What is Social Media? - TechTarget

Social media is a collective term for websites and applications that focus on communication, community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and ... Home Topics ConsumerTech Internetacronymsandlingo socialmedia Sharethisitemwithyournetwork: By BenLutkevich, TechnicalWriter IvyWigmore Whatissocialmedia? Socialmediaisacollectivetermforwebsitesandapplicationsthatfocusoncommunication,community-basedinput,interaction,content-sharingandcollaboration. Peopleusesocialmediatostayintouchandinteractwithfriends,familyandvariouscommunities.Businessesusesocialapplicationstomarketandpromotetheirproductsandtrackcustomerconcerns. Business-to-consumerwebsitesincludesocialcomponents,suchascommentfieldsforusers.Varioustoolshelpbusinessestrack,measureandanalyzetheattentionthecompanygetsfromsocialmedia,includingbrandperceptionandcustomerinsight. Socialmediahasenormoustractionglobally.Mobileapplicationsmaketheseplatformseasilyaccessible.SomepopularexamplesofgeneralsocialmediaplatformsincludeTwitter,FacebookandLinkedIn. Whatarethebusinessapplicationsofsocialmedia? Inbusiness,socialmediaisusedtomarketproducts,promotebrands,connecttocustomersandfosternewbusiness.Asacommunicationplatform,socialmediapromotescustomerfeedbackandmakesiteasyforcustomerstosharetheirexperienceswithacompany.Businessescanrespondquicklytopositiveandnegativefeedback,addresscustomerproblemsandmaintainorrebuildcustomerconfidence. Socialmediaisalsousedforcrowdsourcing.That'sthepracticeofusingsocialnetworkingtogatherknowledge,goodsorservices.Companiesusecrowdsourcingtogetideasfromemployees,customersandthegeneralpublicforimprovingproductsordevelopingfutureproductsorservices. Whatsomepopularsocialmediaplatformsprovideandtheirtargetenterpriseuses Examplesofbusinesstobusiness(B2B)applicationsincludethefollowing: Socialmediaanalytics.Thisisthepracticeofgatheringandanalyzingdatafromblogsandsocialmediawebsitestoassistinmakingbusinessdecisions.Themostcommonuseofsocialmediaanalyticsistodocustomersentimentanalysis. Socialmediamarketing(SMM).Thisapplicationincreasesacompany'sbrandexposureandcustomerreach.Thegoalistocreatecompellingcontentthatsocialmediauserswillsharewiththeirsocialnetworks.AkeycomponentsofSMMissocialmediaoptimization(SMO).Likesearchengineoptimization,SMOisastrategyfordrawingnewvisitorstoawebsite.Socialmedialinksandsharebuttonsareaddedtocontentandactivitiesarepromotedviastatusupdates,tweetsandblogs. Socialcustomerrelationshipmarketing.SocialCRMisapowerfulbusinesstool.Forexample,aFacebookpageletspeoplewholikeacompany'sbrandtolikethebusiness'spage.This,inturn,createswaystocommunicate,marketandnetwork.Socialmediasitesgiveuserstheoptiontofollowconversationsaboutaproductorbrandtogetreal-timemarketdataandfeedback. Recruiting.Socialrecruitinghasbecomeakeypartofemployeerecruitmentstrategies.Itisafastwaytoreachalotofpotentialcandidates,bothactivejobseekersandpeoplewhowerenotthinkingaboutajobchangeuntiltheysaytherecruitmentpost. Enterprisesocialnetworking.Businessesalsouseenterprisesocialnetworkingtoconnectpeoplewhosharesimilarinterestsoractivities.Theseapplicationsincludeinternalintranetsandcollaborationtools,suchasYammer,SlackandMicrosoftTeams,thatgiveemployeesaccesstoinformationandcommunicationcapabilities.Externally,publicsocialmediaplatformsletorganizationsstayclosetocustomersandmakeiteasytoconductmarketresearch. Whatsocialmediaplatformsthatlargebusinessesareusing Whatarethebenefitsofsocialmedia? Socialmediaprovidesseveralbenefits,includingthefollowing: Uservisibility.Socialplatformsletpeopleeasilycommunicateandexchangeideasorcontent. Businessandproductmarketing.Theseplatformsenablebusinessestoquicklypublicizetheirproductsandservicestoabroadaudience.Businessescanalsousesocialmediatomaintainafollowingandtestnewmarkets.Insomecases,thecontentcreatedonsocialmediaistheproduct. Audiencebuilding.Socialmediahelpsentrepreneursandartistsbuildanaudiencefortheirwork.Insomecases,socialmediahaseliminatedtheneedforadistributor,becauseanyonecanuploadtheircontentandtransactbusinessonline.Forexample,anamateurmusiciancanpostasongonFacebook,getinstantvisibilityamongtheirnetworkoffriends,whointurnshareitontheirnetworks. Whatarethechallengesofsocialmedia? Socialmediacanalsoposechallengestoindividualusers,inthefollowingways: Mentalhealthissues.Overuseofsocialappscanresultinburnout,socialmediaaddictionandotherissues. Polarization.Individualscanendupinfilterbubbles.Theycreatetheillusionofopendiscoursewhentheuserisactuallysequesteredinanalgorithmicallygeneratedonlinecommunity. Disinformation.Polarizedenvironmentsfosterthespreadofdisinformationwheretheperpetrator'sintentistodeceiveotherswithfalseinformation. Businessesfacesimilaranduniquesocialmediachallenges. Offensiveposts.Conversationsonintranetsandenterprisecollaborationtoolscanveeroffintonon-work-relatedsubjects.Whenthathappens,thereispotentialforco-workerstodisagreeorbeoffended.Controllingsuchconversationsandfilteringforoffensivecontentcanbedifficult. Securityandretention.Traditionaldatasecurityandretentionpoliciesmaynotworkwiththefeaturesavailableincollaborationtools.Thiscanraisesecurityrisksandcomplianceissuesthatcompaniesmustdealwith. Productivityconcerns.Socialinteraction,whetheronlineorinperson,isdistractingandcanaffectemployees'productivity. Whatareenterprisesocialmediabestpractices? Itisimportantforcompaniestohaveasocialmediastrategyandestablishsocialmediagoals.Thesehelptobuildtrust,educatetheirtargetaudienceandcreatebrandawareness.Theyalsoenablerealpeopletofindandlearnaboutabusiness. Herearesomesocialmediasocialmediabestpracticesforcompaniestofollow: Establishsocialmediapoliciesthatsetexpectationsforappropriateemployeesocialbehavior.Thesepoliciesshouldalsoensuresocialmediapostsdonotexposethecompanytolegalproblemsorpublicembarrassment.Guidelinesshouldincludedirectivesforwhenanemployeemustidentifythemselfasacompanyrepresentativeandrulesforwhattypeofinformationcanbeshared. FocusonplatformsgearedtoB2Bmarketing,suchasTwitterandLinkedIn. Putinplaceanengaging,customer-centricstrategyinsocialmediacampaigns.AnexamplewouldbetouseTwittertofieldquestionsfromcustomers. Includerichmedia,suchaspicturesandvideo,incontenttomakeitmorecompellingandappealingtousers. Usesocialmediaanalyticstoolstomeasureuserengagementwithcontentandtokeepontopoftrends. Useaconversationalvoiceinpoststhatcomesacrossasprofessionalbutnotrigid. Shortenlongformcontenttomakeitsocialfriendly.Listsandaudioandvideosnippetsareexamples. Embraceemployeesandcustomerstalkingpositivelyabouttheorganizationandrepostthatcontent. Checkinonanalyticsandmanagementtoolsfrequently,ifnotonadailybasis,aswellasthesocialmediaaccounts. Whatarethedifferenttypesofsocialmedia? Thefourmaincategoriesofsocialplatformsarethese: Socialnetworks.Peopleusethesenetworkstoconnectwithoneanotherandshareinformation,thoughtsandideas.Thefocusofthesenetworksisusuallyontheuser.Userprofileshelpparticipantsidentifyotheruserswithcommoninterestsorconcerns.FacebookandLinkedInaregoodexamples. Media-sharingnetworks.Thesenetworksfocusisoncontent.Forexample,onYouTube,interactionisaroundvideosthatuserscreate.Othermedia-sharingnetworksareTikTokandInstagram.StreamingplatformslikeTwitchareconsideredasubsetofthiscategory. Community-basednetworks.Thefocusofthistypeofsocialnetworkisin-depthdiscussion,muchlikeablogforum.Usersleavepromptsfordiscussionthatspiralintodetailedcommentthreads.Communitiesoftenformaroundselecttopics.Redditisanexampleofacommunity-basednetwork. Reviewboardnetworks.Withthesenetworks,thefocusisonareview,usuallyofaproductorservice.Forexample,onYelp,userscanwritereviewsonrestaurantsandendorseeachother'sreviewstoboostvisibility. Whatareexamplesofsocialmedia? Herearesomeexamplesofpopularweb-basedsocialmediaplatforms: Facebookisafreesocialnetworkingwebsitewhereregistereduserscreateprofiles,uploadphotosandvideo,sendmessagesandkeepintouchwithfriends,familyandcolleagues. LinkedInisasocialnetworkingsitedesignedforthebusinesscommunity.Registeredmemberscancreatenetworksofpeopletheyknowandtrustprofessionally. Pinterestisasocialcurationwebsiteforsharingandcategorizingimagesfoundonline.ThemainfocusofPinterestisvisual,thoughitdoescallforbriefdescriptionsofimages.Clickingonanimagewilltakeausertotheoriginalsource.Forexample,clickingonapictureofapairofshoesmightredirectausertoapurchasingsite;animageofblueberrypancakesmightredirecttotherecipe. Redditisasocialnewswebsiteandforumwheresitememberscurateandpromotestories.Thesiteiscomposedofhundredsofsub-communitiescalledsubreddits.Eachsubreddithasaspecifictopic,suchastechnology,politicsormusic.Redditsitemembers,alsoknownas"redditors,"submitcontentthatmembersvoteon.Thegoalistoelevatewell-regardedstoriestothetopofthesite'smainthread page. Twitterisafreemicrobloggingserviceforregisteredmemberstobroadcastshortpostscalledtweets.Twittermemberscanbroadcasttweetsandfollowotheractiveusers'tweetsusingseveralplatformsanddevices. Wikipediaisafree,opencontentencyclopediacreatedthroughacollaborativecommunity.AnyoneregisteredonWikipediacancreateanarticleforpublication;registrationisnotrequiredtoeditarticles. Thetakeaway Socialmediaiseverywhere.Individualsandbusinessesofallsizesandtypesuseit.It'sacriticalresourceforengagingwithcustomers,gettingcustomerfeedbackandexpandingcompanyvisibility. Aneffectivesocialstrategycanenhanceanorganization'sreputationandbuildtrustandawarenessamongagrowingnetworkofconnections.WhilesomearemoretailoredtoB2Bpromotion,noplatformsareofflimits. ThiswaslastupdatedinSeptember2021 ContinueReadingAboutsocialmedia 20socialmediarecruitingstrategiesthatwork Socialmediaanalyticsbestpracticestemperedbyprivacylaws 7benefitsofcustomerexperiencemanagement What'sthedifferencebetweensocialmediaandsocialnetworking? Socialmediadataleakhighlightsmurkyworldofdatascraping RelatedTerms cluster Clustersaretypicallydefinedascollectionsorgroupsofitemswithsimilarordifferentcharacteristics. 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