The On-Going Conversation

Detroit: The Dormant City?

The census revealed that Detroit's population fell 25% in ten years, equaling 250,000 and the equivalency of 1 person every 22 minutes. 

The mayor will challenge the recent numbers in light of it directly impacting the cities federal funding. This thriving metropolis was once the firth largest city in the United States, but has continued to dwindle in population as the manufacturing industry has declined.

With more and more people moving out of Detroit, the city is virtually abandoned in some areas. Is this a public relations nightmare or an opportunity to revitalize? We all realize how resilient the city is, although perpetual hard-ache can lead to discouragement and a lack of consolidated effort on a local governmental level.

However, I have noticed an increased number of advertisements showcasing The Motor City, but will it be enough to transform the distressed state of Detroit into an appealing place to call home?

LinkedIn Wants Users to Visit Daily

LinkedIn launched LinkedIn Today, a social news tool for business users that encourages perpetual use, similar to Facebook and Twitter.

From a consistent use standpoint, LinkedIn has a hard time competing with Facebook and Twitter. Users seem to view LinkedIn as a professional portal that doesn't require continual monitoring. Facebook and Twitter on the other hand seem to have a connected mantra that requires daily attention, and users feel out of touch if they aren't constantly engaged and interconnected.

Obviously this isn't the case, but users feel a subconscious isolation if they aren't checking their digital lives on a daily basis. Most people view LinkedIn as an environment for career networking, which doesn't consist of frequent changes and status updates. Users even have their Twitter updates linked via an external platform that appears on the LinkedIn feed, which is included on the landing page.

As a result, LinkedIn is trying to capture a degree of success with this approach to social media. They want to encourage uses to visit on a daily basis, by providing more value and the ability to directly search news online. To a certain extent, they want to be a one-stop shop for online content absorption. This may be quite challenging, although it is a great place to commence in a difficult social space.

Read the full article via Fast Company

BranchOut: The Social Job Search

Social Tools: LinkedIn has 90 million users and Facebook has roughly 500 million active users, with more joining each and every day.

Read the full article via Fast Company