1A
Facebook
The social media tool that I am very familiar with is Facebook. Facebook is is the biggest social media platform in the world (Statista 2019) and they are constantly adding new features and services to their platform. Facebook was established in 2004, so it has been around a long time. Facebook is mainly a networking service but over the years it has become a big channel for companies to find new customers and market their services. For some companies it might be their only channel to reach consumers.
In addition the regular features such as adding friends and following their posts, Facebook has many groups where people can socialize. You can follow celebrities or other interesting pages. For companies, Facebook offers an added service called Facebook Business Manager. This tool helps the companies to monitor and create ads, manage company accounts and customize their target groups.
LinkedIn
A social media tool that I am not familiar with and wanted to know more about is LinkedIn. I was introduced to LinkedIn when I started university and I have have an account there but I am not an active user. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft and was launched in 2003. Like Facebook, it is a networking service but the networking in LinkedIn is different compared to Facebook, where people usually connect with their friends. LinkedIn is for professional networking where people that are seeking jobs can connect with employers. (Wikipedia 2019).
You can add your work history/experience, your skills and other useful information that can help you in finding a job. You can network with other people and make posts on your page, so LinkedIn has similar features that Facebook has. You can also search open positions and employers can search potential workforce candidates. LinkedIn has great potential and it can make recruitment process a lot easier for both, the job seeker and the employer. Using multiple sources for recruitment can also attract better talent.
1B
The organizations whose pages I searched were Vincit an Lumene, which are both Finnish companies. Vincit is a software company and Lumene is a cosmetics company and they both have a presence in Facebook as well as in LinkedIn.
Both companies seem to use their Facebook pages actively and their pages are clear and structured. Lumene's page has more different tabs, e.g. a community tab. Because the companies produce different kinds of services, their social media content is going to be different as well. Lumene posts about new product launches etc and Vincit posts about events where they are going to be present and conferences they might've attended to. Both companies provide feedback section in their pages where customers can leave their input.
Lumene uses LinkedIn mostly for recruitment purposes and their page is full of ads about their open positions where as Vincit posts very similar content that they post on their Facebook page as well. Vincit is a lot smaller company than Lumene, so they don't need to recruit as much people of course.
For day to day activities, as I mentioned earlier, Facebook Business Manager is a great tool for companies. They can share responsibilities but still handle operations such as customer service or marketing/advertising.
LinkedIn offers advertising services as well and it can help companies to raise their awareness. LinkedIn is also great for searching fresh talent and professionals that you probably would not find through traditional recruitment process.
1C
As a business student who is majoring in marketing, social media is a crucial part of my studies and the working life after finishing my studies. Social media marketing is a good way for companies to market themselves and it is more engaging to consumers than a regular advert on TV for example. It can also be less expensive but a lot more effective. Social media can also be a good way to job seekers to market themselves to employers. That is why you should think about what to post and how you want to present yourself in social media.
People use social media differently but there are some guidelines you might want to follow to keep your social media looking professional. Even though you might not have a big following you should still think about what content you want to put out, because content can't always be deleted and can always be re-posted. Putting out content regularly can help you to build a following and it is good to "cleanse" your social media pages every once in a while. Network with people but do it with people but don't accept requests from any strangers. (ICA 2019).
Sharing too much of your personal life can be harmful or even dangerous and it is not professional in my opinion. You should also avoid posting your ideologies if you are not going to be active or in the public eye defending those ideologies. (ICA 2019).
-Veera
References:
International Compliance Association (ICA). 2019. Using social media wisely. Read on 28.05.2019 https://www.int-comp.org/careers/cyber-security/best-practice/using-social-media-wisely/
Statista. 2019. Most popular social networks worldwide as of April 2019, ranked by number of active users (in millions). Read on 20.05.2019. https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/
Wikipedia. 2019. LinkedIn. Read on 22.05.2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkedIn
