Top U.S. CEOs Social Media No-Shows

By John Dodge | Jun 24, 2009 |

A study by web site UberCEO.com reveals that an appalling two out of a hundred of 100 America’s top CEOs have Twitter accounts (Warren Buffet and Proctor & Gamble’s Alan Lafley). Thirteen have LinkedIn profiles, but only three of those have 10 or more connections. A mere 19 have Facebook pages. Not one has a blog.

Thus, this is the dismal state of social media with respect to America’s business leaders. Out of touch, you say? Yep.

Maybe, their collective absence from the social media scene is for security reasons, the same lamebrain  excuse auto execs gave for flying to Washington in corporate jets while their companies were tanking. Maybe it’s for legal reasons. Or perhaps they’re all furiously blogging and tweeting using pseudonyms. Not.

I think it was in 1997 at Microsoft’s first CEO Summit where about the same number of America’s CEOs that tweet today confessed to using notebook computers back then. Pencil and paper was their preferred  medium.  That was as truly pathetic back then as their absence from the social media scene is today. I’m wonder how much better or worse it would in other countries, except, perhaps, China?

By the way, I was tipped off to the study by Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey, a must-read for me.

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  •  
    1

    innocentisart

    06/25/09 | Report as spam

    I'm barely surprised

    Don't ask me, but I have a strong feeling the same counts mutatis mutandis for European CEO's...

  •  
    2

    John Dodge

    06/25/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Top U.S. CEOs Social Media No-Shows

    You'd think these folks would embrace it even if it was just for show.

  •  
    3

    ludozone

    06/25/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Top U.S. CEOs Social Media No-Shows

    They should all take a look at @richardbranson to see how a Top CEO uses SocMed with great success!

  •  
    4

    John Dodge

    06/26/09 | Report as spam

    Branson

    he sets examples in many areas.

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John Dodge

John Dodge has answered the call of journalism for 33 years, most of the time covering technology, engineering and business. While he's run magazines, newsweeklies and web sites, reporting and writing always took up half his time. He has have plied his craft at the WSJ, Boston Globe, PC Week (now eWeek), EDN, Design News, Electronic Business, Bio-IT World, Health-IT World, the Lowell Sun, Haverhill Gazette and Newburyport Daily News. He would have like to have been around when Boston supported seven or more newspapers (1940s) and while steam locomotives still pulled trains, but that era was nearly over by the time he raced into the world. That said, he has been blogging and shooting and editing video, writing for web and other online contents tasks for years now.

He has won numerous journalism awards in the past two years, including two Eddie Golds, one Neal finalist and the IEEE Award for Distinguished Journalism all for his reporting and coverage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Besides his family and myriad hobbies, reporting and writing is why he gets up in the morning. His personal blog focuses on netbooks and is called The Dodge Retort.

John Dodge

John Dodge prides himself on completely independent journalism. His opinions, observations and reporting are not influenced by any financial holdings. He holds no shares in computer, electronics, software or Internet companies. He also has no business affiliations with organizations except with those for which he creates content as a freelancer.

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for nearly 25 years and has covered the online world professionally since 1985. He founded the Interactive Age Daily for CMP Media, and has written for the Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age's "NetMarketing" supplement, and dozens of other publications over the years.

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn has been a technology reporter since 1982, a business reporter since 1978, and a writer for as long as he can remember. His Schwab IRA has a few tech stocks in it, most notably some Intel and Applied Materials bought over 10 years ago. But the vast majority of his tiny fortune (emphasis on the word tiny) is invested in mutual funds. He presently writes for no one else but ZDNet, SmartPlanet and himself. But if you've got an opportunity let him know. If he takes the gig he"ll first add it to this disclosure page.
The Thinking Tech blog focuses on technologies such as virtualization, smart electric grids, enterprise 2.0, open source, data center management, green technology and the intersection between the innovation and application of these advancements.