Professional Social Media
If you’re in my generation, social media has dominated your life since the moment you made your first account. Personal choices may vary when it comes to social media, but for the most part, the world can’t get enough of it. In fact, a study by Pew Research Center reveals that 68% of people get their news from social media at least some of the time. The breakdown is as follows: 20% of people often get their news from social media, 27% of people sometimes get their news from social media, 21% of people hardly ever do, and 32% of people never do.
The most interesting part of the explosion of social media, however, is the presence of professionals on various sites, particularly Twitter. It has been normalized for politicians to put out extremely important news on Twitter and sites similar to it, like Facebook or Instagram. This isn’t so out of the ordinary, though. More and more politicians have been creating Twitter accounts. One of the most famous “tweeters” of today is in fact the President of the United States, Donald Trump. Many people have criticized his heavy use of the platform, citing a lack of professionality. Before he was president though, Trump still used to tweet vigorously. Some of these tweets have come back to haunt him. After he won the presidential election in 2016, Donald Trump made multiple tweets in support of the electoral college, as opposed to when Barack Obama won his second term in 2012, then tweeting about how the electoral college is a “disgrace to our democracy.” Donald Trump isn’t the only one who has made heavy use of the platform to fuel his popularity. Corporations have Twitter accounts as well. Wendy’s (yes, the fast food company) has a Twitter account where brutal jokes directed towards archenemy McDonald’s are not uncommon. McDonald’s rarely responds, but when they do, users of the internet usually find the comeback lackluster.
But why do companies participate in social media? There are 2 main reasons. First, it must be established that companies act based on monetary needs. Both reasons provide a connection back to the revenue of the company. They are as follows:
Large corporations that used to be faceless giants of industry now have a personality behind them. Wendy’s is beginning to be known for their quick and witty comebacks to Twitter haters, as well as subtle jabs at McDonald’s - their mortal enemy.
It’s free advertising. Simple as that. By using these massive platforms to connect to millions of people on a daily basis, companies save heaps of money by neglecting to run a similar volume of advertisements on platforms like television, radio, and billboards. Social media also allows the company to go into more depth about why they are a superior option to another brand. Detailed posts are very powerful for most companies, assuming that users actually take the time to read them. Additionally, using social media to advertise a brand allows a business to reach their target demographics with greater precision than any other method of advertisement delivery. This is not it’s own separate reason due to its common nature with free advertising. Of course, some ads featured on social media do, in fact, cost money.
Overall, social media is a superb method for companies and politicians to create their own online presence. Through advertisements, businesses are able to increase their revenue, and politicians who express their opinions on social media are able to create new followings and strengthen their current one. In the coming years, social media will become even more important than it is now, and the world has yet to see the consequences of one hundred percent online advertising for a company.
