Earlier this year, Structural Engineer conducted the State of the Industry Survey and asked respondents, “How do you use the internet?” High on the list of uses for the 316 structural engineers who responded to this question was accessing web e-mail (90 percent), reading general news online (74 percent), and reading industry-specific news online (41 percent). The bottom of the list included blogging and social and professional networking.

Constructive Communication, Inc. (CCI) — a specialist in public relations and marketing communications for professional service firms — recently published the results of an online social media survey.

According to the company, participants in the online survey represent 65 professionals in the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and other technical industries from across the United States and Canada. Kimberly Kayler, president of CCI, explained the purpose of the survey was to gauge the current understanding of online social media and the future of the medium. The survey responses indicate that, while many are still trying to figure out how it fits into the business-to-business world, social media is here to stay.

CCI Interactive Public Relations Specialist Stephanie Brown reports that the survey validates the growing interest by the AEC industry in social media as well as the general business population. The results are as follows:

• Approximately 75 percent of respondents participate regularly in social media on an individual basis, 19 percent of which participate constantly, 29 percent participate once a day, and 27 percent participate once a week.
• Although 76 percent of respondents noted that online social media is a critical medium for their company to get involved in, only 20 percent said they participate in social media outlets representing their company on a weekly basis, and 60 percent said they rarely participate from a corporate perspective.
• When asked how familiar participants are with online social media, 40 percent said completely, 50 percent said a little bit, and 10 percent said they didn’t understand it at all.
• The most popular outlet for companies was LinkedIn with 63 percent, Facebook with 30 percent, and blogs with 28 percent.

Kayler noted that online social media has grown dramatically in terms of acceptance as well as use in the AEC and other technical industries in the last six months. “For example, a product supplier recently used Twitter to drive traffic to their trade show booth, a structural engineer used LinkedIn to share his expertise on how the seismic code influences design, and a contractor used Facebook as a recruiting tool.” CCI has developed a series of articles on how to integrate social media, the importance of a company policy, and best practices; visit www.constructivecommunication.com to learn more.

As AEC professionals become more comfortable and proficient leveraging social media — including online chatting, blogging, and virtual environment interaction — this medium, and its usefulness, will only continue to grow. Testament to this, Stagnito Media hosted its inaugural eConference last month. This 4 1/2-hour, online learning event included webcast seminars, live chats, and virtual exhibitor booths. With more than 750 registrants, the Engineering Design Technology eConference was successful by all accounts. To view the webcasts and experience the eConference, visit econference.stagnitomedia.com and register to be admitted to the archive.

Although I don’t expect that social media will ever replace face-to-face human interaction, there are many benefits from this format. And while businesses generally accept that web mail and reading news online is relevant, it appears that social media is on the way to earning some respect, too.

Jennifer Goupil, P.E.,

jgoupil@stagnitomedia.com