With thanks to all who participated, here are the results of my latest weekend poll. Our focus: What roles do apps and social media play in your daily life?

LinkedIn: the sole social media channel all respondents reported using

Just over half the readers who participated in the poll use it primarily for business purposes, while another 12% tap into it primarily for personal use. Somewhere in the middle, 36% of respondents report using it for both business and personal purposes.

62% share good news about their employers on social media

In fact, 33% of respondents reported that they do so regularly, and another 29% do so occasionally. Approximately 25% of you do not do so, and some readers noted that they’re prohibited from so doing, or that this is seen as the purview of the Marketing department.

If you have a look at peers’ social media accounts, you’ll find that a fair number of people insert highly visible disclaimers stating that posts reflect their personal perspectives as opposed to their employers’. It can be a fine line. I  like to keep a few degrees of separation between the office and social media, no matter how proud I am of the organisation. Like some readers, I also respect that we have communications pros dedicated to such messaging.

On the other hand, I know one Chief of Staff who does her organisation incredibly proud on social media – as do a number of my readers. Thanks to the goodwill they demonstrate here and on social media, I have an elevated respect for companies such as Brother UK, William Grant & Sons (not to mention the fine products they distill), PwC and many more.

Admin. professionals also share word of career opportunities on behalf of their employers

Just today I read a Facebook post within a closed group, in which an admin. professional shared word of a couple of great career opportunities in Amazon’s Seattle office. I’ve also seen my readers share word of opportunities via their LinkedIn networks. What more could an HR department hope for than a personal recommendation of one’s employer to an individual’s peer groups?

76% of  respondents communicate information about their professional networks and associations on social media

43% of respondents reported that they do so regularly, while 33% do so on occasion. Roughly one out of every five respondents reported that they belong to one or more associations, but don’t take to social media to share related info. I found the prevalence of such networks impressive, though unsurprising; only 5% of respondents reported that they’re not involved in a network or professional association.

For full results of this weekend poll, read on!

THE DATA

Note: Information below reflects the percentage of respondents who selected specific responses from multiple choice options.  In instances where more than one person offers similar responses to an open ended question, I typically cluster or paraphrase such responses rather than duplicating all of them.

Do you use Facebook?

• 64% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use
• 27% of respondents: Yes – for both personal and business purposes
• 4.5% of respondents: Extremely sporadically
• 4.5% of respondents: No

Do you use Google+?

• 70% of respondents: No
• 13% of respondents: Yes – for personal and business purposes
• 9% of respondents: Yes – primarily for business purposes
• 4% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use
• 4% of respondents selected “Other”. One person commented, “Minimal use”.

Do you use Instagram?

• 54% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use
• 33.5% of respondents: No
• 4% of respondents: Yes – for personal and business purposes
• 8.5 of respondents selected “Other”. Comments included two extremes: “No need to!” and “No as much as I should”.

Do you use LinkedIn?

• 52% of respondents: Yes – primarily for business purposes
• 36% of respondents: Yes – for both personal and business purposes
• 12% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use

Do you use Pinterest? 

• 52% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use
• 36% of respondents: No
• 4% of respondents: Yes – for both personal and business purposes
• 8% of respondents selected “Other”. Comments included, “I have an account but rarely use it” and “No need to”.

Do you use Snapchat?

• 72% of respondents: No
• 20% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use
• 8% of respondents selected “Other”. One reader commented that there’s no need to use it, while another wrote, “Again, use it only intermittently – usually when playing with filters with my niece”

Do you use Twitter?

• 44% of respondents: Yes – for both personal and business purposes
• 24% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use
• 24% of respondents: No
• 8% of respondents selected “Other”. One reader wrote that there’s no need to use it, and another commented, “My main social media platform”.

Do you use XING? (a business network platform that was founded in Hamburg, Germany)?

• 73% of respondents: No
• 8% of respondents: Yes – primarily for business purposes
• 4% of respondents: Yes – for both personal and business purposes
• 15% of respondents selected “Other”. Some readers wrote that they’d not heard of it before, which was likely the case for many of you outside Europe. One reader commented, “Favourite platform on the German market”.

Do you use YouTube?

• 52% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use
• 26% of respondents: No
• 13% of respondents: Yes – for both personal and business purposes
• 4.5% of respondents: Yes – primarily for business purposes
• 4.5% of respondents selected “Other”. One reader reported using it to watch videos, for both personal and business purposes, but “not to post”

Do you use Periscope?

• 75% of respondents: No
• 8% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use
• 4% of respondents: Yes – for both personal and business purposes
• 13% of respondents selected “Other”. One reader reported using it rarely, and other readers commented that they’d not heard of it before/had no idea what it is. For reference, Periscope is a live streaming app.

Do you use WhatsApp?

• 48% of respondents: No
• 17% of respondents: Yes – primarily for personal use
• 17% of respondents: Yes – for both personal and business purposes
• 9% of respondents: Yes – primarily for business purposes
• 9% of respondents selected “Other”. One reader commented, “But looking into it!”, and another reported using the app, “… but only when my boss or coworker is travelling overseas”

Do you (a) publish to, and/or (b) monitor social media as part of your professional responsibilities?

• 64% of respondents: No
• 16% of respondents: Yes, I publish to social media as part of my role
• 16% of respondents: Yes, I monitor social media as part of my role
• 4% of respondents selected “Other”. One person commented, “I monitor some admin. blogs for personal and professional reasons”.

Do you share good news about your employer on social media?

• 33% of respondents: Yes – I do so regularly
• 29% of respondents: Yes – I do so occasionally
• 24% of respondents: No
• 14% of respondents selected “Other”. Comments included the following.
  • Not allowed to share any form of business information
  • We have (a) Marketing department for that
  • I do via LinkedIn bu, for personal social media, do not other than “liking” (posts) on Instagram

Do you share information with or about your professional network/association on social media?

• 43% of respondents: Yes – I do so regularly
• 33% of respondents: Yes – I do so occasionally
• 19% of respondents: No – I’m a member of one or more networks/professional associations, but don’t do so
• 5% of respondents: No – I’m not involved in a network or professional association

Briefly describe any impacts social media has had on your work, and/or your workplace.

• Networking
• Important message delivery
• Announcements
• Too many to tell, from emergency situations to personal “happy” news
• Improvements on web page
• I mostly avoid it; too time consuming / I have none
• We are encouraged to share vacancies via our own social media accounts
• Provided a platform for increased personal branding
• I received internal and external recognition & awards

I asked readers to list any apps you use in your professional lives, and then in your personal lives. It turns out that all the apps below appeared on both lists.

• Banking app
• DLF24
• Eventbrite
• Facebook
• Google+
• Gym booking app
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• OpenTable
• Periscope
• Pinterest
• Snapchat
• (A) train app
• Twitter
• Wallet
• WhatsApp
• YouTube
• XING

List any social media channel(s) you’ve dropped in the last year.

Two people reported having dropped Twitter, and one reported dropping Pinterest in the past year.

List any new (to you) social media channel(s) you’ve begun using in the last year.

YouTube, Slack (for internal corporate communications), Snapchat and SL (SocialLink, which is IAAP’s eBoard platform) each received a mention.