Introduction
With the growth of the internet, there has been internet communication, thus the growth of social media. Social media platforms have been developed with each social media platform having a unique way in which communication is undertaken. Different platforms have different features and characteristics. They each have a specific way in which to attract customers and users. This paper will focus on comparison and overview of three popular social media platforms. The paper will focus on the differences and features that make each of the social media tools to be unique. Social networking tools have helped improve business communication to a large extent. Now, communication has been improved because it is no longer e-mail and telephone alone that businesses can communicate with each other. There is social networking tools that have been introduced that are more efficient and more interactive that e-mail and telephone, thank Web 2.0 technologies. Some of the tools that have made this possible are discussed below.
This is a social tool which is very popular with many people. Started as a project for an information technology student, it has grown to be a technology that has been a thorn in the flesh for most employers because of the addiction that most employees have this tool. Many people find themselves using it to connect with friends.
Features Facebook has some features like group creation that enables people to form their groups that they can use it to communicate with each other. People can communicate to a specific group of people which can be created in less time. This group could be a discussion group of students in the University so that any new idea that someone has will be posted to the group and all the other members will be informed of the update.
Facebook also has a chat feature where people can communicate one-on-one with each other. It is faster than e-mail because with this, you get an instant answer to your problem with the person you are chatting with. This feature has been very instrumental to companies where it has helped boost the communication between employees. The communication department and the companies in general have managed to reduce costs by the use of chat services that are common with many social tools.
Advantages and disadvantages
There are advantages that come with the use of Facebook. One advantage with the use of Facebook is that it is used in all geographies. There is no place where Facebook does not have a presence. Most of the users are from all ages and many geographies. It has use for all ages. With the popularity of the social media platform, it has been translated to more than 40 languages that further increases the usability and popularity. It means that the users have the potential to connect to many friends in the distant land. Facebook also has a focused activity in that they are concerned about connecting people and not any other business. They are concerned about the business of ensuring that people get connected to one another. Facebook also has the advantage of having security features that enable users to protect their data. They have security controls in the use of the features and the security tabs.
One disadvantage of Facebook is that there are markets where Facebook is not regarded as a leader. In these markets, Facebook is known to trail. Another disadvantage of Facebook is that there are recent calls to have older people get involved with the platform. It has sort of alienated the young generation who have been seen to have adopted this technology at first.
Comparison of Facebook with Twitter and LinkedIn
Facebook is more of a relationship builder and has a holistic manner in which relationships are built. The context in which Facebook develops relationships is that of social and in a personal manner. Compared to Twitter and LinkedIn, most users are more on Facebook than on Twitter and LinkedIn. In terms of promptness, it is known to be slow when compared to Twitter. Communications are not as immediate. There are some groups, though, where communications is known to be immediate. It depends on the role of Facebook to groups of people who are using the Facebook platform (Kietzmann et al., 2011).
Also, Facebook has been regarded to be more of a platform than a social media platform. It is for this that there has been the explosion of mobile applications with the use of Facebook. Since Facebook is more social and personal, asking for some help in business, for example, would be regarded and considered. It is so than when the same request is made using LinkedIn (Delgado, & Haaf, 2011).
This is another tool that has been of great importance to communication. It is a tool where one builds a network of friends. Every time one posts something to the space, it will be communicated to the other people automatically. It is a very important tool to people who are marketing some product. If someone wants to market the features of some product, he or she will just post the features of the said product on the wall and all the people following them will get this post and will react to it.
Features
There are cool features that come with the use of Twitter. Some of the features include the fact that you can mute followers who seem to be annoying. It is also possible to follow someone whom you do not like in the platform.
It has a feature where users can post messages and the messages can appear on their timelines almost immediately. Users can monitor the twits more freely and easier than Facebook and LinkedIn.
Users are also able to download twits that were made a long time ago. Users can get their data that might have been posted long ago.
Advantages of Twitter
One advantage of Twitter is that it is prompt in most of the posts that are made. Most of the updates are read almost immediately unlike Facebook that can take a long time before a post can be accessed.
One disadvantage of Twitter is that it limits the users in the size of the strings that they can post on their twit handles. Not long sentences and text can be posted to the Twitter handle. It is only summarized text that is deemed to have passed the message (Smith, 2011).
Comparison with Facebook and LinkedIn
There are features that make the platform unique. One of the features of this platform is that it is based on information. It has very high speeds when compared to Facebook and LinkedIn. In terms of real-time, it is found to be more real-time than the other social media platforms. It is focused on updates and SMS. The advent of mobile apps has not let to Twitter getting to use this information.
LinkedIn is another social tool which has been used to connect people. Just like Twitter, someone will create a lead where all the people interested will follow them. This social tool is very common with those looking for leads in job opportunities. They will inform the members of the new opportunities that are there ad would like them to explore the opportunity. Every time there is someone who wants to say something to the group members, he will just post this to the list and everyone will be notified (Charalabidis, & Loukis, 2012).
Features
One of the most outstanding features of LinkedIn is the headline feature. It has a way in which users can have an outline that enables them have outstanding headlines. LinkedIn is more inclined on advertising and that is why most of the features it has are towards advertising.
Another feature with the use of LinkedIn is that it has features that make sure that groups are connected all the time. The features ensure that the group members will know the status of each member. The developers enhanced the security features so that the users can share information without fearing the need to worry about security.
Advantages and disadvantages
One of the advantages of LinkedIn is that it has better ways in which to make headlines about a particular event or title. The title will make it sell most of the packages.
One disadvantage with the use of this platform is that it does not have a huge following. Important updates and events will find hard to get to most of the users.
Comparison with other platforms
The main aim of the use of LinkedIn is to undertake business. Most of the users in this platform are serious and have not come to the platform for socialism. Most of the updates that are introduced in LinkedIn are geared towards enhancing the business of the users.
References
Charalabidis, Y., & Loukis, E. (2012). Participative public policy making through multiple social media platforms utilization. International Journal of Electronic Government Research (IJEGR), 8(3), 78-97.
Delgado, R., & Haaf, R. (2011, June). Web and Social Media Platforms for Collaboration, Iterative Testing and Marketing Within a Client-Focused Curriculum: Considerations for Curriculum Planning, Student Engagement and Long-Term Success. In World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (Vol. 2011, No. 1, pp. 137-141).
Kietzmann, J. H., Hermkens, K., McCarthy, I. P., & Silvestre, B. S. (2011). Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business horizons, 54(3), 241-251.
Kietzmann, J. H., Silvestre, B. S., McCarthy, I. P., & Pitt, L. F. (2012). Unpacking the social media phenomenon: towards a research agenda. Journal of Public Affairs, 12(2), 109-119.
Smith, A. (2011). Why Americans use social media. Pew Internet & American Life Project, 1-11.
