10 Social Media Practices

After 10 weeks in my Social Media Management class, I have learned a lot about how to effectively use social media tools. Here's a list of ten practices I find to be most useful when utilizing social media.

1. Blog - Blogging is an easy way to share any type of information to the world. They can be completely customizable and updated whenever you feel necessary. Individual blogs can be used to share personal information and interests and businesses can use blogs to post company news and brand and market themselves. Blogs are one-stop sites to push vital information to anyone.

2.  Networking - Social media connects people with technology and social interaction. Having a personal or professional profile can show others who you are and what you do. Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn can connect people with similar interests and creates a network of related people. 

3. Globalization - Social media globalizes people and businesses. The internet removes geography as a barrier to connecting to others. Communication has become more efficient and community-centric because of the collaboration with people from all over the world. 

4.  Wikis - A Wiki is a collaborative tool that pulls information to facilitate communication within communities of contributors. Having a single place where a group can pull vital information from makes work easier. The virtual work environment simplifies communication and can help distribute workloads.

5. Collaboration - Social media provides a 2-way dialogue of information sharing. Anyone can share information on a social media site and get instant feedback from other users. One simple idea can start a conversation or discussion among a group of willing contributors and can further develop that original idea. 

6. Community - Digital relationships may seem impersonal, but social media can bring together a large diverse group of people who actively participate in the community. Personal and private communities can connect online to collaborate together. 

7. Cloud Computing - Social media tools that use cloud services raise the expectations of technology, accessibility, and availability. Using cloud services is efficient because it maximizes functionality and condenses space by not relying on hardware. Cloud computing allows us to go green and rely on digital bandwidth rather than physical storage hardware.

8. Branding and Marketing - Social media provides an outlet for individuals and businesses to brand and market themselves. Social sites can attract and retain customers or viewers, allows you to share news about yourself or a product, and it raises awareness. Social media can launch a personal or product campaign.

9. Technological Advancement - People are expecting more and more from their online experiences. The capabilities that social media tools give us cause the devices we use them on to stay up to par with each other. 

10. Discovery - The combination of the nine practices I just listed all lead to a world of discovery. The millions of people collaborating together create new ideas, the networking brings them together, and the community shares it. Social media allows us to push new thoughts and ideas to others and we have the ability to pull new ideas to ourselves.