The Importance of Social Media

Social media is so wildly integrated into our daily lives. Almost everyone uses it- whether it be the individual user, a company, or politicians. If everyone uses it so often, there must be some kind of importance behind the use of social media. One use it is commonly known for is to stay connected to others. Platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Group Me, What’s App, or Facebook allow you to follow and talk to other users. You can either see other people’s posts and see what they’re up to, you can directly message users, or you can even send posts to other users. All of these apps allow you to follow the lives of people you know, strangers, or even celebrities. It keeps you connected to those around you. 100 years ago, you had to talk to people in person. Now, with the click of a button, you can talk to millions of users worldwide.

Social media is also important to companies. Have you ever been scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat, and see an ad? Sometimes they’re so specific- may be something you’ve been wanting or something you’ve been talking about. companies can market themselves by understanding the needs of their target audience and simply listening. In his book, “Likeable Social Media,” Dave Kerpen, says how “The amount of data you can gather and the number of conversations you can tap into through social media is nothing short of mind-boggling.” They can build relations with customers and understand what’s important to them to further drive their own sales. And listening to what people what and advertising what you will think people will love about your product or service is what will allow you to avoid pricey campaigns and use those selling points instead.

But how do companies use social media to listen? Kerpen says that if you go to any social network and type a phrase or keyword into its search function, you will see what people are saying using that keyword in real-time. If you search for your brand name, competitor’s names, and keywords about your product, you can listen to what people are saying about it and gear your marketing advertising to their needs. Once you begin listening, companies must also keep listening. If they come across a problem being talked about in their product, it’s urgent to fix the problem as efficiently as possible. This allows for brand advocacy. All of this is what allows companies to grow and be seen as superior to their competitors.

Social media can also have an impact on the way we consume news. According to some statistics, social media has become the main source of new online with more than 2.4 billion internet users. Nearly 64.5% receive breaking news from platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram instead of traditional media. Nowadays, most people hear news on social media long before they hear it on a news station. Now, this may have its downsides, considering there is a lot of fake news on social media, but it can also be impactful. First of all, many people’s attention spans have decreased over the years. An average visitor will only read an article for 15 seconds or less and watch a video for 10 seconds. Social media is a quick and easy way for many people to be informed on recent events and topics. Some people can’t or don’t want to sit through a 30-minute news segment or read a 10-minute article. Social media breaks up these pieces into smaller segments so that users can digest the information better.

And finally, social media has changed politics drastically. Former president, Barack Obama was the first politician to tap into the power of social media during his two successful campaigns. The ability to publish content and broadcast it to millions of people instantaneously allows campaigns to carefully manage their candidates’ images based on analytics in real-time at almost no cost. As I mentioned before with the companies, social media is a great way to market and advocate for free rather than spending money on costly campaigns or ads. It also allows politicians to speak directly to voters without spending a dime. Using social media allows politicians to circumvent the traditional method of reaching voters through paid advertising or earned media. Politicians can also easily use these platforms to press their supporters to donate money through something called “money-bombs” or even get their feedback without using high-priced expensive polling. However, the use of social media also means politicians must watch what they’re saying since it can be seen by millions.

One great social media campaign I came across a while ago was British Columbia’s #ExploreBCLater. With Covid at its peak last year, tourism went down and caused everyone to cancel their summer vacation plans. In the face of all this, Hello BC shared a message on their social media platform and encouraged people to “Explore BC Later.” They took their branded hashtag (ExploreBC) and put a twist on it to build on their existing brand recognition. Now, what this did was encourage those who have been to BC, to share images and videos of their trip with the new hashtag. This worked so well because it allowed their brand to build its reputation with hashtags being used almost 9,500 times. This will also help them in the long run because it will encourage others to travel there when covid restrictions are lifted.

In the next 5-10 years, I see social media being more prevalent than it is now. Almost everything will work through the platforms we use. All the ads and news you see will solely be through social media. Who knows if certain news stations will even exist and if they do, if people will even watch them. Politicians will only speak through social media. Ads will only be seen through these platforms. It’s difficult to say what social media will be like in the future, but in this rapidly evolving world, it will be such an important part of our lives, even more than it is today.