Things you need to know about Social Media

Mark your calendar! June 30 is Social Media Day, the collective birthday of all social media.

In the past, we have written about the importance and potential of social media. Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube – these are the usual social media we have been using. Now, in connection with the celebration of Social Media Day this month, we bring you some of the things you need to know about social media.

Scope of social Media

In the paper “Users of the world, unite! The Challenges and opportunities of Social Media” by Professors of Marketing Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, social media is defined as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.”

The two professors also offered the six different types of social media, namely, collaborative media (e.g., Wikipedia), blogs (Twitter), content communities (YouTube), social networking sites (Facebook), virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds.

User interactivity and flexibility of contents are few of the major characteristics of social media. Aside from the first three mentioned social networking sites, there are surely other existing websites created with the same reason in mind.
Wikipedia has a list of major active social networking websites. There are social network sites for the academe (Academia.edu), various races or nationalities (AsianAvenue, BIGADDA, Biip.no, BlackPlanet, Busuu, Blogster, CozyCot, deviantART), industries (Epernicus, DXY.cn, Elixio, ), leisure (Crunchyroll, douban, Ibibo, LibraryThing, Lafango) and more. So if you feel like trying things other than Facebook or Twitter, try checking out some of these never-before-heard websites. Just make sure to let your existing audience know of your new accounts.

Now, because of the many applications of these social networking sites (many are still waiting to be discovered), social media as a whole is considered an important tool especially for business owners. One organization that saw its importance is a Scottish-American news website founded by Pete Cashmore.

Because of that, Social Media Day was first launched in 2010 by Mashable “to recognize the digital revolution happening right before our eyes.” Mashable holds the reputation of being one of the world’s largest websites and one of the 25 best blogs in 2009 by Time Magazine.

Hey bro, do you know Socialbro?

For regular netizens, Twitter is a way to follow persons who have made a great impact in their lives. But for a businessman, Twitter management is crucial.

SocialBro is a management and analytics tool for Twitter. Founded in 2011, SocialBro has a capacity to determine “who shapes your (Twitter) community: where your followers are from, which language they speak, their activity on Twitter, etc.”

SocialBro also helps users backup their community in a local database by downloading all Twitter followers and friends. It also helps “find out if you are following any potential spammers or if there are potential spammers following you.” It can also give you data on the best statistics, best time to tweet, as well as allow you to easily tweet or send direct messages to chosen followers.

Aside from SocialBro, you can track your audience’s activities and update all your other social media accounts in one single updating. Have you heard of HootSuite?
It says in its website, “Save your time and your sanity. Improve productivity by managing all of your social networks within HootSuite.”

From Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Google+ Pages, Foursquare, Myspace, and WordPress, HootSuite can help you “listen, engage and measure all from one simple interface.”

Moreover, it allows you to add more social networks and tools into your dashboard. These include Tumblr, YouTube and Flickr for social networks and MailChimp, SocialFlow, InboxQ and Constant Contact for marketing-focused tools.
Did you know?

You know that Mark Zuckerberg is the lead man, CEO and founder of the well-loved Facebook. But do you know who the other owners of Facebook are?

In an article published at IncomeDiary.com, it said that Jim Breyer and Accel Partners owns 11.4% of Facebook. (In 2010, Breyer was named one of the 10 smartest people in technology by Fortune Magazine.)

Youngest billionaire in the world Dustin Moskovitz holds 7.6%; Digital Sky Technologies founder Yuri Milner has 5.4%; Mark’s roommate and best friend Eduardo Saverin owns 5%; Facebook’s first president Sean Parker holds 4%; Facebook’s first investor in 2004 Peter Thiel has 2.5%; Microsoft with 1.3%; Facebook’s co-founder Chris Hughes with 1%; and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing with 0.8%.

From social networks, let us move on with top earning blogs. Topping the list of several highest paid blogs are the following: Huffington Post ($2,330,000), Mashable ($560,000), Techcrunch ($400,000), and Smashing Magazine ($190,000).

Observe that these sites offer one thing to its readers: reliable and relevant reading materials. It is commonsense that when you provide something useful to your readers, they will help you reach your goals.

Closing words

Social Media Day is more than just a celebration of the great contributions of an innovative and interactive platform. This day is a reminder of the people’s responsibility – to identify the social media’s potential and properly use it.
Happy Social Media Day!