Social Media Overview

As online communications keep growing, businesses need to stay up to date with the latest methods of marketing. Social media applications such as blogs, podcasts, social networking sites and other Web 2.0 technologies are massively popular with individuals and businesses of all sizes. The term 'social media' refers to new types of online media that can be used to share knowledge, information, experiences and ideas. Social media applications are different from traditional media in that they share most of the same characteristics.

Some of the most common types of social media include several different applications. Such as, blogs which are a regularly updated web page, which may either stand alone or be attached to a particular website. Used like a forum, blog entries ('posts') are brief and reflect the thoughts, opinions and interests of the people or persons writing it. Another type of social media is social networking sites. They allow users to build personal websites and connect with other users to communicate and share information. Myspace and Facebook are perfect examples of social networking sites. Next there is, content communities which are websites that organize and share particular types of content, such as photos, videos, and book marking links. Also, there are podcasts & webcasts. A podcast is a digital and/or video file that can be downloaded over the internet and played back on portable media players and personal computers. A webcast is a live media file similar to a broadcast TV program but designed specifically to be transmitted over the internet using streaming technology. Another social media type is wikis. Wikis are collaborative websites that allow anyone to add content or edit existing content, acting as a simple communal database. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia created by thousands of worldwide contributors, is one of the best known wikis. Lastly, there are forums, which are standalone websites or areas on websites for online discussion, usually based on particular topics or areas of interest. Forums can provide employees with a platform for sharing ideas, experiences, and opinions. Unlike wikis, forum posts may not be edited by other users.

There are several different business benefits of social media. According to a 2007 report by Melcrum those benefits are improved employee engagement, improved internal collaboration, improved internal community development, and improved two-way dialogue between employees and senior executives. The new social media applications are especially valuable for organizations with remote workforces, as they can help remote workers collaborate and communicate with colleagues much more easily.

There are still some concerns about social media, a few do not understand it fully. They aren't too clear about how they can be used effectively for internal and external communication. According to the Melcrum report, less than a third of professional communicators are confident about integrating social media into their communication strategy. However, many of them are still establishing social media tools in their organization.

Social media tools are all about networking, communicating and collaborating quickly and efficiently. While social media applications may not be suitable for every organisation, they are most useful in those organizations where communication and collaboration are the keys to success.

This article is based on an article written by GoodPractice.net and can be found in their Knowledge Bank product under Communication - Organisational - Models and Strategies