FOT Endorses: RecruitingBlogs.com vs. Fordyce Letter Network...

Who to endorse during this campaign season?  Recruiting Blogs or ERE?  The question's inspired by various dustups inside the circle and by this post over at Cheezhead.  From Cheezhead:

"Too bad I didn’t predict a Jason Davis (former Recruiting.com emcee and current Recruiting Blogs Pied Piper) - David Manaster (fighter in ERE’s corner) throwdown, ’cause that’s how it’s shakin’ out. Even with ERE being a “network” for many years, “RBC” is currently upstaging the industry old-timer on the buzz meter. Oh, and its growth has gotten a lot of attention too.

But Manaster and Co. aren’t taking the upstart punk lying down. Meet the ERE-owned Fordyce Letter Network.

Both are powered by Ning so the technology is an even playing field. That means the people will decide each one’s future. While RBC is growing at a healthy pace - currently at over 10,000 members strong - the firepower still belongs to Manaster."

Like a career politician still holding out for a VP spot, I really don't have a vote.  Dig into the cast at FOT, and you'll find vocal supporters and participants in the RBC scene, but you also find activity from the FOT crew at ERE or Fordyce.  You'll also find plenty of people like me, who like and use both RBC and all the ERE products. 

And, that's really the point.  The question being asked by many is "does someone have to win"?  Probably not, the more interest and penetration of social media in the recruiting scene, the better.

The bigger question I have is unique members and the platform.  Ning makes it SO easy to be a part of many, many social networks, that ultimately the concept buy-in it takes to join one is next to zero.  Take a look at the Fordyce Network, and you'll see that most who join are also members of RBC (who, by the way, were probably originally registered at or reading ERE before RBC...). 

So, if 10 Ning networks pop up in the recruiting space (hello Talent Bar - 8K in members), and everyone's a member of all of them, the value is.....?  If each network has 100 primary members who deliver activity and content, wouldn't the network be stronger if they all hit the same site?

Of course, that's capitalism, and the key is still the content/value delivered, which will ultimately decide the audience and traffic.  One will go for more humor, one will be the academic, one will be the equivalent of the Laundromat with beer, etc. 

I like them all, but am at the point of Ning fatigue.  I'll join the Fordyce Letter network because it's from a trusted source.  As for future Ning networks?  I'm tired, my man.  Welcome to America, where there are 54 versions of Tide... whether you are looking for the Sea Breeze smell or static cling protection dictates which one you are signed into today...

So FOT endorses both, and Talent Bar, for that matter. 

As for my Ning fatigue, I'm sure FOT mavens like Hogan and Dingee disagree.  I think they're a part of every social network introduced to mankind.  Plus, I saw a Twitter post from Kelly earlier this week where she unearthed something like 337 left-handed Software Developers who like Mr. Pibb from a Ning network discussion group.  Nice...

Comments

[Alex Cantu]

Tough call. I think I am going to lean more towards the RBC. Both provide good material but I like the user experience on RBC.

[David Manaster]

You hit the nail on the head Kris.

The hyper-engaged will be (and to some extent, already are) playing on all of the social networks. For everyone else, there are choices, and they can participate where they feel the most comfortable and gain the most value for their time.

There's plenty of room in the social media space for multiple players, and the recruiting community wins by having choices.

[Scott Baxt]

I couldn't agree with you more Kris!

The only thing I will take a small issue with is your ning fatigue. I agree that ning is a very easy platform to set up your own social network on whatever topic floats your boat, and I as well get invitations by the day for new ones. However, like anything it is what you make of it. Are you getting "website" fatigue? Of course not. Ning just happens to be the best platform around, so why settle for something less?

I think RBC does an amazing job of creating a unique user experience and that is why none of their members ever say they love the RBC Ning experience, they just like the RBC experience.

And that is exactly what we are trying to create with The Fordyce Letter Network. Anyone who thinks that Ning will power the user experience is going to find out very quickly that the only participation will be from just them.

[KD]

Alex/David - thanks for checking in...

Scott - you nailed it. I don't have NING fatigue, I have "ning sites that don't add value" fatigue, of which there are many.

I'm going to leave here and sign up for the FLN now...

Thanks - KD

[management recruiter]

It's contradictory to say that "While RBC is at +10,000 members, the firepower still belongs to Manaster." Firepower how? I mean no disrespect to anyone, but ERE has some catching up to do. Possibly too much. 10K is a pretty big number.

[KD]

Hey Management Recruiter -

Thanks for checking in. I'll defend Cheezehead's analysis a bit. While RBC has 10K in members, a couple of things point to the fact that the spread won't stay 10K for long...

-ERE has a lot of registered members they can market the Fordyce network to, and they could also make the decision to shift their discussion boards, etc. over to this platform...

-A significant % of RBC members will flip over and get a FLN account as well.

They're up to 916 members two weeks in as of this writing. Not bad... We'll see what happens....

[Gavin Chase]

I have nothing negative to say about either site as I am a great believer in social networks and if any article, discussion, blog etc educates the recruiter that must be a benefit.... there is a place, however, for more specialist sites. Im bound to say that as I recently launched (on ning) "Want to be a Big Biller?" but the focus is quite clear being defined in the title.

From the comments posted by the members at "Want to be a Big Biller?" (a mere 400 so far!) it appears that the site has struck a chord :-)