Social Media Women, a new group launched on International Women’s Day, is using the power of social media to connect women and give them a voice within this space.
Co founder, Catriona Pollard Director of CP Communications, said Social Media Women has been established to encourage and assist women to participate more prominently in social media.
“We are seeing more and more women online and the obvious next step is to create a group that recognises the important role women play in social media and actively build the community,” said Catriona.
Stats show that there are equal numbers of men and women use sites like LinkedIn and YouTube and when it comes to sites like Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, FriendFeed, MySpace, and Bebo women outnumber men.
However research from Harvard Business Review showed that even though there are more women on Twitter, they get less love. Men and women follow a similar number of Twitter users, men have 15% more followers. Further, men are almost twice more likely to follow another man than a woman.
“So what can be done about this? We can start by seeking out, following more women on Twitter and other social networks and supporting each other in all that we do,” said Catriona
“Social media is a powerful tool, both personally and professionally. It becomes extraordinarily powerful when online connections become real friendships and business connections.”
“Women want inspiration and collaboration, support and confidence. They certainly don’t want self proclaimed social media gurus pushing them to the sidelines.”
“With Social Media Women we have created a safe place for women to gain experience and confidence to ask questions, learn and challenge themselves to grow, evolve and aspire.”
“Our first meeting saw over 40 women attend on only a weeks notice, with over 70 actually registering with the group. We had women attend who had no social networking experience, and some who run their own social media companies,” Catriona explained.
“The buzz around the launch of this group has been amazing. Obviously women understand the power of social networking and want a place to be able to express it.”
“When we opened floor to share experiences, the stories were inspirational – both professionally and personally. One woman shared an incredibly inspirational story about how Twitter literally saved her life by allowing her to connect with people who she found better understood her.”
“Unfortunately there may be some resistance within pockets of the industry to Social Media Women, but it’s so much more beneficial for everyone if the whole community gets involved and supports this group,” said Catriona.
Co founder, Nancy Georges, director of Magnolia Solutions said “As early adopters of Social Media we are in a great position to share information and experiences with each other so that we can grow our knowledge and learn the tricks of Social Media in our businesses and our personal lives.”
“We know there are so many amazing women out there who just need a platform for their voice to be heard and a community to support them. In our wildest dreams we did not think it would spread so quickly. My heart was beating loudly and happily and filled with joy during and since our first gathering! What a great adventure we will be on together,” said Nancy.
The founding members of Social Media Women met through social media and have now forged strong professional ties and friendships. They are Catriona Pollard (CP Communications) and Nancy Georges (Magnolia Solutions).
The group physically meets on the second Tuesday of the month. During the rest of the month the women continue to connect with each other on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs and the Social Media Women website.
Social Media Women welcomes all women whether working on their own or in an existing company, business, organisation or still studying. It’s for women that are interested in media, networking, communications and exploring the new ways people are communicating.
Connect with Social Media Women:
Web: www.SocialMediaWomen.wordpress.com
Linkedin Groups: Social Media Women
Facebook: Social Media Women
Twitter: @SocialMediaWomn
Posterous: socialmediawomen.posterous.com
Email: socialmediawomen@gmail.com
Phone: (02) 9922 1063 (CP Communications)
The next meeting will be Tuesday 13 April. To register:
http://socialmediawomen.eventbrite.com/
