What Are the Differences Between the Top Social Media Platforms?

Yes! By knowing what each can do and the differences between them, you can gain a better understanding of how to leverage them for your brand and business. Each social media platform has a specific set of expectations, limitations, protocols, potentials, pros and cons. They are constantly evolving and new sites are coming up. This article will explain the terms and uses of the top social media platforms.

Do You Want To Connect With Your Current Customers And Potential Customers?

Social Media is that tool that will connect you to that audience. Every business needs a social media presence and knowing how it all fits together has become a must if you want to grow your business and be competitive.

Here are a few more reasons as to why it is important to have your business on social media:

 • Your prospects and future customers hang out on social media.

 • It can attract new prospects and keep your current customers coming back.

 • It can help you understand who your customer is and what they may want from your business. 

 • People are constantly searching for information on social sites.

 • If you aren’t there, your competitors will be.

 • When you have a great social media campaign implemented it can have a positive impact on your business.

What Are Social Media Sites?

Social media sites are those that have the technology that can provide a two way communication. It is the future of communication and there is an array of Internet tools and platform that increase sharing information. It makes the transfer of photos, text, audio, video, and information easier and quicker to share. It is about conversations, interacting, community, connecting with personalities and building relationships.

Social media sites delivers its information to the mass of people all at the same time while it invites readers to express their views and ideas on that topic. It takes the traditional marketing messages from one way communication stream with radio, television, and newspapers to a two-way communication stream creating an alternative method of receiving the information. It can be as simple as allowing comments on an article or letting you vote.

What Is Social Networking?

Did you know that social networking is part of the family of Social Media/Marketing? Although they are considered as a part of the social media platforms, the vice-versa is not true. It's more of a tool/technique used as part of social media. The technique involves two-way conversations that build relationships rather than just broadcasting your message. It is an online community where you can set up a profile, add friends, share ideas, events and communicate with other members.

What are some of the most famous social networking sites? Some of the most famous social networking sites include: Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, MySpace, Hi5, and blogs. An example of a micro blog is like Twitter (limited to 140 characters). Video and picture communities include: YouTube, Flickr, social gaming, podcasts, and wikis, etc. 

Social networking sites are aimed at bringing groups of people under one roof that have samilar interests and hobbies. It increases your contacts over the globe. Generally, social networking sites enable its users to share videos,photos, and discuss ideas on a particular topic.

What Are The Different Types Of Social Media Platforms?

Social Videos

Social videos consist of sharing online videos on social media sites which allow comments. They can be used as an excellent marketing tool. Social video activity consists of sharing videos, commenting on them, and allowing graded feedback by giving the video a LIKE or PLUS.   Online videos encourages two way communication streams and is the wave of new tools and technologies. Examples of video sharing that allow comments are YouTube, Vimeo, and Veoh . 

Photo Sharing

When we think of photo sharing, sites such as Flickr, Instagrams, and Pineterest comes to most minds. These social media sites allow us to share our photos with friends and allow them to leave their comments.  These photo sharing sites are more visual rather than being textual.

Wikis

Sites like Wikipedia and Wikia are also in the of social media category. It is a means of communicating to the masses of people by posting an article and keeping them updated. These sites share knowledge on a much bigger platform. They are different from the other sites mentioned earlier as they are not  concerned to entertain the audience, only to inform.

Blogs

What you are reading right now is a blog. It is an online journal or article written by one person on a particular topic. Blogging sites are usually updated on a regular basis with new entries. You can comment on a blog and interact with the author. Twitter is a form of “micro blogging”. It is a miniature form of a blog that has a limit of 140 characters for each message.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a form of audio broadcasting that is in a digital file. It can be downloaded to a computer or portable device like a cell phone, MP3 player, or iPod. They usually contain talk back radio style content.

Social Gaming

Social games are played online with other users and included interaction elements and content that can be shared. They are found on social networking sites, websites and in game portals.

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking is yet another important part of online social usage. It allows users to search for the resources by bookmarks available online. Some of the leading websites in this category are: Delicious, Digg, StumpbleUpon, and Simpy. They allow users to bookmark the websites in a flexible manner to use them again. Finding specific websites is easy on social bookmarking sites with “tagging”. Users can find websites that have been tagged on there.

Social News

Social news forms a bigger part of the social media. There are no doubt, many news websites regarding daily news and current affairs.  However, there is a bit difference in this category. Most of the social news sites focus on the articles and stories that may be concerned to enhance the media relations of a company or a firm. In addition, they allow readers to leave comments on articles and hence justifying the definition of social media platforms. Reddit and Digg are an example of a social media news websites.

Every website that allows the users to interact with it is a social media. The main difference lies in the way the site allows them to interact. These platforms are endless and make online sharing and searching faster and easier. Through the use of social media, businesses can interact with consumers in their markets. They can influence and promote their readers by engagement. Brands that engage more on social media sites are becoming the influential brands as they have a more “human” element to them. When you are on these platforms engage and be useful.

Don’t dismiss using social media because you have never tried it and are uncomfortable. Don’t think this is just a fad that will move on. Your business needs it whether you understand it or are comfortable with it. Having a customized social media campaign for your business can provide unlimited possibilities for your local business.  Understanding which social media tools that you need to use for your type of business is essential.

Your Turn.....

Do you use social media sites frequently? Have you had positive experiences you would like to share about social media sites with our readers? Please share with us by commenting below.

We hope you enjoyed this post! If your business needs, or if you have questions on how to take advantage of social media marketing, or hiring an expert, we can save you time, money, and the frustration of trying to explore a field that is changing everyday. Feel free to contact us today, St. Paul Marketing Team, at 651-731-0768 or Email us at info@StPaulMarketingTeam.com.

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