Social Media
Social Media is all the buzz and may have a place in your business and at play. Social Media tends to reach a large audience but is the mass audience right for you? Social interaction is a simple way to join communities that share interests. The most popular Social Media sites are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and now Google+ (and watch for Pinterest, next). Social Media is meant to be an interactive experience that allows members to dialogue. Social Media has changed the way people communicate.
Facebook was launched in 2004 and initially serviced Harvard Dorm Students. Every Facebook user has a 'Profile' when they choose to share information about themselves. A key part of the profile is the 'Wall', where connections can share a conversation back and forth, post links and comment on stories or videos. In the 'Status Update' field, Facebook users answer the question "What's on your mind?". The status update tells all your contacts (or the entire Facebook community) what you are thinking, feeling and doing. Facebook offers offers many privacy settings. The friend connections is populated by searching for real people you know and sending out a friend request. Once the person has accepted your friend request you can access their profile and wall updates.
Designed for professional networking (rather than socializing), LinkedIn was launched in 2003. The site allows members to build a contact list of people they know and is a mechanism to introduce people to other professionals in their network. A users education, work experience and recommendations are included in their LinkedIn profile. A contact on LinkedIn is called a 'connection'. Users are encouraged to expand their network by asking their connections to introduce them to others – degrees of separation. Users can also use LinkedIn to join alumni groups, professional organizations or groups with similar interests. LinkedIn also has a status update field which allows users to share links and opinions. LinkedIn allows job seekers to search employment postings and lets hiring manager's view profiles of candidates, all for free. Employers can posted jobs on LinkedIn for a fee.
Twitter was launched by Odeo in 2006 as an internal service for their employees. Twitter has made headlines for enabling communication during significant world and political events. Messages posted on Twitter (micro blogging site) are called "tweets" and limited to 140 characters. To squeeze more into messages, services like bit.ly offer URL shortening which enable people to tweet web links. Users on Twitter have 'Followers'. Follower tweets appear on your home page. Twitter seems to have a different language and users will often see the # symbol and @ sign within a tweet post. The # symbol indicates that your post is about another post or topic and the @ symbol followed by a Twitter name refers to another user. Twitter has additional features that allow users to check out popular topics, called "Trending: Worldwide" and "Local Trends".
Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board that allows users to share images and links they find interesting or inspiring. Once shared, these images become "Pins" that can be placed on thematic "Boards" that users can customize for any topic. Once something is pinned, it can then be "Repinned" by other Pinterest users. As consumers continue to get more say about how they interact with a brand, Pinterest could just possibly be the next social media game changer.
GOOGLE +
How does Chris Brogan use Google+ to get business leads and get you working with the people you want?
