Frank E. Parcells, Ph. D. & Professor, Austin Peay State University

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Executive Vice President International Association of Business Communicators,

Nashville Chapter

Social Media? Social Networking? Where is it found? Who uses it? Why is it growing so

quickly? Why is it important

for professional communicators?

Just what do we mean when we say, “Social Media?”

Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media ).

A category of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content. They include social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, social news sites like Digg or Reddit, and other sites that are centered on user interaction (searchenginewatch.com/define).

Social Media is…a shift in how people discover, read, and share news and information and content. It's a fusion of sociology and technology, tranforming monologue (one to many) into dialog (many to many) (http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/2007/06/29/the-definition-of-social-media).

Just what do we mean when we say, “Social Networking?”

A social network service focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social Networking).

The process of building online communities, often accomplished both through 'groups' and 'friends lists' that allow greater interaction on websites. Find out more about social networking(webtrends.about.com/od/web20/a/web20-glossary_2.htm).

Interactive communication in which participants in online communities such as Facebook share thoughts, photos, etc. with members of their own personal networks in a controlled way(sait-fds.editme.com/Sssss).

SOCIAL MEDIA SITES SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

YouTube.com Flickr.com Wikipedia.com and all of the social

networking websites.

Facebook.com MySpace.com LinkedIn.com Bebo.com Friendster.com hi5.com Orkut.com PerfSpot.com

SOCIAL MEDIA SOCIAL NETWORKING

Social media is disseminated through social interaction.

Based on user participation and user-generated content.

A shift in how people discover, share, and read news and information.

A focus on building social relationships among people.

Building online communities.

Interactive communication among participants.

1. http://Facebook.com2. http://Google.com3. http://Mail.Google.com4. http://YouTube.com5. http://Google.de6. https://Google.com7. http://Google.it8. http://Apps.Facebook.com9. http://Google.fr10.http://Google.co.uk

11.https://Login.Live.com12.http://Google.pl13.http://Twitter.com14.https://Google.es15.http://Amazon.com16.http://Google.ca17.http://cgi.Ebay.de18.http://cgi.Ebay.com19.http://Google.com.au20.http://Maps.Google.co

mNote that Google owns multiple websites including YouTube.com and the other obvious listings using geographic top level domain names in the top 20 listing.Social media and networking websites in the top 20 include Facebook.com, YouTube.com, Twitter.com, and the applications site, Apps.Facebook.com.Amazon.com and Ebay.com are the only non-search engine or non-social media and networking websites in the top 20 worldwide.

1. http://Facebook.com2. http://Google.com3. http://Mail.Google.com4. http://YouTube.com5. http://Google.de6. https://Google.com7. http://Google.it8. http://Apps.Facebook.com9. http://Google.fr10.http://Google.co.uk

11.http://En.Wikipedia.org

12.https://Login.Yahoo.com

13.https://Login.Live.com14.http://Yahoo.com15.http://Google.pl16.http://Login.Live.com17.http://Twitter.com18.https://Google.es19.http://Amazon.com20.http://Google.caNote that Google owns multiple websites including YouTube.com and

the other obvious listings using geographic top level domain names in the top 20 listing.Social media and networking websites in the top 20 include Facebook.com, YouTube.com, Twitter.com, and the applications site, Apps.Facebook.com.Amazon.com is the only non-search engine or non-social media and networking website in the top 20 in the U. S.

•With broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity available almost anywhere today, there are no limits on social networking locations.•Our mobile society employs highly mobile technology.•Literally, people can social network from anywhere in the world.

Broadband cellular 3G & 4G networks bring new meaning to accessibility of social media and social networking.

Again people today are highly mobile in their communications.

Always increasing online speed helps to connect even YouTube.com videos to smart phone technology.

Facebook claims that 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would mean at least 175 million users every 24 hours.

Twitter now has 75 million user accounts, but only around 15 million are active users on a regular basis.

LinkedIn has over 50 million members worldwide.. Facebook currently has in excess of 350 million active users on

global basis. Six months ago, this was 250 million. This is over a 40% growth in less than 6 months.

Flickr now hosts more than 4 billion images. More than 35 million Facebook users update their status each day.  Wikipedia currently has in excess of 14 million articles, meaning

that it’s 85,000 contributors have written nearly a million new posts in six months.

Photo uploads to Facebook have increased by more than 100%. Currently, there are around 2.5 billion uploads to the site each month.

The average number of tweets per day was over 27.3 million at the end of last year .

The average number of tweets per hour was around 1.3 million. More than 250 Facebook applications have over a million

combined users each month.

Site Features & Ratings

Facebook.com

MySpace.com

Bebo.com Friendster.com

Rank? #1 #2 #3 #4

Rating? **** **** *** ½ *** ½

Profiles? *** **** *** ½ *** ½

Security? **** **** **** *** ½

Network Features?

*** ½ *** *** **

Search? *** ½ **** ** ****

Support? **** **** *** ***

Age to Join? 13 years 14 years 13 years 16 years

% of Under 18 Users ?

36% 53% 54% 3%

Post Photos? Yes Yes Yes Yes

Post Comments?

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Friends? Yes Yes Yes Yes

Blog or Journal?

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Site Features & Ratings

Facebook.com

MySpace.com

Bebo.com Friendster.com

Privacy Settings?

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Block Users? Yes Yes Yes Yes

Reporting Abuse?

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Offer Safety Tips?

Yes Yes Yes No

Chat Rooms? No Yes No No

Instant Messaging?

Yes Yes Yes No

Personal Videos?

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Classified Ads? Yes Yes Yes Yes

Groups? Yes Yes No Yes

User Forums? No No No Yes

Email Tech Support?

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Source: Top Ten Reviews. (2010). Social networking websites review in Top Ten Reviews. Retrieved August 25, 2010 from http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com.

.

With the rising popularity of the social media and networking websites today, you'll find many Cyber crimes where adults impersonate children, becoming friendly, and then coaxing children to meet face-to-face. This is a serious problem today with youth as young as 13 years having sanctioned access to these social media and networking sites.

Should children (even those over 13 years of age – the age limit for many social networking websites) be able to post and communicate without supervision?Statistic reveal that it is very, very dangerous for kids (both tweens and teens) to establish online relationships through social networking.

Visit and familiarize yourself with the appropriate social media and networking websites.Familiarize yourself with the various site layouts, media, and marketing potential for your and your organization.What exists on these sites that may not yet be realized that you can use to you and your organization’s advantage.

Social networking sites such like Facebook and MySpace are today’s party lines of this young century.

These sites are inviting and intriguing and a powerful communication tool.

Jiyan Wei, product manager at PR Web, an online press release marketing service, is a fan of social networking sites. He says, “If we're going to have a booth at a trade show I'll send out a note to the group and invite them to stop by. Often someone will post a casual comment or ask a question. If it's too long, I take the conversation offline."

Wei is also a member on LinkedIn, which is used almost exclusively for professional networking.

LinkedIn Users understand that members sign up to promote themselves for career development first, their companies second.

Here the quality of LinkedIn lies solely in the quality of the contacts, not the quantity.

LinkedIn's PR manager, Krista Canfield, suggests you treat your contacts like you treat your Rolodex. She says, “once you make a contact, that person has access to your network.”

•LinkedIn has more than 150,000 groups available to it’s members.•LinkedIn groups include almuni groups, business forums, fan clubs, and conferences•LinkedIn’s PR Manager Canfield believes that the business forums should be used for communication just like a business lunch.•A soft-sell approach to networking seems to work best in these forums.

Group Buying – the ability for social media users to buy applications and other products and share them with friends.

Mobile – accessing social media and social networking websites by broadband, smart phone connectivity.

Branded Content – Companies are realizing the importance of creating their brand in a way that includes social media and networking users.

Google to Keep Failing – with always increasing numbers on the social media and networking websites, Google will continue to lose ground in overall audience.

Twitter Monetizing – Twitter is making a “land grab” for users by introducing new options and opportunities for their consumers (applications etc.).

Facebook Credits – offering businesses an opportunity to handle merchandise, purchase items, and offer Facebook credit cards and gift cards. Next, its Facebook directly handling and processing online financial transactions.

Sites like Facebook & MySpace are powerful communication tools today, particularly for contact with younger audiences.

Using them correctly likely will increase your business profile.

It is essential that you have a marketing approach to social networking for any business.

Know your target audience, market, potential customers, and then build a social relationship with them.

Don’t start out promoting yourself, your brand, or your website.

Establish yourself first as a part of the online community.

Become known, and then share with members of your community.

Be yourself, be human, and slowly begin to reveal yourself to others in the online community.

Expanding is also important by starting a blog, making and posting a video, and then linking to your website.

Driving traffic and sales to your site through visits to your blog or other online communications are the greatest measures of success in your social networking ventures.

Ask, “does your social networking really drive interest and consumers to your website?”

There is analytic software available for hardcore marketers to follow connectivity to your organization’s website.

Be strategic. Plan your use of social media from the very start.

Establish goals and objectives that you can measure.

Then progress slowly to establish yourself and your organization in the social media.

Social media marketing creates opportunities for an organization that are not otherwise available to you.

Social media add a human element to your business or product.

Social networking allows you to engage customers directly (but informally) while hanging out online.

Social networking gets traffic to your organization’s website.

Social networking creates a buzz around an organization’s website.

Social media create inbound links to your organization’s website which help you to build search engine traffic.

Social networking connections to your organization’s website help to create loyalty and trust through your customers.

Ask yourself some important questions like “How much do you really know about social media and networking?” and “How comfortable are you with social networking?”

Important concepts of social media which you must grasp follow with specific and appropriate websites for your marketing purposes.

Use social bookmarking on Technorati.com, Propeller.com, Digg.com, Reddit.com, & StumbleUpon.com.

Use social networking on Facebook.com, MySpae.com, Ryze.com, & DirectMatches.com.

Use content sharing on Hubpages.com, Squidoo.com, EzineArticles.com, & Gather.com.

Use media sharing on GoogleVideos.com, YouTube.com, Flickr.com, & SlideShare.com.

Use Blog platforms like Wordpress.com, MovableType.com, & Blogger.com.

Meet Specific Business Objectives

Support Online Community Goals

Encourage Member Interaction

Encourage Member Relationship Building

Quick Information Sharing

Integrate with Other Marketing Activities

Utilize Accompanying Media Effectively

Offer Satisfying User Experience

Provide Long-term Utility

Enhance the Value for Online Community Participants

Maintain Agility & Flexibility During the Campaign

Encourage Company Employee Participation

Don’t overlook traditional media in your marketing campaign and integrate social media and networking with other your other media options.Remember the specific types of social media and networking alternatives and the connections to audience and markets that accompany them.Always establish yourself in any online community before beginning your social marketing campaign.Always establish strategic communication in online communities. Have specific goals and objectives and move slowly into your full blown social media campaign.

Introduce new elements slowly into a social networking online community.Emphasize the benefits of your organizational affiliation to the members of the online community and then link to your organization’s website.Expand the advantages of affiliation as members of your online community warm up to you and your organization.Take time to relax and enjoy your own social networking with members of your online community or communities.Follow up with a clear evaluation plan to determine your successes and failures in the social media/networking campaign.

When planning your IMC campaign be certain to include social media and networking.

CBS News. (Oct. 8, 2006). Profiling online predators from CBS News.com. Retrieved August 25, 2010 fromhttp://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1476159n.

 Cooney, M. (March 12, 2010). FBI details most difficult Internet scams in Network World. Retrieved August 25, 2010 from http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/031210-layer8-fbi-internet-scams.html.

CyberSafety. (2010). Cyber911 Emergency: Cyberstalking and harassment from CyberSafety.org. Retrieved August 22, 2010 from http://www.wiredsafety.org/cyberstalking_harassment/index.html.

DeFalco B. (March 27, 2009). 14-year-old girl arrested after posting nude pics from Associated Press. Retrieved August 26, 2010 from http://www.netlingo.com/more/Girl_arrested.pdf.

Eichenwald, K. (Sept. 28, 2006). From their own world, pedophiles extend their reach from Oprah.com. Retrieved August 25, 2010 from http://www.oprah.com/oprahdotcom/From-Their-Own-Online-World-Pedophiles-Extend-Their-Reach.

Fried, R. (Oct. 6, 2004). The Internet: A breeding ground for online pedophiles from the Computer Crime Research Center. Retrieved August 23, 2010 from http://www.crime-research.org/articles/Fried10/. Hansen, C. (Nov. 11, 2004). Dangers children face online from Dateline NBC. Retrieved August 25, 2010 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6083442/.

Harbison, N. (Sept. 10, 2010). 7 trends that will define social media over the next 12 months. Retrieved October 2, 2010 from http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/7-trends-define-social-media-12-months/.

HubPages.com. How to use social networking for business marketing profits. Retrieved September 25, 2010 from http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Use-Social-Networking-For-Business-Marketing-Profits .

Lasar, M. (2009). Losses from Internet crime more than doubled in 2009 in Arts Technica. Retrieved August 25, 2010 from http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/03/losses-from-internet-crime-more-than-doubled-in-2009.ars.

News Editor. (September 15, 2010). Very interesting social media statistics: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, etc. Retrieved October 1, 2010 from http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/02/01/social-media-statistics-facebook-twitter-flickr-linkedin.

Owyang, J. (Feb. 19, 2008). What makes a successful marketing campaign on social networks? Web Strategist. Retrieved October 2, 2010 from http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/02/19/what-makes-a-marketing-campaign-on-social-networks-successful/

PC Advisor. (Sept. 8, 2010). 60% of web users visit social networks. Retrieved October 5, 2010 from http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/all_social_networking_statistics/ .

Royal Pingdom. (Feb. 16, 2010). Average distribution across social network sites and age distribution on social network sites. Retrieved October 1, 2010 from http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-social-network-users/.

Van Grove, J. (March 19, 2010). Social networking usage surges globally. Retrieved October 1, 2010 from http://mashable.com/2010/03/19/global-social-media-usage/.

Verte, V. (Sept. 27, 2010). We are social Monday’s mashup #42. We Are Social.Retrieved October 2, 1010 from http://wearesocial.net/.