{"product_id":"2940015909197","title":"Understanding Social Media","description":"What is Social Media?\u003cbr\u003eSocial media is certainly the buzz of today, but what is it, how can it benefit you, and why do you really care? Glad you asked. First, let’s stress that if you think social media is a fad that’s going to disappear you couldn’t be further from the truth. Social media is a phenomenon and it’s taking the internet by storm.\u003cbr\u003eThose who were quick to jump on the bandwagon and take the time to understand social media marketing have already taken their businesses miles ahead of the competition. Over the next decade, we can expect social media’s role in marketing and business to grow by leaps and bounds.\u003cbr\u003eSo what is social media? By definition (Wikipedia), social media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.\u003cbr\u003eSo how big is social media? It’s huge! To give you an idea of how huge here are some recent stats.\u003cbr\u003e• There are more than 750 million active users on social networking site Facebook.\u003cbr\u003e• There are more than 156 million blogs.\u003cbr\u003e• There are more than 490 million YouTube videos.\u003cbr\u003eSocial Media by Characteristics\u003cbr\u003eThe best way to understand social media is by grouping by characteristic.\u003cbr\u003e• Openness: The majority of social media venues promote leaving comments, voting, sharing information, and removing barriers making content open to everyone.\u003cbr\u003e• Connectedness: Social media thrives on being connected with other people, resources, sites, blogs, etc.\u003cbr\u003e• Conversation: Traditional media is one way communication whereas social media is more of a two-way conversation.\u003cbr\u003e• Participation: Social media promotes everyone to contribute and provide feedback. Media and audience blur together.\u003cbr\u003e• Community: Social media sees communities quickly sprout up based on common interests.\u003cbr\u003e5 Basic Forms of Social Media\u003cbr\u003eIf you’re wondering when we are going to get to the meat and potatoes of social media marketing, we are already on our way. To get the most out of this e-book and concepts we’ll discuss, you need to understand social media and its components. If this is all rather boring to you we encourage you to skip forward.\u003cbr\u003eThere are five basic forms of social media. Let’s have a look at them.\u003cbr\u003e1. Social Networks\u003cbr\u003eThese are sites where people build personal and business web pages and then connect with their\u003cbr\u003eFriends and\/or family to communicate, share content and share photos. There are a many social networks although most of us think of Facebook right away.\u003cbr\u003e2. Forums\u003cbr\u003eForums came before social media and were an important predecessor that remains important today. These are sites were online discussion are around a specific hobby, topic, or interest. Information is shared and exchanged and online communities are built.\u003cbr\u003e3. Blogs\u003cbr\u003eBlogs are a well known and popular form of social media. A blog is like an online journal. It can be personal or business. They can be based on a specific topic such as fashion or real estate, or they can be more like a diary discussing daily events or news. Blogs\u003cbr\u003e4. Content Communities\u003cbr\u003eContent communities organize and share based on a specific type of content such as videos or photos. YouTube is the biggest content community. There are others such as Flickr or del.icio.us.\u003cbr\u003e5. Microblogging\u003cbr\u003eMicroblogging combines social networking and micro blogs, which are the equivalent of little sound bites. It’s the perfect way of sharing information for mobile devices. Twitter is an excellent example of microblogging and they are considered the leader in the microblogging arena.\u003cbr\u003eSocial Media and the Distribution of Information\u003cbr\u003eSocial media has grown at a phenomenal rate, faster than any other area of the internet. It wasn’t that many decades ago that the ability to create content and then distribute it to the masses was limited to those with access to television, radio, and print.\u003cbr\u003eIf you wanted a video, you would call a television station, which would have employed thousands of professionals who would create, compose, and bring to air your video. If you wanted print material, you would call up a newspaper or magazine that also had teams of writers and editors who would put together your copy and bring it to print.\u003cbr\u003eThe internet opened the door to creating one’s own content and distributing that content. But still even a decade ago, it was still beyond the technical skills of most. However, today anyone can create their own content and easily distribute it to the massed. Anyone can take advantage of social media and the powerful marketing tool it presents, whether that’s using a blog, Facebook, Twitter, or any number of other social media avenues.\u003cbr\u003eHow Social Media Networks Work\u003cbr\u003eSocial networks grow and prosper when web surfers find a social media network they want to join, so ...","brand":"All classic book warehouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47071128617200,"sku":"2940015909197","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940015909197_p0.jpg?v=1763626017","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015909197","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}