Properties of social media Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Properties of social media - Assignment Example One of the key moments in the history occurred in 1971 when the first email was sent. Since the discovery of this important function, individuals and business entities have ever used it to communicate and collaborate. Likewise, e-mails form a core component of the collaborative projects and are used by the participants to communicate and interact freely. E-mail messaging is not important to businesses, but also networking communities who use it in communicating and sharing of ideas. The second moment in the history of social media occurred in 1979 with the launch of the usernets and bulletin board systems which allowed users to exchange information over phone lines. According to Cane bulletin boards form an important component of the computer mediated communication system and social interaction (78). The system has revolutionized text-based communication while elintaing the need for visual contact. Another key moment is the discovery of the World Wide Web in 1989 by the British Engin eer Tim Berners Lee. The World Wide Web has brought people together while facilitating the formation of virtual communication. The World Wide Web is very important as it supports all the forms of social media and without it, the sharing of information between users would be impossible. At the same time, World Wide Web facilitates sharing of information between businesses, suppliers and increasing efficiency in an organization. The expansion of the social media sphere would not have been without earlier attempts by the Globe.com, classmates.com, Geocities and the Sixdegrees to create platforms where users can develop their own profiles and exchange important information with their friends and other users. The social media sphere thereafter exploded with the launch of the Friendster.com, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. The fifth key component of the social media is the content communities which have become prevalent in the modern society. A perfect example of a content community is the You Tube which was launched in 2005. YouTube allows the users to share videos, has become phenomenal and it could even be used in the promotion of e-commerce. In this regard, by uploading YouTube video content, business entities can be able to popularize their offerings. Use of viral marketing using social media tools has become a common method that is quickly replacing the traditional forms of marketing. All the above five moments have impacted positively on the way people communicate and are credited with expanding the social media sphere. Question 2: Properties of social media It is very important to make a distinction between industry and social media, to ensure organization choose the most appropriate integrated communication mix. In this regard, an organization should be able to compare and contrasts the benefits and the shortcomings of using the two forms of media. On one hand, social media could be advantageous since it only requires limited sources and creates an immediate impact while on the other hand, industry media could have a more long-lasting impact besides producing high quality advertisements. The differentiating properties also allow organizations to determine the tradeoffs they are willing to make in order to maximize the benefits of their resources. However, the properties of quality and reach do not well differentiate social and the industry media. This is because the quality of both industrial and social media ranges from high to low and there is no clear distinction. Likewise, just like industrial media, social media has become a serious tool and its distribution