Logging in to LinkedIn this evening – I was greeted by a LinkedIn Poll. Not been asked to participate before – and the question was relevant (sure they’re watching me!)

What is the most important aspect of a business membership organisation?

There were 4 options:-

1. Practical Support
2. Networking
3. Information & Advice
4. Prestige & Status

Needless to say – you guessed it … I responded “Networking”. As it turns out, of the 189 responses so far – 66% agreed with me (or I agreed with them!).

No real surprise there – but what’s great with this LinkedIn service is that they give you the ability to drill down/cross tabulate the responses. The most fascinating statistic was the age analysis. At one extreme 83% of the 55+ age group give a thumbs up to Networking – but surprisingly less than a third (29%) of 18-24 year olds went for Networking.

Maybe the Twitter/Facebook generation is not as Personal Network focussed as we think?

Other observations are that for some reason women are not as keen on networking as men (these stats hold out in the O’Brien Household)

And equally “stereotypical” are the stats segmented by Job Title. Biz Dev execs rate Networking at 83% – whereas those Finance guys have it down at 33% Networking/33% Practical … and the final stereotype Marketing is 71%/0% Practical!! Go figure…

Check out the stats for yourself at LinkedIn Polls. Would be interesting in how you read the stats!?