Computer Applications Unit B Social Media

What is Social Media? Social Media is not just sites like Facebook and Twitter. Social Media is the means of interactions among people in which they share, create, and/or exchange information and ideas in a virtual community. One of the first examples of a social media site was Geocities. Social media has positives and negatives. We’ll examine a few and their impact on culture.

Myspace saw its beginnings as a social networking site in August 2003. Myspace almost bought Facebook in 2005, but rejected Zuckerberg’s asking price of $75 million. Myspace was bought by Viacom for $580 million in July 2005. Myspace was overtaken by Facebook in 2008, and has seen a continuous loss in memberships since. Myspace has tried to reinvent itself as a social entertainment site.

Facebook Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook started as social network for just Harvard students. Due to the success of Facebook, Zuckerberg expanded it to other colleges, and eventually opened Facebook to everyone. Facebook has many features that have kept it going by allowing outside development of applications not just internal buggy ones that plagued Myspace. Many of the social effects of social networking have been studied from users that use Facebook.

Twitter Twitter is both a social networking site and a microblogging service. Launched in 2006, the site rapidly gained popularity and has been coined the “SMS of the internet”. (SMS stands for Short Message Service) Messages are kept to 140 character tweets that users of the service not only post their thoughts with, but can subscribe to and learn from celebrities, corporations, etc.

Instagram is the online photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service. Distinct in that photos are confined to a square shape: a throwback to the old Polaroid cameras. Available on both iOS systems and Android, there is currently no plans to migrate support for Windows phones. Bought by Facebook in 2012, the company has been allowed to maintain it’s independent management.

Pros of Social Media Marketing Research-Mobile social media applications offer data about offline consumers at a level of detail that was before limited to online companies. Communication-Company to consumer: allows a company to establish a connection to a customer. User-generated content: users get a say in things, leaving reviews and feedback. Sales and Promotions-Companies tailor promotions to specific users. Relationship development and loyalty programs-Companies create loyalty programs that allow users discounts or perks. E-Commerce-Influence on the trends and popularity of goods.

Cons of Social Media Trustworthiness- Information in the social network may not have counter information to judge against. Reliability-A social media site, such as Twitter, may not apply to those who do not use the service. Ownership of content-Even though users upload their content, the data is housed on the social media’s servers. Also personal information may be leaked out due to security flaws. Privacy-People post many details about their lives online. Some of the information is gathered without knowledge and is used in data mining. Effects on interpersonal relationships-People may try to used social media to fulfill perceived social needs, but are typically disappointed. Lack of face-to-face communication can contribute to feelings of loneliness.