| What Is Social Media, and Why Should You Care? | | | | for looking for business partners, for business support |
| You've heard the names: Facebook, MySpace, | | | | groups. This is a professional site, and not where you |
| Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube. | | | | want to post that goofy picture of yourself at the |
| You've heard the terms: blogging, tweeting, friending, | | | | tailgate party. LinkedIn. |
| posting, blurbs | | | | YouTube-surely you must know what YouTube is by |
| But what does it all mean, and why should you | | | | now! YouTube is a video sharing website, and its |
| participate? | | | | creation revolutionized the internet. YouTube's content |
| There are literally billions of reasons why: that is how | | | | spans the gamut from your nephew's first steps, to a |
| many people belong to and use social media outlets | | | | favorite skit from Saturday Night Live, to video of a |
| today. And a lot of them are people interested in what | | | | revolution happening right now across the globe, all |
| you have to offer. Plus, social media offers | | | | viewed almost instantly around the world. It's also |
| demographic information, so you can more easily find | | | | become a planned distribution platform for events such |
| friends who like what you like, or customers who need | | | | as the presidential debates. You can post your own |
| what you have. It's global, and it's how people | | | | video quickly and easily. Maybe you have a |
| communicate and learn about new things now. | | | | demonstration, or talk, or a performance-now you can |
| Here's a quick rundown: | | | | share it with hundreds, or even millions of interested |
| Facebook has 300 million members, and grows each | | | | people! YouTube. |
| day. That is almost equal to the current population of | | | | Flickr: Photo sharing, or image hosting, sites are also |
| the United States. Daily status updates number around | | | | important, and not just for family photos. Professionals |
| 40 million, and a staggering 2 billion photos are posted | | | | use them to share coverage of business meetings, |
| every month. Get hip: Learn the difference between | | | | artists use them to share their artwork, fans use them |
| Facebook profiles (individuals), Facebook groups | | | | to share their pictures of the object of their affection |
| (common interest), and Facebook Pages (businesses, | | | | (a star, a building, a tourist destination, a product), and |
| celebrities, sports teams, politician, musicians, stars, | | | | more. Much more. In addition to being a place to keep |
| writers, movies, books). Facebook posting are limited in | | | | photos, these sites are online communities. Discussions |
| length, so keep it short, but in complete sentences, and | | | | and comments are also part of the mix. Flickr is |
| post a link or photo or video. | | | | perhaps the most widely used, currently hosting over 4 |
| MySpace is the "granddaddy" of social media, and | | | | billion images; there is also Photobucket, and a host (so |
| was only just recently overtaken by Facebook in | | | | to speak) of others. Flickr, Photobucket. |
| number of members. It is much more mainstream than | | | | Think of blogging as an online journal. Each blogger |
| Facebook, and each member has a page they can | | | | ("blog" originally derived from "web log") writes about |
| customize, much like a website. It's also great for | | | | whatever interests them. It could be baking cupcakes, |
| musicians, movies, etc-it is much easier to display and | | | | it could be political commentary, it could be book |
| share content on MySpace. | | | | publishing, it could be MLM, it could be making crafts, it |
| Twitter is the latest development in social media. | | | | could be art, it could be about being a mom, it could be |
| People, and businesses and their customers, stars and | | | | about business, it is about ANYTHING and |
| their fans, can stay connected minute by minute. A | | | | EVERYTHING. Most blog sites are hosted by a |
| tweet, an individual broadcast, can be both sent out | | | | company that provides formats easy for bloggers to |
| and read anywhere: on your computer, on your | | | | use. Blogs are like websites, but not static. The writers |
| Blackberry, on your smartphone, making it excellent for | | | | update them multiple times a day, to several times a |
| alerting customers on events, specials, or other very | | | | month. Readers interested in your topic will follow |
| timely news items. Users receive a continual stream of | | | | many blogs about the same subject. Currently there |
| information. Tweets are very short, so learn the | | | | are well over 200 million blogs in existence, |
| abbreviations, but don't make it too hard to read. | | | | worldwide-and that's a conservative estimate. The |
| Twitter. | | | | major blog hosting services are Wordpress, Blogger, |
| LinkedIn is the business networking aspect of social | | | | Blogspot, Typepad, and there are quite a few more |
| media, with over 50 million users. This is where | | | | besides. WordPress, Blogger, Blogspot, Typepad. |
| business people post their business profiles and get to | | | | It's a big world, this social media, and changing all the |
| know others in their industry, or in their area of interest. | | | | time. Start slowly, start with the basics, and gradually |
| It's good for finding out about a specific company, for | | | | work your way in. After all, if billions of other people |
| recruiting, for job searching, for sharing business ideas, | | | | can do it, so can you! |