Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. Websites and applications dedicated to forums, micro-blogging, social networking, social bookmarking, social curation and wikis are among the different types of social media.
Here are some prominent examples of social media :
Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and videos, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues.
Twitter is a free micro-blogging service that allows registered members to broadcast short posts called “tweets”. Twitter members can broadcast tweets and follow other users’ tweets by using multiple platforms and devices.
LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. The goal of the site is to allow registered members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust professionally.
Reddit is a social news website and forum where stories are socially curated and promoted by site members. The site is composed of hundreds of sub-communities, known as “subreddits”. Each subreddit has a specific topic such as technology, politics or music. Reddit site members, also known as, “redditors,” submit content which is then voted upon by other members. The goal is to send well-regarded stories to the top of the site’s main thread page.
Pinterest is a social curation website for sharing and categorizing images found online. Pinterest requires brief descriptions but the main focus of the site is visual. Clicking on an image will take you to the original source, so, for example, if you click on a picture of a pair of shoes, you might be taken to a site where you can purchase them. An image of blueberry pancakes might take you to the recipe; a picture of a whimsical birdhouse might take you to the instructions.
Social media is becoming an integral part of life online as social websites and applications proliferate. Most traditional online media include social components, such as comment fields for users. The term “social media” is likely to lose meaning as the social aspect of the Web becomes increasingly taken for granted.
Social media is creating unprecedented opportunities for businesses to communicate with their stakeholders.
Social media can help remove barriers to engaging people, communities and businesses and creates the potential to:
- Gather community opinion on key issues and policies.
- Join existing social media conversations, in particular discussions on topics relevant to the businesses.
- Keep abreast of the latest developments in fields of interest.
- Form relationships beyond organizational boundaries, both internal and external.
- Disseminate information to clients in combination with existing channels.
- Receive feedback on services and ideas on how to improve.
- Collaborate with other businesses, as the focus of social media should be to address a topic or problem rather than the structure of a single business.
Social Media facts, figures and statistics 2013.
Here an interesting info-graphic that all covers all latest Social media facts, figures, numbers and statistics of 2013. Some of the most fascinating facts are mentioned here:
- 74% of marketers believe Facebook is important for their lead generation strategy.
- 40% of marketers use Google+, 70% desire to learn more and 67% plan to increase Google+ activities.
- 42% businesses update their profile information regularly on LinkedIn.
- 4.2 billion People use mobile device to access social media sites.
- Social media generates almost double the marketing leads of trade show, telemarketing, daily main or PPC.
- More than 23% of marketers are investing in blogging and social media.
- Over 3 million LinkedIn company pages.
- Over 1 billion LinkedIn endorsements.
- There are over 1 billion unique monthly visitors on YouTube.
- Women check out a brand’s social page more often than men.
- Around 60% of web users turn to Social Media for making purchase.
- 60% consumers say the integration of Social Media makes them more likely to share product and services.
- Social Media Tools most heavily relied on for recruiting. (Percentage among firms that use Social Media tools to find and recruit new employees)
