As we delve deeper into social media, or specifically social networking, I learnt that there is indeed so much more to the Internet and its uses than it meets the eye. Social networking has become an integral part of modern lifestyle and it is ever evolving, leaving many susceptible to its influence. Social networking are no longer specifically catered to internet users who wish to keep in touch, but more amazingly, a platform for businesses to operate and run more effectively. The door to social media has opened and this resulted in multiple implications on prospects of business professionals.
Interaction between people is made easier as well as more convenient with the coming on of social media, allowing it to take place anywhere and anytime. Social networking online enables the grouping of individuals into specific groups more efficiently, and in such a way that is organized and easy to access. The leading social networking sites are Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Pinterest, the recently up-and-coming with much popularity Google+, and countless more.
Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, 're-pin' images to their own collections or 'like' photos. The site was founded by Ben Silbermann (of West Des Moines, Iowa), Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp. Source: Wikipedia
This reminds me of the microblogging website, Tumblr, which I am exceedingly fond of! I have been guilty of spending hours on Tumblr, simply scrolling through hundreds of pretty photos that appear on my feed each day. However, Pinterest goes one step further than Tumblr to reach a target audience suitable for commercialization and business purposes, wherein it is a great platform to expose one’s business to another, promoting viewership and awareness of a product or service! I will be sure to check it out, later on. :-)
As mentioned previously, Facebook is the chief social networking site with more than 850 million users, easily becoming the third largest in the world if it was a country. But an introduction to Google+ this week aroused a question in my head: would it continue increasing in its popularity and gain acceptance from receptive internet users, eventually replacing Facebook in no time to come? Would Google+ become the “new Facebook” or the “old Friendster”? To consider this question, it is only right that we examine Google+ on a deeper level and pinpoint its attractiveness in contrast to the Facebook that most of us are familiar with.
Google+ has unique features like Hangout and Circles. Basically, hangouts are video chats which allow up to 10 people to video call together at the same time. Many believe that the advantage of this lies in the fact that Hangout is able to diminish the presence of technology to the bare minimum and enable friends to feel comfortable interacting with each other, as if there are no physical barriers or constraints to it whatsoever. Additionally, companies are also adopting this method of communication for internal business meetings. Who knows what more the future hold for business settlements and transactions worldwide with the startup of Google+ Hangout? Google+ also allows its users to reach out to their followers according to the different circles in which they are categorized in. This way, users can choose who they want to share with their updates with, making things much stress-free and efficient, something that Facebook is still working on. The videos below would probably paint a better picture of Google+ and its features, something that I only come to know about over the past few Com 125 lessons. In spite of the fact that I am feeling overwhelmed with the explosion of different kinds of social networking sites, I might even want to give Google+ a go!
Besides maintaining relations and forging new friendships over common interests, another prominent aspect of social networking is perhaps business-to-business marketing (B2B).
Businesses require relationship building and maintaining as well and social networking sites online provides an exact solution for it. While real life networking is probably for the best, when people meet and interact on a face-to-face basis, online networking definitely has its perks as well. Modern living emphasizes much on fast pace and increasing efficiency, and an online solution such as social media may be just what future businesses need. Today, people are rapidly switching from watching TV commercials to get to know new products to searching online for user reviews and customer recommendations. The term “Google” is even used as an informal replacement for “search”! I believe many (like me) often say things like “okay I’m gonna Google this now!!” However, the rise of social platforms undermine Google as the primary search engine as increasing numbers of internet users are turning to social networking sites to gather more information about various products. People tend to trust their friends and families’ recommendations more than the company (of the product) itself because it appears to be more reliable. As such, social networking sites can make or break businesses depending on either positive or negative feedbacks from the “Netizens”. Very importantly, social networking sites allow people to reach out to an incredible amount of people and it has the ability to widen social circles by leaps and bounds compared to the past where face-to-face was the only means of networking. That said, it also opens up avenues for normal people like you and me to start up their businesses, gradually making their way up to accomplish the dreams of becoming entrepreneurs even. Furthermore, this can be done with little or no capital as a shop front is no longer needed since a virtual space online is sufficient for one to reach out to thousands or millions of people.
Looking forward to learning more in the coming week!
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