No doubt about it. I’m feeling my age. I’m now on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat and, of course, LinkedIn. Social media is where it’s at…right? Well, I guess it depends on what “it” is.
Facebook is THE place to catch up on the fabulous lives of all of your friends and acquaintances. If you don’t have a fabulous life, you don’t post on Facebook. Or, is it, if you are living your fabulous life, you don’t have time to post on Facebook? Either way, chances are, someone has invited you in and you’ve at least signed up. And so…clearly, if you own a consumer-facing business, you need to have a presence on Facebook and you need to get as many likes as you can because Facebook likes beget Facebook likes. That is, you grow exponentially as you gather your new friend’s friends likes and friends of your new friend’s friends and so on.
Now, Google+ is a powerful social tool. Great product but because Google showed up later to the social table than Facebook, they have fewer active users. But, if you have any Google+ products (gmail, an Android, etc.), you WILL be invited to Google+. Ultimately, the power of Google+ lies in the pace of adoption and user interaction. Stay tuned…
If you are in to online scrapbooking, Pinterest is for you. There are lots of users (and the majority are women) sharing lots of images. Sometimes we’re discussing the fabric of our lives, sometimes it’s what we wish was the fabric of our lives. It’s really a great forum for sharing with the girls. “Look, what I found!” If you’re a business, you really need to have something worth being found (visually) and shared. Ben Silvermann (CEO of Pinterest) says that the company is piloting advertising on the site. As an advertiser, expect to create new shareable content to optimize the bang for your buck.
One word about Snapchat. It makes me feel… well, 40-something. There are far fewer 40-somethings using Snapchat, which means I have fewer contacts to interact with. Heck, I felt clumsy just getting the app to work. Not to mention I was fretting over privacy concerns when the app asked for my mobile phone number. Somehow I feel better when apps just ask for permission to access all the contacts in my phone.
Well, more to come on the other social media in a future blog. I’m off to update my social media accounts.