Three good examples of "social businesses" that are disrupting their industries.

"...the writing is already on the wall: service businesses that don’t use social features to lower barriers and increase efficiency will likely not survive long"

Full Article:  Airbnb, Coursera and Uber: The rise of the disruption economy

Embracing social media isn’t just a bit of fun, it is a vital way to communicate, keep your ear to the ground and improve your business - Richard Branson

Full Article:  Why aren’t more business leaders online?

Businesses must put the internet first in all their decisions to ensure their companies have a long-term future - Martha Lane Fox

There is a skills gap among medium-sized businesses preventing them moving more of their operations online. While companies have invested in their customer-facing websites, there is far more they could be doing online that would save them money and help them expand.

Full Article: Martha Lane Fox: ‘Steal from Google’ and put online first to build sustainable recovery

Google+ Has 400 Million Members - Mashable

Google+ has also managed to reach 100 million active users within 12 months! It took Facebook many years to reach the same number of active users.

Full Article:  Google+ Has 400 Million Members

Social Business takes on a new level of urgency as organizations shift from an Information Age “informing” model to a Communication Age “communicating and engaging” model - Daniel Burrus.

Full Article:  20 Game-Changing Technology Trends That Will Create Both Disruption and Opportunity on a Global Level

You cannot have credibility saying you are customer-centric if you ignore your customers in social media channels - Charlene Li

Full Article:  The Crisis of Courage in Social Media

Eighty-one percent of executives believe their brands can get more sales and bigger market share by using social media - Article by Ryan Holmes CEO at HootSuite

Full Article: Are You Leaving $1.3 Trillion on the Table? Why Fortune 500 Companies Are Racing to Social Media

New LinkedIn Profile Format Coming Soon!

LinkedIn have announced the introduction of a new format for individual profiles.

The new format seems to provide a cleaner, more modern looking display. With a larger profile photo (so make sure you've uploaded a good one!).

There will be a graphical display of your network in the right hand column. More interesting and useful statistics are promised.

Profile photos from a selection of your connections are to be shown at the bottom of the new format. Which according to LinkedIn will also make it easier to connect and build relationships.

You can see the new format at: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/about. At present you need to submit a request to have your account upgraded to the new profile format.

What do you think of the new format?