Social Media Platforms
Social media is a great way to reach out and communicate with your clientele. However, when you look at all of the different kinds and types of social media platforms, it can be very difficult to figure out which one to use. One of the easiest ways to decide is to look at each of the platforms and see how people interact with them and what benefits they can provide. Here are a few examples of the different types of social media platforms.
- Facebook is one of the biggest social media platforms available to date. With currently 1.2 Billion users, Facebook is one of the easiest ways to connect with people. It is great for distributing information by way of links to websites or small important pieces of information, starting conversations with people, scheduling upcoming events and sharing photos and other media. Your Facebook friends can view your information and your posts, they can comment and share it with their friends, and they can give you feedback about your posts and if they will be attending your events.
- Twitter is another very large social media platform that has around 328 Million users. It is a micro blogging site that allows you to tweet (share small bits of information and links.) Your Twitter followers can retweet your posts from their twitter accounts and communicate back.
- Blogging is another widely used social media tool. Blogging is a great way to distribute medium to large posts with your clientele. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, blogging does not require you to login to or use a specific branded service (like Facebook or Twitter.) You can create your own website or use an existing service to serve as your blogging site. Your clientele can read your blog and can comment on your post (if comments are enabled.) *Note – DASNR IT currently has a WordPress server setup that can be used if you are interested in starting a blog.
- Pinterest is image or video sharing service that allows you to pin (share) information with others. You can organize you pins into boards (groups of like items) and pin anything that you find when browsing Pinterest into your boards.
- YouTube is a video sharing service that currently has over 1 Billion users. After you upload your video into YouTube, your subscribers can watch and comment on them. You can also share your videos by sending out links or embedding them into your website.
These are just a few of the ways that you can communicate using social media. If you are unsure which method will work best for you, explore the different tools and see how your coworkers and friends use them.