Company Research: Social Media

Social media sites are a rich source of informal and supplementary company information.  Press coverage of smaller companies, especially the private ones, is frequently very limited, so social media sites offer viable alternatives.

Linkedin, the world’s largest business oriented professional social networking site, potential uses:

• Identify company employees, especially mid-level management decision makers
• Examine position titles and try to determine internal company structure
• Obtain market size information about a company’s smaller but nevertheless important product lines
• Mine employee profiles for company operations information

Use Twitter or Facebook to monitor company developments and employee sentiment