What is Social Media?

To put it simply, social media platforms were ultimately created in order to establish a form of community within the broad and crazy network that is the Internet. As Jan Kietzmann states, “Traditionally consumers used the Internet to simply expend content: they read it, they watched it, and they used it to buy products and services” (Kietzmann et al, 2011, pg. 241). Upon the invention of social media, individuals can now interact, create, share and discuss content. News sites can hear from their viewers; brands can interact more closely with consumers. Social media has given all of us a voice without having to show our face. For us Australians, being on these platforms is primarily for catching up with friends and family. To be exact that’s 82.6% of us, according to the 2020 Social Media Sensis report. This is why Facebook is so important and is still incredibly popular, even in this day and age. Although younger generations have switched to sites such as Tik Tok which is founded on content creation, older generations care more for staying connected to loved ones. 89.6% of respondents between 40-64 years old claimed they used Facebook compared to other social media networks. However, social media is no longer fundamentally about creating a community.

Overtime, businesses and brands have discovered the power that social media holds in terms of advertising opportunity and brand movement. Social media “influencers” now exist and Facebook earns billions of dollars a year on advertising revenue. Facebook acknowledges that they have a strong older demographic and uses this to their advantage. 83.3% of older respondents in the Sensis report claimed they follow a brand or business on Facebook, leaving them very impressionable to advertising. For younger generations, social media platforms such as Instagram now incorporate advertising. Influencers are extremely popular on this page where brands use individuals with a high following to promote their products or services. Serra Celebi from Yasar University produced a study in 2015 which involved understanding motives that affected attitudes towards advertising on Facebook. This mainly involved younger recipients and Celebi was able to conclude that individuals who longed for a sense of community and belonging were ultimately more open to advertising (Celebi, 2015, pg.323). I personally, as a young person, can understand this. I have a strong dislike to advertisements popping up on my screen, however, I still continue to follow a lot of brands and businesses online.

Essentially, social media in itself is an extremely powerful tool to both unite in and profit from (business wise). It can be used for good and used for evil, and its progression and evolvement through time is extremely interesting. This is why it is important for it be studied.

REFERENCES:

Celebi, S 2015, “How Do Motives Affect Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Internet Advertising and Facebook Advertising?”, Computers in Human Behavior, vol 51, pp. 312-324.

Kietzmann, J, Hermkens, K, Mccarthy, I, & Silvestre, B 2011, “Social Media? Get Serious! Understanding the Functional Building Blocks of Social Media,” Business Horizons, 54(3), pp. 241-251.

Sensis 2020, Have your say Australia – Social Media 2020 Data Report, Glow, viewed 19 March 2020, <https://portal.glowfeed.com/shared-report/f98c499e-2cfd-4c17-8432-12fa1d4734b6?token=ed8973833e9b454eaf8e6f1babb1464e&emailVerifyToken=5m3vlbjvb&gt;.