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1. Introduction
This short paper seeks to define, explore and analyse ‘social media websites’ (that is,websites that integrate social media elements and are focussed upon the
user
experience) and establish a series of ‘best practice’ examples that will assist in theirdevelopment and implementation.It is intended that the paper be read in conjunction with the accompanying ‘DevelopingSocial Media’ white paper, which explores a range of social media tools, to provide abroad impression of the potential of the social web to reach out to and engage bothcurrent and new audiences.
2. What is a ‘social media website’
A website, in its most basic sense, is an online ‘reflection’ of a real world organisation,group, site etc – a place at which interested web users can find more out moreinformation and engage with a ‘brand’ in a virtual environment. Traditionally they arerelatively static and didactic in the their provision – visitors can ‘search’ manually forinformation and website developers make content available which
they
believe theiraudience is interested in.The exponential growth in the use of ‘Web 2.0’ powered social media networks(facebook, twitter, flickr etc) has rapidly changed this scenario however – web usersare not now likely too spend valuable time searching through the mass of an everexpanding internet to find specific information at an individual website – they expectinformation that they are interested in to be delivered
to them
in arenas in which
they
feel comfortable. Brands, organisations and sites have realised this and haveexpanded their online operations in order to cater for this increasingly savvy consumerbase – a presence on a range of complementary social networks is now, basically,requisite in order to maximise user engagement.So, inevitably, an organisation‘s ‘web identity’ can become somewhat disjointedthrough this diffusion across multiple social networking ‘streams’ - a facebook page, atwitter account, a flickr stream and youtube channel etc. These crucial outreach stepsmaximise exposure and optimise search engine visibility, where does it leave the‘traditional website’ itself? How does it ‘fit’ within this much broader online presence?Unless managed properly, these social profiles can lend an organisation aschizophrenic and convoluted impression. This is where a website fits into this bravenew world – as a fundamental, underlying presence that ‘anchors’ multiple identitiesand provides a central point of reference and welcome for visitors / users. It should bethe ‘river’ into which all these other ‘information’ streams flow (and that visitor traffic isdirected toward) – an integrated part of a larger defined identity.
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