As part of your training, we encourage you to cultivate curiosity and explore what makes some profiles incredibly successful. Here are a few people who attract meaningful engagement on their social profiles. Who would you add to this list?
Jack Welch
Who? Former chairman and CEO of GE, now commentator, business expert and management training provider.
What’s cool about his Twitter account? It’s personal, it’s authentic, and it contains content that he personally finds useful and credible. He engages with and responds to others who tweet to him.
What’s credible about his LinkedIn presence? It sets out his experience and credentials clearly, as well as his current activity: there is no question that it’s him, not least because it’s not over-polished. He shares content regularly (every two weeks), on topics that matter, and only seems to share his own content.
Bill Gates
Who? Founder of Microsoft, head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
What’s cool about his Twitter account? His bio – ‘Sharing things I’m learning through my foundation work and other interests…’ – shows that it’s all about learning, not about showing off, or about Microsoft. No promise to engage, only share.
What’s credible about his LinkedIn presence? He doesn’t waste any time on unnecessary biographical detail: there is almost no detail on his profile at all. The emphasis is on sharing content, and he shares both his own and others, every few weeks.
Horace Dediu
Who? Senior Fellow at Clayton Christensen Institute
What’s cool about his Twitter account? He likes graphs, and that makes his account very visual. A mix of retweets and original content. A fun bio (in Latin) that might inspire people to look it up. It’s fun and a bit playful, not taking it too seriously.
What’s credible about his LinkedIn presence? Sets out his credentials, with a certain amount of humour. Signposts his website clearly, and also explains his work in simple terms (‘I describe the causes of success and failure’), which makes you want to read more. Content posted every week or so.
Hans Rosling
Who? Professor of Global Health, Karolinska Institutet.
What’s cool about his Twitter account? He’s breaking the rules: most retweets are without comments, but suggests that he’s wise enough to showcase other people’s intelligence, and not trying to show off. Mix of text and pictures, not too much content.
What’s credible about his LinkedIn presence? Nothing very much. He hasn’t really focused on his profile, and has shared no content in the last two weeks.
Chris Skinner
Who? Commentator and blogger writing about financial issues in London
What’s cool about his Twitter account? A mix of his content (from his blog) and content from others, as well as sharp commentary that has wider implications (for example, a tweet about Uber, using hashtags to good effect). Engages with others and retweets comments.
What’s credible about his LinkedIn presence? Sets out his experience and credentials, good use of recommendations to give support to them. Shares content regularly, every couple of days.