A Business.com study of more than 1,700 small business owners or managers currently using one or more social media resources to help them get the information they need to do their jobs on a day-to-day basis finds that small business leaders currently show a strong preference for “passive” social media sources of business-relevant information — such as viewing webinars or reading online ratings, reviews and company blog posts — over those that require more active interaction with others. However, the use of social media resources requiring more active participation, such as asking business-related questions through Twitter or online question-and-answer forums, is set to rise among small business leaders as they gain access to effective online business networks.
“Active” social media resources, including participating in online communities/forums (52.9%) or asking questions on Q&A sites (50.4%), fell just outside the top five social media resources for small business leaders, while using Twitter to find or request business-related information (26.9%) was used by the smallest number of respondents out of the twelve options provided.
