Technology & Internet

Businesses use social media to be seen by consumers. The companies use people to refer their product or service to their friends by liking the company's page or posts. When a person "likes" a company it acts as a recommendation for all that consumer's friends and a vote of confidence for the company. In order to successfully use social media and create that presence, businesses must be persistent in their posting. Social media is not an easy fix, so persistence is key for companies trying to be seen. 

I was not surprised by the article's "Social Media is NOT" because for one thing, as a college student, I know how much Facebook has become an older woman pow-wow. My mother, grandmother and all of their friends are all over Facebook keeping tabs on their friends' families and what they're up to. So to hear that the fastest growing users of Facebook are women ages 45-60 is not surprising. In addition, I was not necessarily surprised that businesses cannot rely on social media as an easy fix. I've looked at content over and over without really beginning to take an interest in that organization or business. So persistence is certainly key there.

According to the article, "social media IS" the fastest growing sites on the web, which is certainly true in my case. In some way, shape or form, I am usually consuming social media content throughout the day. Social media is also free and only one piece of marketing, according to the article.

My biggest takeaway from the article is that when I work as a communication professional, I cannot give up on social media because I'm not seeing immediate results. Being persistent is the most important part of social-media-for-business use. In addition, understanding the demographics and the rise of older folk using Facebook is important. Trying to establish a trendy item or service for young people would be disastrous without understanding which social media to employ.