References

Beech, R. (2014) ‘The Story of the Two Fairies – How M&S spread Christmas joy throughout the country’ The Mirror. [Online] 7th November 2014. Accessed 14th December 2015.  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/story-two-fairies---how-4584050 

Cadbury (2015) Cadbury Products [Online] [Dated Accessed 14th December 2015] https://www.cadbury.co.uk/products 

Chartered Institute of Public Relations (2013) Social Media Best Practice Guide Unknown Place of Publication: Chartered Institute of Public Relations Social Media Panel [Online] [Date Accessed 9th December 2015] http://www.cipr.co.uk/sites/default/files/CIPR%20Social%20Media%20Guidelines%202013.pdf 

Cisnero. K. (2015) 10 Benefits of Social Media for Business Every Skeptic Should Know. Hootsuite. [Online] [Date Accessed 13th December 2015] http://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-for-business/ 

Cox, D (2015) 'After the ice bucket challenge: they raised $115m for the fight against ALS. So how did they spend it?' The Guardian. [Online] 30th May. [Date Accessed 9th December] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/30/als-after-the-ice-bucket-challenge 

Facebook (2015) Company Info [Online] [Date Accessed 14th December 2015] http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/ 

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social Media: A Critical Introduction. [eBook version] London: SAGE Publications Ltd. [Online] [Accessed 15 December 2015] Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iwZPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=%E2%80%99%E2%80%99 

Grosocial (2015) Why Every Business Should Use Facebook [Online] [Date Accessed 9th December 2015] http://www.grosocial.com/graphics/facebook-numbers-help/ 

Jeys, A. (2014) ‘Cadbury named as the UK’s happiest brand’. Birmingham Mail. [Online] 5th March 2014. Accessed 14th December 2015 http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/birminghams-cadbury-named-uks-happiest-6773774 

Johnson. L. (2014) Social Network vs. Online Community: What is the difference? Social Media Online. [Online] [Date Accessed 13th December] http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/social-network-vs-online-community-what-difference 

Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D., Lin, N., Shablack, H., Jonides, J. and Ybarra, O. (2013). ‘Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults’. PLoS ONE, [Online] [Accessed 15 December 2015] Available at: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0069841 

PRWeek. (2015) UK Awards 2015: Most Innovative Use of Digital and Social Media. PR Week [Online] (Date Accessed 14th December 2015) http://www.prweek.com/article/1369174/prweek-uk-awards-2015-innovative-use-digital-social-media 

Smart Insights (2015) How visual content drives social media growth [Infographic]  [Online] [Date Accessed 9th December 2015] http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/how-visual-content-drives-social-media-growth-infographic/ 

Statista. (2015) Age Distribution of active social media users worldwide as of 3rd Quarter 2014, by platform. 3rd Quarter 2014 [Online] [Date Accessed 14th December 2015] http://www.statista.com/statistics/274829/age-distribution-of-active-social-media-users-worldwide-by-platform/ 

Styles, K (2013) 7 in 10 people now own a smart-phone [Online] [Date Accessed 14th December 2015] http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/7-10-people-uk-now-own-smartphone/ 

Appraisal of Social Media

Catherine O'Brien 15104011 

Ellie McCormick 12012876 

John Bradley 15103989 

Katie Henderson 12087704 

Jessica Grocock 15091803

What is social media? 

By definition, "social media is the term commonly given to the Internet and mobile-based channels and tools that allow users to interact with each other and share opinions and content. As the name implies, social media involves the building of communities or networks and encouraging participation and engagement" (CIPR, 2011:3). 

What are the techniques associated with social media? 

It is a platform that allows the client to post information through text, images and videos to consumers as an online conversation. It also means that consumers can respond back. Content published helps the brand gain more awareness through SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) as it creates inbound links and drives engagement (Smart Insights, 2015). Did you know that humans process visuals 600,000 times faster than text (Smart Insights, 2015)? Social media brands such as Pinterest ('pin' images to a board) and Instagram (photo-sharing) are fantastic in showcasing images for consumers.  

To send tailored information to a consumer, the client can post on Facebook, arguably the most popular brand of social media platform, and has been the tool to the most effective viral video campaigns, such as the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' (Guardian, 2015). The client can use hashtags on Twitter, which groups together engagement and can show a quick measure of the feeling of consumers. Social media provides a platform where information can shared sometimes on huge scales, and has the ability to influence a movement. 

Justifying Social Media 

Social media is used by the general public and businesses on a daily basis for many different reasons. In terms of day to day use by the general public it allows individuals to stay in touch with one another.  Additionally, social media allows different communities to share and voice their own opinions on numerous different topics. By voicing opinions, online communities are created in which people support each other.  Although online communities and social media networks are different; without the initial discussion created via social media the communities would have not have lasted (Social Media Today, 2004).  

Alternatively, social media is used by thousands of businesses to connect with future consumers and clients. Businesses can use social media to find out important information regarding their audience, such as their demographic and psychographic profiles which will allow them to make decisions based on this initial market research. Using social media allows businesses to expand its online audiences as well as create an important relationship with frequent consumers (Hootsuite, 2015). It gives businesses an advantage as they can receive direct feedback from consumers and clients which may benefit them in the future. 

Social Media Critique 

Arguably the most prominent critique is that it is a threat to a user’s privacy. Since the rise of social media, it has become more popular to share intimate details such as place of work, age and location online. With this information, it is possible for a user to become a victim of crime and harassment. Also, once a user’s personal information is online, they have no real control of how the data is handled, or who Facebook is selling their data to. It is possible to see how this information can be used such as in targeted advertising, however it may be used in more sinister ways users do not know about. According to Fuchs, (2014:166), ’’targeted advertising is always activated, there is no opt-in and no opt-out option. Users must agree to the privacy terms in order to be able to use Facebook and thereby agree to the use of their self-descriptions, uploaded media and transaction data to be sold to advertising clients’’. This is a problem as Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world, so users are highly unlikely to stop using once they read a set of complicated terms and conditions they may not understand.   

Furthermore, it has been argued that social media is having an increasingly isolating effect on some of its users. With the rise of technology and the nature of instant messaging, it is easy to see how this could result in less face to face interaction. A study by Kross et al, (2013) has found that "on the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection. Rather than enhancing well-being, however, these findings suggest that Facebook may undermine it.’’ It is not just Facebook though, Twitter, Instagram and others all play a part of creating an unrealistic image of a user’s life. The user themselves selects which content to post, possibly creating a feeling of jealousy or loneliness in vulnerable peers.

How Social Media Has Been Used Successfully 

An example of a recent social media campaign which was successful is the campaign run by ‘hidemyass.com’. The website runs a VPN (virtual private network) service which allows its users to browse the web anonymously. The website launched a social media campaign in a bid to protest against internet censorship and highlight how our privacy is being invaded online. 

The company believed that internet cats are one of the key features of freedom of the internet and freedom of censorship. When asked why they used cats the website said "In our eyes, cats are the universal symbol of a free and open internet”. (PRWeek, 2015). The video used shows cats rebelling against world leaders such as Kim Jong Un, who have enforced strict internet censorship in their countries. The social media campaign was promoted across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag ‘#ThePussyRiot’. The campaign was successful and even won PR weeks award for ‘Most Innovative Use of Digital and Social Media’. According to PR Week the campaign received ‘hundreds of items of coverage in 25 countries’ and went viral on social media. The campaign also resulted in a surge of sales for hidemyass.com. (PRWeek, 2015)

Conclusion 
Social media connects communities together and has been used for hugely successful campaigns, and with the ability to receive psychographic and demographic profiles, it would be a very useful platform for the client.

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