Base One blog

October 28 2014 4:01 PM

I took part in a pub quiz last week, where my team finished a very respectable joint second. Given that there was a prize for placing so high (a £25 bar tab), but not for third, a tie-breaker was required. Each team had to send forward one representative to provide an answer, once the topic was announced: Social Media. Being the “media type” in our team of a lawyer, teacher and pharmaceutical market access consultant, I was sent forth.

 The question: What year was Facebook formed? My mind raced back to my university days when I first signed up, and forgot all about the 10th birthday celebrations that the site ran just eight short months ago. I panicked, and the pressure told. “2001” I ventured. The other guy went for 2006 (clearly a late adopter), and we lost out. Disappointed, it really brought home just how much social media has so quickly become ingrained in our daily routine that it seems it’s been around for far longer than it really has.

 Reading other blogs and websites, there’s plenty of debate and guidance around utilising Facebook as part of your B2B marketing strategy, for fairly obvious reasons. Personally, I’m unlikely to choose a print supplier, for example, because they reach out to me on Facebook – to me, it’s not the time or the place. However, the value of another social network –  LinkedIn –  for reaching your B2B audience isn’t really in question. What did occur to me when writing this, though, was: What year was LinkedIn launched?

 The answer: 2003. 1BF (Before Facebook). Who knew?! I certainly didn’t, especially as LinkedIn didn’t appear on my radar until about six years ago when I started working full-time. It now grows at two members per second (according to their website) and has over 300 million of them, another sign of just how integral it is – and will continue to be – for companies and their online presence, especially within the English-speaking world.

 Anyway, the real end of this story is that this week we have to pay for our drinks at the pub. To ensure a successful return, I’m hoping for questions on personas and segmentation or, at the very least, the history of Leeds United from 1994.