Techniques of Social Media

Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites, publishing tools, and video sharing sites are some regularly utilized social media platforms that are valuable for any firm in terms of communication management (Myers, 2012, par. 3). With technological advancements, many businesses increasingly rely extensively on social media for the day-to-day operation of their businesses, particularly in connection with their human resources and client base. Many firms have used social networking sites, in particular, as their primary communication method with their young client base. Because of Facebook's popularity, it has become the number one social networking site utilized by businesses to connect with their clients. As compared to other conventional communication tools, such as television, radio, and print media, the internet is relatively fast and cheap. Because of its cheapness in advertisement costs, many companies now rely on social networking sites to advertise their products and services (Osterrieder, 2013, p. 26). Social networking sites such as Twitter, also provide a more flexible platform for the human resource department to communicate with the company's employees, such as sending direct messages to employees' Twitter handle, rather than randomly posting memos on the company's notice boards, without the assurance of the message reaching the intended audience.

Publishing Tools

Another important social media platform that is very important for any organization from a communication management perspective is the publishing tools. The most commonly used social media publishing tools include Squarespace, Blogger, and Wordpress. Social Media Publishing Tools offer a more flexible and robust ways for organizations to publish their message to the world and clients. Wordpress, for example, gives organizations the ability to manage and update their websites. Its huge variety of plugins and applications are off the shelf, are easily built into a website, thereby allowing for customization, flexibility, and expandability to suit the need of the use (Osterrieder, 2013, p. 26). The social media publishing tools are much cheaper in production cost as compared to print books, journals, press release, brochures, and so on. Apart from the lowered cost of publishing offered by the social media publishing tools, these tools are also fast, with the ability to reach a lot of people within a short period. The tools also allow for easy referencing, because of the availability of all publications digitally, thereby reducing the chances of damage.

Video Sharing Sites

The last important social media platform that is very important for any organization from a communication management perspective is the video sharing sites. The sites include Youtube, Vimeo, and Viddler. One of the most important roles of video sharing sites is the communication between employees of the same organization in different parts of the world. A company with many branches in different parts of the world would rely on video conferencing to coordinate all its operations. Video conferencing thus provides a more direct and instant communication between employees, the closest it can be to a face to face boardroom conversation. Video sharing sites also provide a more convenient way for organizations to advertise their products and services to their customers, majorly due to their speed and relative cheapness as compared to other conventional methods such as television, radio, and print media (Osterrieder, 2013, p. 26). For example, today, a lot of companies around the world heavily rely on YouTube to advertise their products and services, such as Google, and HP. Therefore, the emergence of social media sites has greatly affected the traditional forms of communication with many organizations adopting fresher, cheaper, and flexible modes of communication, such as the social media platforms.

References

Myers, A. (2012). 13 types of social media platforms and counting. Retrieved March 28, 2017,

from

http://decidedlysocial.com/13-types-of-social-media-platforms-and-counting/

Osterrieder, A. (2013). The value and use of social media as communication tool in the plant

sciences. Plant methods, 9(1), 26.