Have you been introduced yet? Social media sites and online networking can help drive traffic to your website. So you need to get clued up about who's who.
What's the Hype? Online networking has entered new heights with Facebook. As the media speculate if it will be bigger then Google and Yahoo, whether Rupert Murdoch will spend millions trying to buy it, and if Stephen Fry's profile is real, Facebook continues to be the Future.
Who uses it? Anyone who's anyone darling – media professionals, social butterflies, politicians, celebrities and the upper echelons of society. Facebook is unusual in that it appeals to the middle classes of all ages, unlike the ‘yoof' edge of MySpace. Famous users include Stephen Fry (or someone pretending to be Mr Fry), Toby Young, Ian Hislop and Peaches Geldof.
What Facebook Say: "Facebook offers relevant and integrated advertising opportunities to engage the tech-savvy youth audience…We can help you develop the ideal Facebook advertising solution that reaches an active audience of youth trend-setters and influencers."
Is it the Future? Yes. Facebook is a growing virtual empire reaching global proportions. Companies can opt for straightforward advertising (at a cost), or you can post events and invite people to attend online. More effective are the Facebook groups, where you can create a group and use that group to promote a product, event or brand. You need to be clever, hip or fun for it to work.
What's the Hype? The predecessor to Facebook, MySpace passed many thirty-something's by. Aimed at the ‘yoof' market, owned by Rupert Murdoch, it's an online community is more chaotic then Facebook. If Facebook is a tidy living room, MySpace is a bit like a teenager's room.
Who uses it? The kids. Unlike Facebook, it's the teenage rebel of social networks. It's not easy to market on MySpace unless you're promoting yourself – musicians like Lily Allen made it big using MySpace. Allen posted demos on her MySpace account and attracted thousands of listeners. Her thousands of friends generated publicity and the Observer Music Monthly sat up and took notice. MySpace is one way of getting publicity before being absorbed into the mainstream.
What MySpace Say: "MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends. Create a private community on MySpace and you can share photos, journals and interests with your growing network of mutual friends!"
Is it the Future? MySpace was a big hit but might be slipping under the pressure of Facebook. It's not the best place to promote unless you're an artist of some kind, but it is seen as a good place for generating links but overall MySpace has been dismissed as a place for "spammers, scammers and idiots" according to Jane Copland on SEOmoz.
What's the Hype? Digg is the place to go to find the best news, blogs and comments on the web. The site began focusing on science and technology but has shifted to cover politics and entertainment too. It's all about user popularity – stories are submitted and posted on the frontpage depending on user ranking. It combines social bookmarking, blogging and syndication with a democratic editorial control.
Who uses it? Digg users submit their own content, when someone diggs your content, the increase in traffic can be substantial, which makes it a big pull for companies and businesses.
What Digg Say: "Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our users. You won't find editors at Digg — we're here to provide a place where people can collectively determine the value of content and we're changing the way people consume information online."
Is it the Future? Digg has experienced criticism – some believe the user control has lead to "sensationalism and misinformation" (according to Wikipedia). The fact that companies can post stories also compromises the site's integrity.
What's the Hype? A social bookmarking website where you can see what's hot and what's not via your friends or the web community at large.
Who uses it? It's aimed at students looking for web research, people wanting to share podcasts, and those looking for help with everything from planning holidays to creating your own recipe cookbook. It aims to be a library of your favourite bookmarks.
What del.icio.us Say: "del.icio.us is a collection of favourites - yours and everyone else's. You can use del.icio.us to: Keep links to your favourite articles, blogs, music, reviews, recipes, and more, and access them from any computer on the web.
Share favorites with friends, family, co-workers, and the del.icio.us community.
Discover new things. Everything on del.icio.us is someone's favourite -- they've already done the work of finding it. So del.icio.us is full of bookmarks about technology, entertainment, useful information, and more. Explore and enjoy."
Is it the Future? It's networking ability means people with common interests can be linked and targeted, making it a good marketing tool. Like Digg, it's a good way to save links to content and boost rankings. It's the most popular service of its kind.
Social Media Marketing
There are far more social network and social media sites on the internet that have been dubbed ‘Web 2.0' sites. All of them are considered to have some amount of commercial use and responsible social media marketing is seriously being considered as the way forward. Understanding how the social networks work and getting the content and tone right is vital for success.
Other major social networks that are viable for social media marketing include:
- Wikipedia
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Reddit
- Flickr
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