Week 13: Clear

Here is a chart of reason why companies have resisted using social media. Photo provided by Mark Smiciklas. http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/4044928113/

    This week the concept that was made clear to me was the importance of knowing about different types of social media. Facebook current has more than 750 million users and allows those users to build network with people they know. Twitter has more than 175 million user and utilizes 140 character messages called tweets to quickly establish a network with a whole bunch of people. Since most Twitter accounts are public it will allows you to establish relationship with more people and businesses than Facebook allows due to Friend requests. Linkedln is the largest professional network with 120 million users and provides an avenue to network with people in your chose profession and can even be used to land jobs within the field.
     Understanding different types of social media is very important in the business environment. Social media gives businesses and consumers a way to interact on a more personal level. Social media can also help a business keep up with its industry or in some cases even be the precedent setter within their industry. Having a social media presence just gives your business a better opportunity to be seen.
      I found an article that explains how social media is changing businesses. Businesses have gone from trying to sell to making connections with individual people. Social media has also helped businesses put out their message about good customer service right away with a simple tweet or Facebook update rather than having to do a big press release or statement about your customer service. The article also points out that businesses who don't adopt social media into their business strategy will be at a disadvantage. Here is a link to the article: http://mashable.com/2009/09/22/social-media-business/