Week 2: My Opinion on Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms are meant to connect people, and fortunately, businesses are now able to market to their target market and tune into what their customers' lifestyle is like. It has never been easier to connect to your consumers and find them. In my opinion, Facebook set out to be a place where people can share their likes and thoughts. My conclusion is that it is meant for personal use. Facebook's Zuckerberg has been brilliant and sneaky in that he created this platform where people like to talk and share about themselves. Everyone's favorite subject is themselves. We happily share our information, and he sells the data. Therefore, it is a platform for personal use! However, businesses tap into the data and create business pages and use the data to make ads geared for their target market. Communities are built too!
From experience, Twitter is another platform for personal use where people can share thoughts that others who resonate with it can easily "retweet".
Pinterest is another one that is for personal use because you can create boards with endless favorite pins that are all featuring your personal favorites.
Finally, Instagram is a popular platform for personal use. Anyone can be Instagram famous these days by creating their own personal brand on this platform. They use it to become influencers and models. Businesses have recently been using it to target their target customers and has enabled them to gain mass followers worldwide. Anyone with a business page can create ad promotions on this platform, and it's so simple to use.
I think that the most suitable for business use is Youtube. It is more time consuming to make and edit a video, especially if you are a small business owner and lack expertise, but it is the most worthwhile.
On Youtube, you can create an experience for your customers. Nowadays many people shop online, and the downfall of buying online is that you can't see the product in action. (Although some stores do feature product videos, they are rare) Consumers can watch reviews by other consumers about your products, and follow the links in the description to purchase the item. Many vloggers have created empires out of selling merchandise on Youtube.
Hi Christina!
ReplyDeleteI agree that it has never been easier to connect to friends, family and consumers through social media. I like your idea about Instagram being a platform to create ones own personal brand or "self-advertise." Cheers!
P.S. - Perhaps change your font color on this page? I first thought it was blank, then realized the font color blended in the background. :)
Thank you! I couldn't find where it went!
DeleteHi Cristina,
ReplyDeleteWhen I started using Facebook, I was happy because I would be able to share pictures of my children and me so my family in Peru could see how their grandchildren were growing up. Then, I found a lot of friends whom I did not see them for a long time. Facebook was created for personal use. However, you are right when you say that today businesses can create pages and use the data to make ads, this is something that favors businesses but also consumers as we can read comments about customers experiences.
That is true! Most people started to use it to share images with family members who don't live nearby. It's easier than to send them via email or text messages. My brother has found friends on Facebook from kindergarten whom he had not kept in touch with since the last war in Nicaragua. It's a great personal tool indeed.
DeleteHello Christina!
ReplyDeleteI wish online stores would have more videos for their clothing because sometimes the material pattern looks different on the website and when you get it, it is not the same. I do think that a lot of social media apps/websites started out as personal use and then businesses started to get to their target market with ads.