by | Jun 18, 2014

The world of Game of Thrones is a brutal, cutthroat chessboard where the various noble houses of Westeros battle and scheme for supremacy.

What could that possibly have to do with social media networks?

Social media is, relatively speaking, still a very new type of communication. This means that there is a great deal of opportunity for innovation, and for new companies to establish themselves – potentially rising above their rivals if they gain the support of the users.

Game of Thrones Social Networks

Different social media networks emerge as leaders, but many are knocked off the throne (so to speak) by upstart platforms.

For example, Friendster was one of the early social media networks. It grew to 3 million users in only 3 months! But MySpace was released close on its heels the next year, and quickly became the reigning network.

Now, both are almost entirely vanquished in the mainstream social media landscape. They are not nearly as popular as they once were, and they appear to have lost the struggle to become the top social media network.

The social media landscape has not yet stabilized. It is still a realm fraught with networks fighting to win: to be the platform that engages the most users and keeps them coming back for more.

Like the noble houses of Westeros in Game of Thrones, social media platforms are in an unpredictable environment where the seat of power is always shifting. There is unrest in the realm.

This great infographic from the folks at Marketo compares some of the top social media networks available with their counterparts on Game of Thrones:

Social-is-Coming-Game-of-Thrones-Infographic

We think it’s important to add one more social media network (and key player in the Game of Thrones) to the list!

Stannis Baratheon – LinkedIn 

Just like you can’t have a comprehensive list of the contenders for power in Westeros without including Stannis Baratheon, you can’t form a list of essential social media networks without LinkedIn.

Stannis is serious and doesn’t care for frivolities. He has his morals and his goals, and he sticks to them with tenacity. LinkedIn, likewise, is the most conservative and professional of social media networks. It is focused on business connections, and has found ways to engage users in a professional sense, without becoming a repository for pictures of users’ cats (not that they aren’t entertaining).

LinkedIn, like Stannis, is a player that shouldn’t be forgotten – even when it may seem that some of the flashier networks are taking charge.

According to GlobalWebIndex’s social summary for Q2 2014, LinkedIn is the 5th largest social media network (ranked by the percentage of Internet users with an account).

As Stannis has realized he needs to reach out and help the people of the realm before expecting them to rally behind him, LinkedIn has realized that it needed to be more social to better engage its users and compete in the game of social networks. That’s why you’ll see a lot of new LinkedIn features emerging, such as LinkedIn articles, discussion groups, “people you may know”, and so on.

Of the top ten social platforms, LinkedIn has the oldest audience. This makes sense, considering they are a business-oriented platform! It’s exactly where businesses, especially B2B companies, need to be.

And now… the long wait for the next season of Game of Thrones!

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Ben Molfetta
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