Week 1 - Social Media Platforms: Social vs. Business

In performing a basic google search for "social media platforms", 4 of the first 5 results were articles related to using social media for business or marketing. While I may be arriving late to the game, this tells me that the majority of social media can, or is currently being used for business, even if only at a small level. From what I know of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn alone, each site can be used to build a brand, garner support and followers, and disseminate information quickly and effectively. Sites such as Pinterest could be used to build a brand through bookmarking and linking to similar products and business, or like-minded services. The article below really caught my eye, with its title of  "Top 52 Social Media Platforms Every Marketer Should Know". I have never thought much about it, but never imagined 52 different social media platforms, much less 52 important enough to know for the population of marketers.

http://60secondmarketer.com/blog/2010/04/09/top-52-social-media-platforms/

The sites that I am far less familiar with are dating social media sites and networks. Having been in a relationship for the past 9 years, I have no personal experience with these. However, I've seen sites such as Match, OkCupid, and Tinder become popular with many of my friends over the past few years. These sites seem limited to strictly social use, and I really can't imagine being able to utilize them for business outside of paid advertising.

Needless to say, I became more aware of the variety of ways to market a business using each of these sites. Of the 52 platforms in the article, I would not have considered many "social media" prior to this class. Sites like iTunes and Picassa being listed alongside Facebook and Instagram, really shows me that I have let myself become disconnected from much of this new technology. While I know that this class isn't meant to be a tutorial on the business applications for each site, it will teach us to explore the applications, whether intended or unplanned, of current and future platforms.