Social Networking vs Content Creation

Modern times have blurred the line between social networking and content creation. Social networking is the formation and maintenance of online social networks for a community to be built. One example is Facebook. Meanwhile, content creation sites are all about creating, uploading, and sharing content, such as on YouTube. 

Both kinds of channels can be integral parts of a campaign online. Various organizations, businesses, and companies have been employing social networking and content creation to fill the limitations of traditional media. Thanks to these channels, the way we publish and connect with people can now be done online and offline.

We share with you the unique strategic uses of social networking and content creation channels for marketing.

Social Networking

Social networking’s main goal is to build a community by sharing connections in the real world. This can be about interests, activities, and other topics. When using social networking to build social networks, the use of the software is needed.

The utilization of tools on the Internet help with these connections, such as in MySpace, Linked In, and Facebook. These sites allow various users to produce profiles and interact with the friends and community they share. They can share media, messages, and blogs not just with personal connections but also beyond the network. These are not just personal profiles, but also company, organization, and group profiles. 

If you already own a profile, you can add people to make them “friends”. You don’t have to meet or know them personally to befriend them on social networking sites and connect. Personal profile pages feel personal because you show tons of info about yourself. Demographics are also shareable. Others will also know about your preferences. Take note that your personal networks will be able to see all these pieces of information. Many companies use your information for targeted advertising. 

Facebook as a Social Networking Site

Most of us know that the most dominant social networking site is Facebook. There are over one billion Facebook profiles now signed up on the site as of 2013. This means one account is created for every seven people on the planet. Marketers thought of a great idea about taking advantage of the billions of audience for business purposes. Facebook has participated in the marketers’ dream by launching advertising options for brands. This helps brands build an online community, make themselves known, and probably increase sales. 

As with any other user, the brand starts with creating a Page. The Page is simply the brand or company term for a profile. Like a personal profile, it consists of a cover image, profile picture, the timeline or wall, and about section. Instead of adding a brand as a page, personal Facebook users have to “like” them. 

The Facebook Like button lets users recommend, subscribe to, or simply like a page. They can also push the like button on images and other media that a page or profile is sharing. Any website can also utilize the Like option. This will help visitors conveniently suggest their site to others. It also lets them see what others are liking.

The Newsfeed in a Social Networking Site

The Newsfeed is where the blur between social networking and content creation starts. It contains a stream of all the content that a user sees. These come from the pages they like and the friends they add. Users may also see posts from brands they do not like but may be interested in. Targeted advertising is the term for this kind of advertising on the site. An algorithm is used by Facebook depending on the relevance of the post to the user. This News Feed Algorithm is more complex and sophisticated than Edgrank, the original algorithm. Here are some factors to consider when Facebook determines the relevance of posts:

• Is this post from a trusted source?
• Will this post be timely and relevant?
• Is it worthy to share or recommend to personal connections and communities?
• Or perhaps, is it a low-quality meme?
• Is this content truly interesting to the user? Or is it just asking you to like and share the post to win the algorithm?
• Should the content be reported if it’s visible on the News feed?

As a digital marketer, these considerations must be remembered so that your posts appear on many people’s News Feeds.

Content Creation

The only thing that may come to mind every time you hear the term content creation is YouTube. But users may also create other content such as images, audio, and other forms of media. What makes them prominent all around the world is that they are free. You can view, listen, and subscribe to different kinds of content without having to pay. 

Some also promote the distribution of their content. For example, YouTube allows you to embed your uploads to other websites. If you own a blog, readers can also watch your videos easily there. 

One of the most notable images sharing destinations must be Instagram. This content creation site also features social networking aspects. The mobile-based app lets you take pictures, edit them, add a caption, then publish. Whereas Facebook has friends, Instagram has followers. Your followers may like your photos and comment on them as well. 

Pinterest is mostly content creation. It lets users create online pinboards of the images that they like. This may be composed of their photos or those they found online. They may be grouped according to themes, topics, and subjects. Its social networking aspect relies on sharing the images, commenting, and repinning. 

Blogging

Blogging is an ideal content creation site where the entries are usually shown in reverse chronological order. A blog is simply an online journal where you regularly update about your life, company, or other niche topics. It’s also a social networking site in a way because of the comment features. Blogs have images, texts, links, videos, headings, subheadings, and other elements. 

Blogs include the title of the entry and the author’s name at the top. It must have a tag, comment, and TrackBack element as well. These features will help the digital marketer maximize its affordances for marketing. 

© Image credits to Abdullah Ghatasheh