Statistics
Networking and business card statistics
Version 1.0 · Last updated 14 October 2026
Of 43 people I deliberately swapped business cards with over two months of events in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, I could place 12 from memory afterwards: 28%. This page collects that count and the other numbers behind our networking articles. Every figure has a year and a source. Our own counts are marked as ours; the rest come from published research and an official Malaysian survey, linked where they were read. Compiled by Yap Pat Yih.
1. Our own data
One person's count, not a survey. It is here because nobody else publishes it, and because it is the number the rest of our networking advice rests on.
| Figure | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business cards collected at events in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, over about two months | 43 | 2026 | Author's own pile, counted card by card |
| People among those 43 the author could place from memory (name, where we met, or what we talked about) | 12 (28%) | 2026 | Same count |
| People the card told the author more about than his own memory did | 31 (72%), roughly seven in ten | 2026 | Same count |
| Rate a cleared pile grew back when nothing else changed | About 43 cards in two months | 2026 | Same pile, after clearing |
What the count means and what was done about it is in what to do with all those business cards you collect. What to write down so the 72% shrinks is in how to remember people you meet.
2. Six ways to keep business cards
We compared six common methods on two tests: can you still place the person months later, and does anything bring the person back to your attention without you asking. The author has used two of the six (a drawer pile and a spreadsheet); the other four are scored by reasoning about how they work, and the article says which is which.
| Figure | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Methods that store only the printed details, nothing of the conversation (drawer pile, card binder, phone photos, scanner app) | 4 of 6 | 2026 | How to organize business cards: 6 methods compared |
| Methods that bring a person back to your attention without being asked | 0 of 6 | 2026 | |
| Methods the author used himself, rather than reasoned about | 2 of 6 | 2026 |
3. How Malaysians message
Account ownership among Malaysian internet users, from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission's Internet Users Survey 2022 (table "Communication apps account ownership", printed page 98). It measures who has an account, not how a contact prefers to be reached.
| App | Internet users with an account | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97.7% | 2022 | MCMC, Internet Users Survey 2022, p. 98 | |
| 98.7% | 2020 | ||
| 98.1% | 2018 | ||
| Telegram | 56.4% | 2022 | |
| Facebook Messenger | 53.5% | 2022 |
That is why our templates for a follow-up message after meeting someone and for asking for an introduction are written for WhatsApp first.
4. Research on follow-up and reconnecting
| Finding | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|
| People underestimated "by as much as 50%" how likely others were to agree to a direct request for help, in experimental and field settings. | 2008 | Flynn and Lake, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (abstract) |
| After a conversation, people systematically underestimate how much their partner liked them: the "liking gap". Seen in a laboratory, among first-year dorm mates and at a workshop. | 2018 | Boothby, Cooney, Sandstrom and Clark, Psychological Science (abstract) |
| Executive MBA students who consulted dormant contacts about a work project got outcomes that compared favourably with those from current contacts. | 2011 | Levin, Walter and Murnighan, Organization Science |
| 224 executives reconnected with people they had not communicated with for at least three years; almost all reported real value, and no report of ill will was seen. | 2011 | Levin, Walter and Murnighan, MIT Sloan Management Review |
| The most valuable reconnections were with people who brought novelty and were trustworthy; executives instead chose people they had spent the most time with. | 2015 | Walter, Levin and Murnighan, Organization Science |
How these play out in practice is in how to reconnect with old contacts and how to follow up after a networking event.
5. Numbers we left out
"88% of business cards are thrown away within a week" is the most repeated business card statistic online. We could not trace it to a study: the pages that repeat it cite each other or a printing company's blog, with no sample, method or date. A number without a source is not on this page, however often it is quoted.
We also publish no figures from Habitus Mind accounts. There are too few to mean anything, and the Network Tracker holds notes about people who are not users.
6. How to cite this page
Habitus Mind, "Networking and business card statistics", updated 14 October 2026, https://habitusmind.com/networking-statistics/. For a published figure, please cite the original source in the table as well. When a newer edition of a source appears, or our own count is repeated, this page is updated and the date above changes.
Our own counts and the tables on this page are under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0): reuse them freely with the citation above. Figures from other sources stay under their publishers' terms.
FAQ
How many people do you forget after collecting their business cards?
In the author's own count, 31 of 43 (72%): of 43 people he swapped cards with over two months of events in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya in 2026, he could place only 12 from memory afterwards. It is one person's count, not a survey.
What percentage of Malaysians use WhatsApp?
97.7% of Malaysian internet users had a WhatsApp account in 2022, according to MCMC's Internet Users Survey 2022 (98.7% in 2020 and 98.1% in 2018). Telegram was 56.4% and Facebook Messenger 53.5%.
Is it true that 88% of business cards are thrown away within a week?
We could not find a primary source for it. The figure is repeated widely, but the pages that use it cite each other or a printing company's blog, with no sample or method, so we do not use it.