67% of all statistics are made up on the fly.
It may actually be higher than that, since I just made that one up on the fly. You get the point. This morning, I read a report on MarketWatch that struck me as more than odd. It struck me as misleading. So, I decided to use my EyeJot This! bookmarklet and put out a little video message on Twitter.
What you see below is the instant conversation that took place. It's best to read it from the bottom of this post to the top. And it illustrates a couple of things for me.
First, the speed at which conversations can move in the social media space is incredible. This bulk of this took place in a span of about 30 minutes and as I'm typing this word, it's still going on. (My apologies to those who might be left out below. I'm writing this quickly to further illustrate the point.) The speedy reaction to the assertion that "67% of all agents are now members of social networks" was almost 100% negative.
Second, in this day and age, if you put out a press release making specific claims you need to be prepared to defend it. Vigorously. In this case, I merely questioned the real estate professionals who use social media the most, those on Twitter. I don't know if any of the execs at Quantum Digital are engaging the real estate community on Twitter, but if they are not, it may further illustrate just how far off the 67% number may really be. As Teri Lussier points out below, how they conducted the survey and how they defined "social network" play a large role in how they got to that number. (Just as my use of Twitter ONLY severly skews this conversation!) Neither of those pieces of information are included in the press release, so we're all left to guess. Leave a void and it will be filled. Guaranteed.
What should Real Estate Brokers be thinking right now?
If I don't write this post, the folks at Quantum Digital probably never see that conversation. So, Brokers, do you have any idea what conversations your real estate agents are having online? If not, you should. My bet is that a very high percentage of brokers are not actively engaged at all with the kinds of conversations, like this one, that are taking place almost every minute of every day in places like Twitter. And if the number really is as low as many state below, then, in part, the absence of a social media strategy at the broker level is to blame. That must change. Right now, the RE.net is talking to itself for the most part. And if social media is to provide the return it has the potential to provide, that also has to change.
Here's the conversation. Just the replies directed to me. Again, it's best to read it from the bottom up.
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KevinBoer:
@respres Or perhaps [Use email + Use R.com + Use MLS + Have an AR Account] = 67% ?
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SteveBelt:
@respres for my brokerage, it looks like it might be as high as 25% have a social network account...but less than 1% are using it actively
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acummings:
@ResPres I don't know any other agents in my area here on Twitter. Few on FB and MS, a few on AR, that's about it that I've seen.
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mattwilkins:
I think @respres opened the perverbial can of worms by uncovering the truth about the RE using social media/networking!
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Vingold:
@ResPres unless we're counting something like ActiveRain as a social network - I would say here in MD the numbers are low low - 5% if that
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ChrisShouse:
@ResPres I say only me in my office period and in the valley on Twitter I think John and I are most active agree@LVRealEstate
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wharriman:
@ResPres I would second the other people here, 67% is WAY high. I can only think of a handful that are actively using SM in their biz.
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BradCoy:
@ResPres in my local market, it seems that their are maybe a handful of RE pros are *using* Social ntw. 'a part of' maybe 15%
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DaleChumbley:
@ResPres When I teach @ my local office, less than 10% have MS, facebook, LinkedIn accounts. 67% is way high IMHO.
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Twitterzilla:
@respres that would probably be an interesting polldaddy to put on Active Rain. Ask what % is social in their office 1-5% 5-10% 10-15% etc.
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LVRealEstate:
@ResPres In Las Vegas I think we're a lot closer to 6 to 7% than we are to 67%. Consistent users are probably less than 3%.
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joelrunner:
@respres 10 or 15 out of 65 if you count having a facebook account that hardly gets used.
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ResPres:
@mlbroadcast I don't care what it is. Misleading information is dangerous, IMHO. I know you agree.
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mlbroadcast:
@respres it's exactly this type of traditional media bullcrap that is going to go the way of the T-Rex. SocNets will kill it eventually.
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ResPres:
Now that I know 67% of real estate profs can see it, I'm going to turn this Tweetfest into a blog post. Hope y'all don't mind. :)
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joelrunner:
@respres I have 35 agents at my RE company and another 30 I consult for, and I can think of 5 (out of 65) who are active in social media.
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mlbroadcast:
@respres quantum sees no threat in that number, they know it's crap. that is a press release, not an article, its an Ad not editorial
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jasoncrouch:
@ResPres Actually, @LaniAR may be even closer with her estimate of 15%. Any time I mention this stuff, I get blank stares from agents.
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mattwilkins:
@ResPres I agree with ya. if I had to guess at most 10% of the RE professionals in my local market are social netowork members
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jasoncrouch:
@ResPres I am in a tech-savvy town, and VERY few of the agents I know are members of ANY social network. This in inflated IMO - maybe 30%?
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PhoenixREGuy:
@respres - re 67%. Ask people via a blog post, and you'll get a high number. Walk into a brokerage and many will say "do I social what?"
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mattwilkins:
@ResPres I also think that's very high considering I'm the only member of a 1000+ member local REALTOR board that ACTIVELY uses the medium
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jimreppond:
@ResPres I guess if you consider email itself as an "online social network", then MAYBE 67% :-)
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SeattleCondo:
@respres wonder if it included non-business social networking...&/or someone who just signed up at a few sites but don't ever participate
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Agentaudrey:
@ResPres I think 67% is very high. I invitied everyone to AR. Probably 25 signed up and 3 of us use it, and only 2 of us use it daily.
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wilkeshe:
@respres the telling # would be active. There's a bunch of agents on AR in my area, about 7 actually post.
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wilkeshe:
@ResPres It'd be a stretch here. I'd say about 20% here. Some large companies auto-sign agents on facebook,etc, might account for some?
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FreedomWeaver:
@ResPres I definately think the 67% number is high also. I've been in RE for 13 years and I'm a lil tech savvy and i joined SNs > 2 yrs ago
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Twitterzilla:
@ResPres Further, I did 1mailing thru quantum in my hood, card came to my house addressed to Ex, had never lived @address.Reputabl, reliabl?
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Twitterzilla:
@ResPres 95% of all agents have an email address, but how many of them actually check their email? Just sayin'.
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DezDaniels:
@ResPres sounds way off to me in my daily experience with agents... I would say they might have signed up but don't utilize at all 47%
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PhoenixREGuy:
@ResPres Really struggling with that 67% number. Even if that's just making a profile and never coming back, that seems way high. WAY
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jeanettejoy:
@ResPres Love eyejot! I think the 67% is high. Agents may be members of Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter, but they don't participate.
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EricaWallace:
@ResPres umm yeah that seems really really high! must be counting membership for sites like linked in but not active participants...
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ManaTulberg:
@ResPres I agree with you. Most sign up and never return. On AR there are many in my area that sign up and do nothing.
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Posted by 
;)
;)
Two weeks ago my borker asked me if I had ever heard of twitter. he could set up an account but the only agent in the office he would be following would be me. Yawn, boring. :)