Understanding Social Media

NCT class has allowed me to have a better understanding of technology and social media. Blogs serve as a platform for people to write down their thoughts, vent their emotions or even share interesting things found. Companies use it to market, brand and position themselves. Even individuals make use of blogs to market themselves now.  Facebook is more than a social networking site. It is also common to use it as a marketing tool now. I do understand the use of these platforms.

However I always question the use of Twitter. I don’t see a need in letting people know what I’m doing. Sometimes when things go overboard, it becomes a spam. I also feel it kind of replaces MSN as people do chat via Twitter.

After listening to Stephie’s lecture, I’m beginning to understand the use of Twitter. Stephie is a blogger from Fashion Nation. Blogging is her career and she also does other freelance writing. The use of social media is especially important to her career as a fashion blogger. Facebook and Twitter allows her to interact and update her customers. To me, it is a form of customer service; like how we always encounter when going shopping. The difference is that this is a virtual one. It is also a form of “advertising”. She don’t have to pay to advertise about any events or updates about her shop.

She also mentioned about why people see no point in tweeting. One of the reasons given was – no objective. This suddenly struck me. I remember the reason I set up a blog was to write down my thoughts and share things with my friends. The reason I have a facebook was to keep in contact with friends whom I have not met for some time, or even those overseas. As for twitter, I set up just for the sake of having a Twitter account, just because everyone has it. Probably to keep up with the trend?

Frankly speaking, I’m still exploring the use of Twitter now. But now that I do have an objective, a focus in mind, tweeting will no longer be a difficult task. Tweet with an open mind, to share and update things. Afterall, most social media sites is about sharing stuffs online.