, Quantum simply managed to pick from the right pool of agents.  Maybe they emailed the survey, which would tend to skew the numbers by itself.

OMG Jason go do it! Maybe they have a logical explanation but I for one can't think of how that could be! lol

I told you about my office and my broker no concept of anything internet.  I have been looking for Las Vegas realtiors on Facebook there are very few.  Twitter has a few but the mostly just do market updates.  I have not looked at Linkdin.  ECademey is another one I use a lot because of the world wide there are Las Vegas people on there but not Las vegas.  Same with Pulse. The same with Triiibes.  There are a few on AR that are active.  I know 67% is way high at least for Las Vegas.  I did a long time ago joined eery social media that comes along to protect my name not active in all of them but am in to the social media aspect for the long term. 

JEFF! That was dizzying O_o  How long were you online in that Twit-fest? I have to admit, as far as business goes, I spend less than about 5% of my time in online social media. But for play time, that's a MUCH bigger %.  I guess that's not good is it?

Jeff, the question I have is, if you actively participate on facebook,linked-in, twitter, AR, and about  five or six other simmilar sites when does one have time to generate new business, retain existing business and take care of the active buyers and sellers? I know we have 24 hrs:)))

Endre, your question assumes you need to do that to be successful using Social Networking. You don't. :)

67% is really high. Most agents I know in my area don't do social networking. They just don't see the need.  That's OK, more business for the rest of us. :)

I think that "social networking" is such a broad term and many agents may say that they are doing it, but really they are just on Facebook and MySpace "poking" friends and family.  I don't know many local real estate agents that blog on a regular basis -- my guess is that the true # is about 25 to 35%.

Jeff - well if I hadn't been busy working on my new listing on-line I would have been participating on Twitter. The number is misleading. I guess I could believe that there could be that % of agents in some sort of "social network" since the term itself is so broad, and if you define it as just having a profile of some sort.

Being "in a social network" has nothing to do with being active. Anyone can sign up with a profile, as a huge percentage does on AR and do nothing more. What is dangerous is the implication in the wordiing that they are active in social netowrking. I would love to see the list of sites they actually consider "social networks" - bet it includes most sites adn not what those in the know view at true social networks. Is Zillow a social network? Craigslist?

Jeff

25%? 35%? 65? 

I think the numbers are much much lower than that. In our area alone we have about 1800 realtors (lancaster county) and only 4 of us are actively blogging on this network as we speak and on realtown there's about 3 from our area. Now, i understand there are other social networks but if we have to average it out, focusing on real estate related networks alone then i think we'd still be below 50 easily if not less. If adding myspace, facebook, linkedin, and other networks i'd say 15%, but without those, if pertaining stricttly to real estate related social networks like realtown, cityblogusa, truliavoices,point2 and this network then i'd say 2-3% max.

BTW Jeff -- I haven't seen EyeJot in action, so thanks for my first demo!

-- Kerry Lucasse, ATLhomesearch.com

Statistics can be created in favor of an argument 100% of the time, right?  In this case, 67% of agents are members of social networks.  If you look at number of new agents since the year 2000 and consider that the majority of them are younger than 50, it could create the statistic.  Specify that it's active members and it literally is a whole different story.

I'm not so good at tracking numbers, but I'm good at counting my leads...I've been posting properties on twitter & FB (& AR of course) every week. I have a long ways to go until I'm really up to speed with many of you---but encouraged by how many still need to catch up! ;-) I, too, have not had a lot of success getting folks in my office to use AR & FB & NO one but me is trying to use Twitter. I think most just trust "reliable" info that comes from the corporate ladder office rather than from the grass roots level... ladders are useful for climbing to the tops of buildings, but not useful for climbing onto a sphere... One day corporate will announce that the world is round and everything will change. Meanwhile, you are my heroes! I'm so grateful for your brilliant vision and for sharing it with so many of us. I'm learning, from your illustrations & imparting of knowledge, that EVERYWHERE is the Center of the Universe!

I actually followed that conversation on Twitter live. Realistically, I have no idea what the number is, but what I do know that it is amazing how conversations get picked up on Twitter. Just a couple of days ago the Local Bureau of Tourism was following and saving our conversation to share with a couple of local business.

I'm just beginning my adventure into social networking and I'm finding it rather exciting. Mainly because there is not another single agent (150, mind you)in my office that understands the power of the internet and how it will continue to change how we do business as real estate agents. Buyers don't need us to find them houses anymore. They need us to be trusted advisors to help them through very complex transactions. That's where social networking's true value is...in helping online consumers get to know us and trust us before they call us, and helping one another get to know each other. 67% is too high.

I have just joined Twitter. Ar-r-r-rgh! I have very little knowledge about this so, any of you AR's want to send me some tips? All I can do right now is post what I'm doing...could be fun to read, OR BORING!!

67% seems ridiculously high.  Brad Coys says 15% in San Francisco and I would agree.  Marin County even less and Brad and I are in one the social media capitals!  Having a profile doesn't mean anything,  engaging in social media involves participation- AKA being social.  I think Brokers are starting to think about Social Media strategy.  It is totally untapped right now.

According to REALTOR.org, NAR represents over 1.2 million members. My guess is that there are about 60-70,000 agents who are members of AR, which represents lestt than 6%. So does that mean there are another 700,000+ out there on other social networks that we don't know about?

this hilarious.  I completely agree with you on social media.  It has always been an overvalued medium for linking to customers.

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I dont know too many real estate agents in Maryland,Virginia and Washington DC besides the real estate professionals on Active Rain who are members of Online Social Networking sites. I am probably one if not the only active member of online social networking sites. So 67% is way too high. Honestly speaking I think it is at the most 8% even less than that people a lot of real estate professionals think it is too much time to be spending on the computer by being on social networking sites. Congratulations on the feature post. Have a great weekend.

HI JEFF!

Well, as for my managing broker, they don't get involved w/social netoworking at all.  The principal broker does dip & dabble in it.  I could say it's because they don't have the time, but I won't becuase that's certainly not it. 

I too have invited plenty of people to AR, and like Audrey said, they laugh, say they'll check it out and never do...their loss!

Jeff - I know that in my office of about 200, I may be the only one using it so far. I will talk about it in my blogging class next week, so hopefully a few more will be added.

Hello Jeff,

This may be off topic some what. I've been clicking on all the Eyejolt links but have yet to see anything. The pages always time out in Explorer and Firefox. Maybe I'm missing someting here.  Any insight?

Ken, I just watched them all and you are the first to report this. So, unfortunately, I'm thinking it's probably something on your end.

I know we are kinda slow on the right coast I am much more involved here on AR twitter and all the other social media media venues than the 700 + other agents in this area.  Guess there are about 50 some on AR and two that twitter in this area.  Fine w/me I've told them about it I'm not going to preach it to them. If they don't get it their loss.

NO WAY! I just did a presentation at my office meeting (75 agents in the office) on social networking and all but a couple jaws were dropping. That # is way off.

Jeff, you always make web 2.0 new technologies sound soo exciting. Wish i could attend your panels. Hopefully I'ff find remnants here and there. Aloha from Kauai...

Hey Jeff!  I think Mark Twain said, 'there are lies, damn lies, then there are statistics', or something to that effect.  Interesting experiment.  You might have left out a decimal, 6.7% would be more like it, IMO.  Take care.

I'm not sure of the percentage, but know there are a few out there that are active in my area, but not many.  We once had about 50-60,000 agents, but I think we are down to only about 40,000 now.  Out of them, maybe 50-100 are real active in the social networking.

Good stuff Jeff. If you will, please email me a one-pager with your thoughts on the recent and future changes of social networking in real estate for possible inclusion in the 2009 Swanepoel Trends Report.

Stefan

Jeff,  

I work for QuantumDigital so can provide a little more insight as to how the statistics that we're referencing above were determined.  I posted it on my active rain blog here:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/837391/Social-Network-Use-Among-Realtors

Feel free to send me an email if there are questions.  As I mention in there, I think a great follow up survey would be to list out all the individual social networks to get a sense of which ones realtors are using, and to what extent.

Luis

Jeff Turner (google alert), you may want to check this post out. Since they've(AR staff) removed the points summary of people's profiles, that information is now broken or removed. 

Hope to see you around this network again soon. We miss your insight and experience in social media around here.

Sincerely, Active Castellum

:) I'll be back.