Social media marketing: Introduction

1. Social media marketing: Introduction MARK 490 Week 1

2. Topics for today’s class • Introduction to the course • Definitions of social media and social networks • The history and growth of the “participative internet” • Some key concepts in understanding social networks • Who is doing what online and where and what are they doing?

3. Introduction to the course

4. Where to find course resources • Course philosophy • “Be tools agnostic! Build engagement strategy around function, goals, and purpose - not specific tools.” Baer & Naslund • Course outline • Course website • Assignment information • Consent form

5. Some key Definitions and concepts

6. Terms and Definitions • Social media • Social network • Network effect • Social Graph • Dunbar Number / Attention economy

7. Social media • "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.“ Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein • Also sometimes called “consumer-generated media” • So this defines social media as a technical mechanism - but what makes it *social*?

8. Social network (hint, it’s all about people) • A network of social interactions and personal relationships.” Oxford English Dictionary • “Networks are held together based on interpersonal relationships”Daniel Newman • Community?

9. Key concept: the network effect • The network effect – what does it mean? • Related concept: “walled garden” Image Source: Wikipedia

10. 2 approaches to getting a viable network effect – solving the chicken and egg problem • the ‘connection first’ strategy: get as many people connect as you can (Facebook, Twitter) • The “content-first” strategy: “provide users with tools to create a corpus of content, and then enable conversations around that content” (Pinterest, Instagram) Building the Next WhatsApp or Instagram: The Network Effect Playbook

11. Key concept: The social graph • Social graph defined: "the global mapping of everybody and how they're related“ (Brad Fitzpatrick) • Think: “six degrees of separation” • Using Social Graphs to Understand Your Network Part 1 and Part 2 Data visualizations of your social graph are available from LinkedIn and Facebook

12. But what about Dunbar’s Number? • Is there a biological constraint on social interaction? • Dunbar (1992) measured “correlation between neocortical volume and typical social group size in a wide range of primates and human communities” • Found the maximum number of “stable interpersonal relationships” that can be maintained to be between 100-200 •  A person's time is finite – this gives rise to the idea that “attention and time are scarce resources”. Hence the concept of “The Attention Economy” • Seth Godin appears to agree in this short video Modeling Users' Activity on Twitter Networks: Validation of Dunbar's Number

13. How a network collapses • The death of Friendster – lessons learned • It takes more than a large number of active users, those users need strong ties or the network will collapse The Friendster Autopsy: How a Social Network Dies (Robert McMillan. Wired. February 2013)

14. Messaging services utilize “close ties” – very rapid growth recently From: Mary Meeker, Internet Trends 2014 (KPCB)

15. Frequency of communication more valuable than # of contacts From: Mary Meeker, Internet Trends 2014 (KPCB)

16. The history and growth of the “participative internet”

17. Pre-web social media – 70s & 80s online life 1978 1978 1979 1985 1986 1988

18. Then came the web – March, 1989 • The First Generation Web (1989 – 2003-ish) • Publishing medium; predominantly one-way / asymmetrical • The Next Generation: Web 2.0 – What is Web 2.0? (Tim O’Reilly) • Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us - the classic viral video by Mike Wesch from 2007 • The participative web • Publishing tools in the hands of users – communication now 2-way • User-generated content • The web is “us” • Focus on the user/participant • Media becomes “social”

19. The first “modern” social media 1997 1999 1999 1999 1999 2001 2002 2003

20. Institutions versus collaboration • Clay Shirky's forward-looking TED talk from 2005: Institutions vs. Collaboration (20m)

21. Who is doing what online and where and what are they doing?

22. Social networking demographics • The following slides contain data from the Pew Research Internet Project (USA data only) • Up to date Canadian statistics more difficult to get • eMarketer: Canada Neck and Neck with US on Social Network, Facebook Penetration (2014) • ComScore: 2013 Canada Digital Future in Focus Report • Canadian Digital Media Network

23. Comparison of usage • Pintrest and Instagram growing, but Facebook remains dominant Pew Research Internet Project. Social Media Update 2013

24. Frequency of social media site use • Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have highest engagement levels, with multiple daily usage. Pew Research Internet Project. Social Media Update 2013

25. Demographics • Facebook popular across a diverse mix of demographic groups • Pinterest - women are four times as likely as men to be Pinterest users • LinkedIn - especially popular among college graduates and higher income households. • Twitter and Instagram - younger adults, urban dwellers, and non-whites. • Substantial overlap between Twitter and Instagram user bases • Demographics of key social networking platforms Pew Research Internet Project. Social Media Update 2013

26. Number of social media sites used • 36% of internet users say that they use just one of the five main social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn) • 42% use two or more of these sites. • The remaining 22% of internet users have not adopted any of the five major platforms Pew Research Internet Project. Social Media Update 2013

27. Social media matrix • Facebook is by far the most commonly-used social networking platform, and as a result, a significant majority of Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn users also use Facebook.  • Significant level of overlap between Instagram and Twitter users – 53% of Twitter users also use Instagram, and 53% of Instagram users also use Twitter.  Pew Research Internet Project. Social Media Update 2013

28. To end today’s class • A look at your use of social media • Short anonymous survey on Google Drive • http://web.viu.ca/thomasb/mark_490_survey.html • (link is also on the course website with the materials for today’s class)