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Monday, November 30, 2009

Could there be a virtual glass floor?

This week a fascinating set of data was released that shows women dominating social media.  Apparently, women outnumber men on Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Flickr, Classmates, MySpace, Hi5 and del.icio.us.  Women tie men on LinkedIn, YouTube and Bebo.  The boys, however, do rule on Digg.

Here's a link to the full demographic breakdown of social networks: http://www.briansolis.com/2009/10/revealing-the-people-defining-social-networks/

And, here's a great visual: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2009/who-rules-the-social-web/

While this data is based on sheer numbers of people using the systems (not who is in charge, making money or has power and influence), it shouldn't be surprising.  After all, social media is all about facilitating communication and women are known communicators.

As I wrote the title to this post, I realized that a virtual glass floor is not the best visual.  First of all, some of the men I know probably wouldn't mind the view from down there (joking!!!). However, as pointed out above, it's not really a floor. We're just talking numbers, not power or influence.  Yet ... shouldn't numbers eventually equal power and influence????  It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. 

This is why it's not enough for women to just post a profile on LinkedIn.  We need women to use social networking platforms to voice their opinion and build their businesses.

To be honest, I was a bit hesitant about this post because I don't believe there should be glass floors or ceilings - it shouldn't be about gender at all - but talent, skill and capability.  Yet, we're not at equality yet in the places that count (the C-Suite) - despite more college graduates, more grad school graduates and now more social media participation.  But, perhaps demographics + social media will help us get there!

Diane K. Danielson is the CEO and founder of the Downtown Women's Club and the author of The Downtown Women's Club Beginner's Guide to Facebook.

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Comments 1-2 of 2
  • yaya's Avatar
    Posted by yaya Thu Oct 8, 2009 12:45pm PDT

    It has always been strange to me how MORE women have a higher education degree than men (and this is true for Bachelors, Matsres AND PhD's), yet we STILL get paid less than they do and it is harder for us to advance in our career. I am all for women using their influence and spreading the word about their businesses, maybe if there were MORE women entrepreneurs we would start to see more EQUALITY in the business world, to use your words 'in the places that count'

    I am a firm believer that we are slowly but surely getting there.

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  • Diane K. Danielson's Avatar
    Posted by Diane K. Danielson Thu Oct 8, 2009 7:33pm PDT

    Hi Dayra - Thanks for your comments. I feel your frustration over this issue. Progress has been slower than expected. However, women did much better after the depression than the 100 years before. I think this recession may give us a boost for many reasons. I think I'll blog about that in my next post! Thanks for the idea.

    Diane

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