I am familiar with some platforms in social media and not so familiar with others. Our instructor has asked the following questions.
In your opinion:
- Which social media platforms seem geared towards personal use?
- Which ones seem to work better for business?
Let's take personal use first... and again, this is personal opinion. I will use four general examples of social media.
Personal Use - Depends on You
The best feature of Facebook, in my opinion, is that it facilitates conversation well. The word limit is very high so you can basically write as much as you want. You can easily add images, videos and links to blogs or websites. People who prefer Facebook tend to be intellectuals, love debate, and have a lot to say.
Twitter is fast, very fast. Posts are limited, but add a link that leads to your blog and you can say as much as you like. Interactions are short and light hearted. Hard to get into a heated debate in this platform, but if you just want to quickly know what is going on with your friends, twitter is awesome.
I'm not as familiar with Pinterest, but they call themselves, "The worlds catalog of ideas". Pinterest is very, very visual. Ideas are shared more through images than text. These images can lead to websites and blog posts. People who prefer Pinterest may be super creative, artistic or just lovers of beauty.
YouTube
YouTube is all about videos and it is a blast! Enter just about anything in the search engine at the top of the page and you are off on a wild ride. Some people love to create videos and attract their own following. They rant, they teach, the philosophize, they perform. Others just quietly peruse the offerings. This is not a platform that encourages a lot of interaction in my opinion, but you can post a comment on a video or click on the creator's website to go deeper.
Social Media for Business - Depends on the Business
Facebook is generally considered a must-have for business. I notice that many businesses out there have a facebook page, even if they have nothing else. However, Facebook has a very big drawback. The search engine is very cumbersome. Still, Facebook is best for interaction so if you can invest time into posting and interacting with customers and other followers, Facebook is a solid choice.
Twitter is fast, very fast. Posts are limited, but add a link that leads to your blog and you can say as much as you like. Interactions are short and light for the most part. Hard to get into a heated debate in this platform, but if you just want to quickly know what is going on with your friends, and don't have much time, twitter is awesome.
I'm not as familiar with Pinterest, but they call themselves, "The worlds catalog of ideas". Pinterest is very, very visual. Ideas are shared more through images than text. These images can lead to websites and blog posts. People who prefer Pinterest may be super creative, artistic or just lovers of beauty.
YouTube
YouTube is all about videos and it is a blast! Enter just about anything in the search engine at the top of the page and you are off on a wild ride. Some people love to create videos and attract their own following. Others just quietly peruse the offerings. This is not a platform that encourages a lot of interaction in my opinion, but you can post a comment on a video or click on the creator's website to go deeper.
Conclusion
Social media platforms are as individual as people. Which one you choose may depend on your business type and your personality type. The important thing is to dive in and try it. They will ask you to start an "account", but these platforms are free. Of course, they may offer an upgrade later, but basic accounts are free. Here are some links to the platforms I mentioned, but there are many more.
https://www.facebook.com/
https://twitter.com/
https://www.pinterest.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
Feel free to set up an account and have some fun!
Maxine
No comments:
Post a Comment