Majority of CEOs are not engaging with social media
A new study into the social media habits of Fortune 500 CEOs reveals that only 40 percent were active on one of the six major social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube) in 2016.
The study from business cloud platform Domo and CEO.com also shows that despite 75 chief executive changes occurring in this group in 2016 there's been no significant impact on social media use.
Only 40 Fortune 500 CEOs (eight percent) have a Facebook page, down from 57 in 2015. Of those, 32 were inactive for the last quarter of 2016. LinkedIn, which was acquired for $26.2 billion by Microsoft in 2016, remained the preferred social media channel for Fortune 500 CEOs and LinkedIn's Influencer program features some of the most active leaders on social media. In 2016, 35 percent were using the platform, a three percent increase from 2015.
Just 36 Fortune 500 CEOs have Twitter accounts, but it remains one of the most actively used channels -- with 70 percent of those that have accounts regularly using the platform in 2016, compared to 62 percent the previous year. Both Instagram and Google+ had modest gains in Fortune 500 CEOs with accounts since 2015, despite very little use of these channels.
Among specific findings are that Expedia's Dara Khosrowshahi is the only Fortune 500 CEO to use five social networks. Apple's Tim Cook has the most Twitter followers -- more than Warren Buffett and Marc Benioff.
More than 40 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are featured on their company's YouTube channel, though they typically don't have their own accounts. Executives from the technology, retail, media and entertainment sectors were most active on social channels in 2016.
You can read more about the findings on the Domo blog.
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