Question

Social Media is revolutionizing the way we communicate with one another. It also is becoming a medium of choice in the way that companies advertise. Provide a comprehensive response for each of following questions:

• How did social media begin, and how has it found so much favor in such a short period of time?
• Compare and contrast Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, describing each in your own words (no citations from the text). Describe and provide an example of each.
• How is a social media chosen and integrated into a marketing plan. How is the effectiveness of the use of social media measured?

“I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there.” (1 Chron. 29:17 NLT) Explain our responsibility as Christians to be wholesome, truthful, and with good intent when serving the needs of others in personal or business matters.

Answer 1

social media begin

Today, social media is a term that everyone knows. Even the most remote areas of the world have at least heard of Facebook and Twitter, and are probably using them on a regular basis. But it wasn’t always that way. Social media, in its present form, has been around a relatively short term and even though you probably can’t imagine living without it now, except for the last few decades, everyone did.

1997: The Birth of Social Media

The first social media site that everyone can agree actually was social media was a website called Six Degrees. It was named after the ‘six degrees of separation’ theory and lasted from 1997 to 2001. Six Degrees allowed users to create a profile and then friend other users. Six Degrees even allowed those who didn’t register as users to confirm friendships and connected quite a few people this way.

From Six Degrees, the internet moved into the era of blogging and instant messaging. Although blogging may not seem like social media precisely, the term fits because people were suddenly able to communicate with a blog other instantly as well as other readers. The term “blog” is a form of the phrase “Weblog” which was coined by Jorn Barger, an early blogger that was the editor of the site “Robot Wisdom.”

2000: The Internet is Everywhere

By the year 2000, around 100 million people had access to the internet, and it became quite common for people to be engaged socially online. Of course, then it was looked at as an odd hobby at best. Still, more and more people began to utilize chat rooms for making friends, dating and discussing topics that they wanted to talk about. But the huge boom of social media was still to come.

2003: The First Social Media Surge

Although the younger generation of today might not know about it, back in the early 2000’s the website MySpace was the popular place to set up a profile and make friends. MySpace was the original social media profile website, leading into and inspiring websites like Facebook.

compare and contrast -

Facebook

With about 1.65 billion monthly active users, Facebook is one of the most popular platforms, not only for personal use but business as well. For businesses, Facebook is a place to share photos, updates, and general news with those who follow or “like” you. Fans of your business come to your Facebook page to find out what’s going on with your company, see pictures of what’s going on, or explore events.

Twitter

Twitter is fast-paced, concise, and easy way to connect with your audience. With over 310 million registered users (and growing), Twitter is a sea of information of 140 character or less content waiting to be read, clicked, followed, and re-tweeted.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is different from the rest of the social media outlets because it’s specifically designed for business and professionals. Users mainly go to LinkedIn to showcase their job experience and professional thoughts, making it one of the more important platforms to use for those in B2B.

YouTube

YouTube is the leading video-sharing platform in the world. On your channel, your brand can share and edit its own videos, create playlists, and prompt discussions. Since it was bought over by Google in 2006, YouTube is another platform that the search gives priority to in its search results so take advantage of it!

social media into a marketing plan

While a campaign focused on social media can add a new dimension to a campaign, large "big bang" investments in social media within a campaign may not always be possible.

But if you build in social media from the outset there will always be opportunities to integrate smaller elements of social media marketing into the framework of an existing marketing campaign that has already been approved and underway. ‘Socialising’ a marketing campaign can be an effective way of reaching new audiences and generating conversation around your brand on the back of larger-scale paid media activity.

Some of the advantages of using social media include:

• Reach out to new audiences who may be more open to engagement on social channels
• Stand out from the competition by doing something different from everyone else in the industry
• Grow influence and authority across a range of social channels
• Benefit from the growing impact of social search by sharing campaign content socially