Social Media Flashcards

Social Media

What Is Social Media?

• Social media (SM):
  • IT for sharing content among networks of users.
  • Enables communities of practice.
  • People related by a common interest.
• Social media information system (SMIS):
  • Sharing content among networks of users.
• Crowdsourcing (from Wikipedia):
  • "Simply defined, crowdsourcing represents the act of a company or institution taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call."

Roles in Social Media

• Platforms:
  • Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and many others
  • Used for attracting and targeting demographic groups.
  • Popularity constantly changing
• Social Media Providers
  • Individuals and organizations.
• Users
  • Mutual interests.
  • Transcend familial, geographic, and organizational boundaries.
• Communities

Social Media Communities

• Users interacting on social media sites to form communities.

Most Popular Social Media Platforms in 2023

• Facebook: 2.96 billion
• YouTube: 2.51 billion
• WhatsApp: 2 billion
• Instagram: 2 billion
• WeChat: 1.31 billion
• TikTok: 1.05 billion
• Facebook Messenger: 931 million
• Douyin: 715 million
• Telegram: 700 million
• Snapchat: 635 million
• Source: DataReportal

Social Media Providers

• Platforms include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc.
  • Popularity constantly changes.
• Providers’ Functions:
  • Develop and operate custom, proprietary, social networking application software.
  • Establish procedures for creating content, managing user responses, removing obsolete or objectionable content, and extracting value from content.
• Providers Data Management Focus:
  • Content data: data and responses to data contributed by users and sponsors.
  • Connection data: data about relationships.
• Special Case: Internal Organizational Social Media
  • Using SharePoint for wikis, discussion boards, and photo sharing.
  • There's a fine line between social media and collaboration tools.

Communications Mechanisms and Platforms

• Personal/Social ‘Posting’ (Post and React)
  • Photos/videos, comments, opinions, etc.
• Blog (Post and React)
  • Regularly updated website
  • Typically contains opinions or thoughts
• RSS (Push from Source)
  • “Really Simple Syndication”
  • Links to news sources
  • Fed by channels, followers, and email lists
• Wiki (Contribute and Inform)
  • Website database managed by its users

How is Social Media used in Business?

• Sales and Marketing
  • Customers craft their own relationship, are able to search content, contribute reviews and commentary, ask questions, create user groups, etc.
• Customer Service
  • Relationships emerge from joint activity, customers have as much control as companies.
  • Product users freely help each other solve problems.
• Manufacturing and Operations
  • Business to Consumer communications.
  • Crowdsourcing
• Human Resources
  • Recruiting
• Knowledge Management

What is Social Capital?

• Social capital
  • Social relations with expectation of marketplace returns.
  • Number of relationships, strength of relationships, resources controlled.
• Strength of Relationships
  • Likelihood of other entity will do something that benefits you or your organization.
• Resources
  • Must be relevant – huge network with few resources less valuable than smaller network with substantial resources.
  • Feedback – Frequent interactions strengthen relationships.
  • Dangers (excessive positive or negative reviews)

Dangers / Risks / Security

• Major Problem: Counterfeits
• Synthetic “Friends”
  • Army of bots for company social media inflates follower count.
• “Click Farms”
  • Form of click fraud. Large group of low-paid workers hired to click on paid advertising links for the click fraudster.
• Problems from external sources
  • Junk and crackpot contributions
  • Inappropriate content
  • Unfavorable reviews
  • False Identities
  • Attracts annoying spam accounts.

Earning Money from Social Media

Transform interactions with customers, employees, and partners into mutually satisfying relationships with them and their communities.

• Advertising
  • Pay-per-click
  • Use increases value
  • Conversion rate - Frequency someone clicks on ad makes a purchase, “likes” a site, or takes some other action desired by advertiser.
• Freemium
  • Offers users a basic service for free, and then charges a premium for upgrades or advanced features.
• Influence / Following (Blogs and Posts)
  • Focus on returning visitors
  • Free ‘stuff’ and cash for promoting goods and services. ($$ for followers)
  • Affiliate commissions, sponsored content, etc.

Fake Famous

• HBO Documentary:
  • What does ‘Famous’ Mean?
  • Influencer – Someone who has influence over others’ thoughts and decisions:
    • Buying Decisions
    • Political – Past, Active, Future Campaigns
  • Are Followers Real?
    • Bots and Fake Followers are Easily For Sale
    • Sponsors typically pay ‘per 1000 followers’
  • Virtual Settings – Is the Glamour Real?
    • Photo shoots
    • Travel Destinations
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1Rs4MI9Cxk

Social Media INSIDE the Business

• Delineate employees’ rights and responsibilities.
  • Inappropriate use and/or content
  • Index to 100 different policies at Social Media Today.
• Changing communication channels
  • Employees can bypass managers and post ideas directly for CEO to read.
  • Quickly identify internal experts to solve unforeseen problems.
• Develop and publicize social media policy.
• Manage Corporate Risk
  • Threats to information security, increased organizational liability, decreased employee productivity
  • Seemingly innocuous comments inadvertently leak information used to secure access to organizational resources.
  • Mutinous movements

Social Media and YOU

• You can become a victim by transmitting personal information using an Internet connection.
• Digital is Forever! – Impossible to Delete
• Companies analyze everything you digitally say or do.
• Big Data = Big Money
• Personal data illegally accessed by criminals and sold on black market to other nefarious characters; or Legally accessed by companies and sold to other companies.
• Steps to remove or mask digital footprints.
  • Clearing cookies, Encrypting email, using a VPN
• Avoid using real name