Knowing your Social Media Platforms
There are many social media platforms in existence, each with a different primary purpose. Here is a brief look at some of the more popularly known platforms.
A Social networking site where users create profiles, upload photos and videos, send messages and keep in touch with family, friends and colleagues. Facebook is the biggest social media network on the Internet, both in terms of total number of users and name recognition. Founded on February 4, 2004, Facebook has within just over a decade managed to accumulate more than 1.59 billion monthly active users and this automatically makes it one of the best mediums for connecting with people from all over the world. It is estimated that more than 1 million small and medium-sized businesses use the platform to advertise their business.
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Formerly known as Twitter, X is a Social networking service where users send and read 280-character messages called tweets. Users must have a registered account to send tweets but anyone can read them. You might be thinking that limiting your posts to 140 characters is no way to advertise your business, but you will be surprised to know that this social media platform has more than 320 million active monthly users who make use of the 140-character limit to pass on information. 𝕏’s strength lies in posting info in real-time, so many business dealing with in-the-moment updates—such as news organizations or sports-related content—incorporate 𝕏 in their marketing efforts. Businesses can use 𝕏 to interact with prospective clients, answer questions, release the latest news, and at the same time use targeted ads with specific audiences. 𝕏 was founded on March 21, 2006
An online mobile photo- and video-sharing networking service. Instagram is a visual social media platform where photos and video posted can also be shared on several other networking platforms such as Facebook and Flickr. The site, launched on October 6, 2010, has more than 400 million active users and is owned by Facebook. Many of its users use it to post information about travel, fashion, food, art and similar subjects. The platform is also distinguished by its unique filters together with video and photo editing features. Almost 95 percent of Instagram users also use Facebook.
WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform instant messaging client for smartphones, PCs and tablets. The app relies on the Internet to send images, texts, documents, audio and video messages to other users that have the app installed on their devices. Launched in January 2010, WhatsApp Inc. was acquired by Facebook on February 19, 2014, for about $19.3 billion. Today, more than 1 billion people use the service to communicate with their friends, loved ones and even customers.
A business-oriented social networking service used to build connections and professional relationships. Founded on December 14, 2002, and launched on May 5, 2003, LinkedIn is hands-down the most popular social media site for professional networking. The website is available in 24 languages and has over 400 million registered users. Because of the professional nature of the site, LinkedIn is especially popular among college graduates and employed people and is great for people looking to connect with people in similar industries, networking with local professionals and displaying business related information and statistics.
Youtube
Videos have grown dramatically in their popularity with audiences It is estimated that over 75 percent of all online traffic will be for videos.
YouTube is a widely popular and globally recognized online video sharing platform and social media website. It allows users to upload, view, share, and engage with a wide range of video content. YouTube itself is the second-largest search engine, behind only Google and can be a powerful search engine marketing tool for companies.
TikTok
Launched in 2016, TikTok is a popular social media platform characterized by its short-form, user-generated videos. It has rapidly grown into a favored video-sharing platform, allowing users to create, share, and discover a wide range of content in the form of video or carousel images, typically lasting from 15 to 60 seconds, often paired with TikTok sounds or music.
The bite-sized nature of TikTok’s content attracts a significantly larger daily user base than many other video-sharing platforms.
A content-sharing service that allows members to pin or post photos and videos to their digital bulletin boards. Launched in March 2010, Pinterest is a relatively newcomer in the social media arena and is best for companies with rich images to tell their story (i.e. hospitality or travel industry, interior decorating, wedding-related). Pinterest announced September 2015 that it had acquired 100 million users. The audience is predominantly female (68%), so small businesses targeting a more female-centric audience should be using Pinterest.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a mobile messaging application used to share photos, videos, text, and drawings. Created by three students at Stanford University, the app was officially released in September 2011, and has become hugely popular in a very short space of time, especially with young people, registering an average of 100 million daily active users as of May 2015. More than 18 percent of all social media users use Snapchat.
