Is it time to jump on the bandwagon?

This image is credited to trevormauch.com

Personally, I feel that many people in my generation fully get the importance of social media. Not only do the majority of us partake in it, we also understand it. In my journalism classes this past year, we were required to start a blog, set up a Twitter account and join LinkedIn. For an entire term, we followed our classmates and various practitioners in the blogosphere. By the end of the term, we were regular social media junkies.

Entering into the working world, interns are all faced with a seasoned generation of practitioners, some of who understand and partake in social media, while others do not. Over the next two weeks, Sarah and I will be writing a two-part series on social media. I will be explaining the importance of it, while Sarah will be explaining the implementation of social media tools.

Part I: The importance of social media
Why should companies blog? Well, there are several reasons. For starters, blogging is a great way to establish positive connections and communicate with your clients and community. Blogging is also a great way to speak out about a company’s, products or actions if they are brought into question by the media or other individuals.

Blogs come in all shapes and forms and can be written by anyone. Individuals often create a blog in order to share their views and opinions with others. Corporate CEOs often author blogs in order to connect and communicate with clients and the community. Newspapers, such as The New York Times, have multiple blogs on their homepage on a wide range of topics and interests. Blogs provide a great outlet for information on a variety of topics from new menu announcements at local restaurants to the unveiling of the latest new technology. Through blogs we are able to hear and share opinions and news with multiple audiences on a global scale.

Another useful social media tool that has become increasingly popular is Twitter. Twitter is a free microblogging tool that allows people to post short updates of up to 140 characters online. Once a profile is created, individuals and/or companies are able to go online and “tweet” about “what they are doing.” These tweets are a way to update friends, clients and coworkers with real-time information. Twitter can be used as part of a communications plan to help reinforce branding, update clients or even attract new traffic to your company’s homepage or blog. Some of the largest companies like Travel Channel, and The New York Times, or well known people like Jeff Jarvis or Barack Obama have Twitter accounts and blogs for people to follow.

Many large companies choose to participate in social media, but just like traditional communication tools, not all social media tools are for every organization. Regardless, it is important for every company to begin to educate themselves on the variety of social media and know the options.

Make sure you check back next week for Sarah’s post on the implementation of social media tools.

-Heidi Gill