Social Media
Frequently Asked Questions about Social Media
- What is Social Media?
- What are the most popular Social Media platforms?
- Why should I use social media?
- What social platforms should I use?
- How often should I post?
- Can I delete bad comments or reviews on social media?
- How can I automate social posts?
- What tools to use for social media marketing?
What is Social Media?
Social Media is the generic description for a range of interactive internet platforms for networking and sharing. These Social Media platforms facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career or hobby interests and many other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.
There are an increasing variety of social media services available which provide the following core features:
- Interactive internet-based applications that are accessible from most networked devices including, Personal Computers, Smart Phones, Tablets, Smart Watches, and Streaming Services.
- Sharing and hosting user-generated content, consisting of text posts or comments, digital photos or videos, and data generated through all online interactions.
- Users create platform-specific profiles and identities for the specific Social Media services that are designed and managed by the social media organization.
- Social Media platforms facilitate the development of online virtual social networks by connecting users with other users or groups. The connections between users is based on common interests or topics.
What are the most popular Social Media platforms?
There are an estimated 2.8 billion social media users around the globe and the most popular social media platforms include:
- YouTube
- Facebook Messenger
- QZone
- Tik Tok
- Sina Weibo
- Baidu Tieba
- Snapchat
- Viber
- Discord
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented social media platform that operates via websites and mobile apps. It is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting their Resumes and CVs. LinkedIn had 630 million registered members in 200 countries.
LinkedIn allows members who include both individuals and employers to create profiles and “connections” to each other in an online social network. Members can invite other members to become a connection. To explore LinkedIn, click on https://www.linkedin.com/
LinkedIn Overview
- Type: Social networking service
- Language: Multilingual
- Founded: 2002
- Headquarters: Sunnyvale, California, U.S.
- Employees: 14,000
- Parent: Microsoft Corporation
- Website: www.linkedin.com
- Users: 630 million members
“Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”
– Seth Godin
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a microblogging and social networking service on which users post and interact with messages known as “tweets.” Users can post, like, and retweet tweets, through its website, through Short Message Service (SMS) or Twitter Application on smart devices.
Twitter had more than 320 million active users. Twitter has become a hotbed of debates and news covering politics. It has also become a leading source of breaking news. To explore Twitter, click on https://www.twitter.com
Twitter Overview
- Type: News, social networking service
- Language: Multilingual
- Founded: 2006
- Employees: 3,900
- Website: www.twitter.com
- Users: 320 million active users
“Social media is about sociology and psychology more than technology.”
– Brian Solis
What is Facebook?
Facebook is an online social media and social networking platform that can be accessed from a variety of devices. Users can create a customized profile revealing information about themselves. They can post text, photos, and multimedia which is shared with any other users that have agreed to be their “friend.” Users can also join common-interest groups, and receive notifications about their friends’ activities.
Facebook has over 2 billion active users and offers a range of services. Facebook has acquired Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and a variety of other technologies and companies. To explore Facebook, click on https://www.facebook.com/
Facebook Overview
- Type: Social networking
- Language: Multilingual
- Founded: 2004
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, U.S.
- Employees: 39,600
- Website: www.facebook.com/
“Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smoking gun.”
– Pete Cashmore
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a social media application platform designed to enable saving and discovery of information on the World Wide Web using images and videos. Pinterest has over 300 million active users. Pinterest users can upload, save, sort, and manage images, and other media, known as pins, through collections known as pinboards.
Content can also be found outside Pinterest and uploaded via the “Pin It” button. Pinterest has implemented features that allow users to search with images instead of words. To explore Pinterest, click on https://www.pinterest.com
Pinterest Overview
- Type: Visual discovery, collection, and storage tool
- Languages: Available in 27 languages
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
- Employees: 1600 employees
- Website: www.pinterest.com
- Users: 300 million active users
“Build it, and they will come” only works in the movies. Social Media is a “build it, nurture it, engage them, and they may come and stay.”
– Seth Godin
What is Instagram?
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social networking platform. The application allows users to upload photos and videos, which can be edited with various filters, and organized with tags and location information. Users’ posts can be shared publicly or with pre-approved followers.
Instagram users can browse other users’ content by tags and locations, and view trending content. Users can “like” photos, and follow other users to add their content to a feed. Instagram has over 1 billion registered users. To explore Instagram, click on https://www.instagram.com
Instagram Overview
- Type: a photo and video-sharing social networking service
- Launched: 2010
- Languages: 36 languages (Android), 29 languages (iOS)
- Website: www.instagram.com
- Users: over 1 billion registered users
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”
– Peter F. Drucker
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a multimedia messaging app in which pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible. The app has evolved to featuring users’ “Stories” of 24 hours of chronological content.
Snapchat emphasizes users interacting with virtual stickers and augmented reality. Snapchat has over 180 million active users. To explore Snapchat, click on https://www.snapchat.com
Snapchat Overview
- Type: Multimedia messaging application
- Launched: 2011
- Languages: 22 languages
- Website: www.snapchat.com
- Users: over 180 million
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.”
– Benjamin Franklin
What is YouTube?
YouTube is a video-sharing website which allows users to upload, view, rate, share, add to playlists, comment, and subscribe to other users. It offers a wide variety of user-generated and corporate media videos. Content includes video clips, TV show clips, music videos, short and documentary films, audio recordings, movie trailers, live streams, and other content.
Unregistered users can only watch videos on the site, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos and add comments to videos. Videos deemed potentially inappropriate are available only to registered users affirming themselves to be at least 18 years old. To explore YouTube, click on https://www.youtube.com/
YouTube Overview
- Type: Video hosting service
- Founded: 2005
- Headquarters: San Bruno, California, United States
- Website: YouTube.com
- Usage: Over 500 hours of video content are uploaded to YouTube every minute
“If you want to be interesting, be interested.”
–David Ogilvy
Interesting Facts and Insights about Social Media
- The Internet has about 4.4 billion users (Global population is 7.7 billion)
- On average people have more than 7 Social Media accounts
- The average time spent on Social Media is over 2 hours per day
- The worst effect of Social Media is the negative impact on Sleep Quality and Quantity
- The most positive effect of Social Media is Self-Expression
- Social Media platforms earned over $8 billion from Advertising
- Over $70 billion was spent on Social Media Advertising
- 70 million blog posts are published every month on WordPress
- Google processes 100 billion searches a month
- 60% of Google searches originate from a Mobile device
Common Questions about Social Media?
- What are the most popular Social Media apps?
- Snapchat
- YouTube
- Tumblr
- What is Social Media used for?
- Social Media are interactive technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, and many forms of expression via communities and networks.
- What are the six types of Social Media?
- Social networks – allows users to connect and share – i.e., Facebook and LinkedIn
- Bookmarking sites – allows users to organize links of online resources – i.e., Pinterest
- Social news – allows users to post news links and external articles – i.e., Twitter
- Media sharing – allow users to share different types of media – i.e., Instagram
- Microblogging – allow the users to post short text entries, which can include links – i.e., Twitter
- Blog comments and forums – allow users to engage in conversations by posting and responding to community messages.- i.e., Blogger
- What is Social Media in simple words?
- Social Media includes websites or applications that enable social networking and blogging. Users create online communities to share information, ideas, messages, and other content.
There are two kinds of companies, those that work to try to charge more and those that work to charge less. We will be the second.
– Jeff Bezos
Social Media – FAQs – to be covered with our Next Instalment
- Why should I use social media?
- What social platforms should I use?
- How often should I post?
- Can I delete bad comments or reviews on social media?
- How can I schedule social posts?
- What tools do you use for social media marketing?
Are these Coaching Tips on “Social Media FAQs” useful?
Explore the Coaching Information from some of the world’s top experts. Click the links below:
Books About Social Media
- The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, by Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick, 2014
- One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days, by Brendan Kane, 2018
- Social Media Marketing Workbook: How to Use Social Media for Business, by Jason McDonald and Jason Mcdonald, 2015
“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”
– Jeff Bezos
Image Credit: Image by Gerald McCray from Pixabay
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