What does Social Media mean to me?
- Shelby
- Mar 12, 2019
- 3 min read
Welcome back,
I was struggling for ideas for this weeks post, and then it came to me! I keep talking about social media and the impacts this has, but I have never really discussed what social media means to me I am both a user of it and a marketer of it; both are two very different things.
I find social media a delicate balance to get right; sometimes I feel like I am spending so much of my time scrolling through Twitter and Instagram feeds for hours and not getting any fulfilment out of it; as if it has become send nature. But from someone who studies a marketing degree, social media has a significant impact on marketing, so then I find myself scrolling on social media from a marketing perspective to see what content brands are posting, product placements, sponsorships and advertising in general, finding that balance of enjoying social media and analysing it just becomes jumbled into one.
I believe social media is an excellent way to network with friends and businesses. The main social media sites I use are Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and LinkedIn. Social media has allowed me to keep in contact with friends from back home as well as let me meet new friends, if it weren't for social media then I wouldn't have been able to meet my flatmates before we moved in, or keep in contact with all my family back home, to see what everyone is doing while I'm halfway up the country, and for my friends and family to see what I actually get up to at university these are the times I am thankful for social media.
When I was doing some work for TEDx event, that was when I started to get into watching them, and this talk from Stacey Heale has resonated with me ever since. She shares the struggles that she has gone through which made her deactivate her social media accounts, but then the power social media has had with personal problems she's had to face. I recommend you give this a watch it's is inspiring and shows the pros and cons social media can have.
From a marketing perceptive I think social media has been vital in this industry, it's allowed companies and brands to grow with the times, reach a further audience and for you to learn about new brands and products; without social media we wouldn't have been able to do this. However, where social media is a huge part of digital marketing this has now become overcrowded, we spend all our time scrolling that we end up scrolling past all the advertising brands have paid for, or our attention span is so slim that we just aren't engaged enough. Social media marketing then results in a broad aspect for marketers to get right, but when they do its gold dust!
I think overall it's important to have a balance on social media and to take a break now and then. You have to remember that not everything you see on social media is real life, everyone posts the good things in life that they want people to see not necessarily the bad bits or the aspects that are just real life! As I've gotten older I have learnt how to have that balance on social media, and from a personal perceptive it doesn't bother me any more because that's not the reality; but as a marketer I love seeing how social media has changed businesses, and what this has done for people it's fascinating to learn about especially the "behind the scenes".
So, what does social media mean to you?
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