Unit 1

Social Media
• The term social media refers to a computer-based
technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas,
thoughts, and information through virtual networks
and communities.
• Social media is internet-based and gives users quick
electronic communication of content, such as personal
information, documents, videos, and photos.
• Users engage with social media via a computer, tablet,
or smartphone via web-based software or
applications. 
• There are more than 4.5 billion social media
users around the world.
• The largest social media networks include
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and
TikTok.
• Social media typically features user-generated
content and personalized profiles.
• By 2023, the number of social media users in
the United States is forecast to increase to
approximately 257 million.
 Understanding Social Media

• Social media originated as a way to interact

with friends and family but was later adopted
by businesses that wanted to take advantage
of a popular new communication method to
reach out to customers. The power of social
media is the ability to connect and share
information with anyone on Earth, or with
many people simultaneously.
• There are more than 3.8 billion social media
users around the world. Social media is an
ever-changing and ever-evolving field, with
new apps such as TikTok and Clubhouse
coming out seemingly every year, joining the
ranks of established social networks like
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. 
 Types of Social Media
• Social media may take the form of a variety of
tech-enabled activities. These activities
include photo sharing, blogging, social
gaming, social networks, video sharing,
business networks, virtual worlds, reviews,
and much more.
• Even governments and politicians utilize social
media to engage with constituents and voters.
• For individuals, social media is used to keep in
touch with friends and extended family. Some
people will use various social media
applications to network career opportunities,
find people across the globe with like-minded
interests, and share their thoughts, feelings,
insights, and emotions. Those who engage in
these activities are part of a virtual social
network
• For businesses, social media is an
indispensable tool. Companies use the
platform to find and engage with customers,
drive sales through advertising and
promotion, gauge consumer trends, and offer
customer service or support.
• Social media's role in helping businesses is
significant. It facilitates communication with
customers, enabling the melding of social
interactions on e-commerce sites.
• Its ability to collect information helps focus on
marketing efforts and market research. It helps in
promoting products and services, as it enables the
distribution of targeted, timely, and exclusive sales
and coupons to would-be customers. Further, social
media can help in building customer relationships
through loyalty programs linked to social media.
• Loyalty programs are offered by retailers and other
corporations as a way to attract and retain customers.
• Loyalty programs offer rewards, discounts, or other
special incentives and are designed as a reward for a
customer's repeat business.
• Loyalty programs benefit companies not only by
developing customer loyalty but by providing crucial
information on how customers are spending and what
products or types of offers are most appealing.
• While companies like Starbucks make great use of
loyalty programs, some retailers such as Costco and
Amazon rely instead on annual memberships.
 Benefits of Social Media
• Social media has changed the way we all interact
with each other online. It gives us the ability to
discover what's happening in the world in real-time,
to connect with each other and stay in touch with
long-distance friends, and in order to have access to
endless amounts of information at our fingertips. In
many senses, social media has helped many
individuals find common ground with others online,
making the world seem more approachable.
 Social networking
• Social networking is the practice of using a
dedicated online platform to maintain contact,
interact and collaborate with like-minded
individuals, peers, friends and family. Popular
social networking sites -- such as Facebook--
enable individuals to maintain social
connections, stay informed and access, as well as
share, a wealth of information. These sites also
enable marketers to reach their target audiences.
 How does social networking work?
• The term social networking entails having connections in both
the real and the digital worlds. Today, this term is mainly used
to reference online social communications. The internet has
made it possible for people to find and connect with others
who they may never have met otherwise.
• Online social networking is dependent on technology and
internet connectivity. Users can access social networking sites
using their PCs, tablets or smartphones. Most social networking
sites run on a back end of searchable databases that use
advanced programming languages, such as Python, to organize,
store and retrieve data in an easy-to-understand format.
What is the purpose of social networking?

• Sharing. Friends or family members who are

geographically dispersed can connect
remotely and share information, updates,
photos and videos. Social networking also
enables individuals to meet other people with
similar interests or to expand their current
social networks.
• Learning. Social networks serve as great
learning platforms. Consumers can instantly
receive breaking news, get updates regarding
friends and family, or learn about what's
happening in their community.
• Interacting. Social networking enhances user
interactions by breaking the barriers of time
and distance. With cloud-based video
communication technologies such as
WhatsApp or Instagram Live, people can talk
face to face with anyone in the world.
• Marketing. Companies may tap into social
networking services to enhance brand
awareness with the platform's users, improve
customer retention and conversion rates, and
promote brand and voice identity.
 benefits
• Brand awareness. Social networking enables
companies to reach out to new and existing
clients. This helps to make brands more
relatable and promotes brand awareness.
• Instant reachability. By erasing the physical
and spatial boundaries between people, social
networking websites can provide instant
reachability.
• Builds a following. Organizations and
businesses can use social networking to build
a following and expand their reach globally.
• Business success. Positive reviews and
comments generated by customers on social
networking platforms can help improve
business sales and profitability.
• Increases website traffic. Businesses can use
social networking profiles to boost and direct
inbound traffic to their websites. They can
achieve this, for example, by adding inspiring
visuals, using plugins and shareable social
media buttons, or encouraging inbound
linking.
 downsides
• Rumors and misinformation. Incorrect information
can slip through the cracks of social networking
platforms, causing havoc and uncertainty among
consumers. Often, people take anything posted on
social networking sites at face value instead of
verifying the sources.
• Negative reviews and comments. A single negative
review can adversely affect an established business,
especially if the comments are posted on a platform
with a large following. A tarnished business reputation
can often cause irreparable damage.
• Data security and privacy concerns. Social
networking sites can inadvertently put
consumer data at risk. For instance, if a social
networking site experiences a data breach, the
users of that platform automatically fall under
the radar as well. According to Business
Insider, a data breach in April 2021 leaked the
personal data of more than 500 million
Facebook users.
• Time-consuming process. Promoting a
business on social media requires constant
upkeep and maintenance. Creating, updating,
preparing and scheduling regular posts can
take a considerable amount of time. This can
be especially cumbersome for small
businesses that may not have the extra staff
and resources to dedicate to social media
marketing.
 What are the different types of social
networking?
• Social connections. This is a type of social
network where people stay in touch with
friends or family members through online
profiles and updates, or find new friends
through similar interests. Popular examples
include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Yelp and
Myspace.
• Professional connections. Geared toward
professionals, these social networking sites
may include a general forum where
professionals can connect with co-workers or
offer an exclusive platform based on specific
occupations or interest levels. LinkedIn and
Twitter are the most common examples.
• Sharing of multimedia. Various social
networks provide video- and photography-
sharing services, including YouTube and Flickr.
• Informational. This type of social networking
includes communities of people who are
looking for answers to everyday problems.
Fostering a sense of helping others, members
provide answers to questions, conduct
discussion forums or teach others how to
perform various tasks and projects. Popular
examples include Reddit, Quora and
DoItYourself.com Community Forums.
• Educational. Educational social networks
promote remote learning, enabling students
and teachers to collaborate on school
projects, conduct research, and interact
through blogs and forums. Google Classroom,
LinkedIn Learning and ePals are popular
examples.
 Mobile journalism
• Mobile journalism is a form of digital storytelling
where the primary device used for creating and
editing images, audio and video is a smartphone.
• Many mobile journalists build other portable devices
like laptops and DSLRs into their workflow, but
smartphones are at the heart of mobile journalism,
and are increasingly used journalists for radio news
and podcasts, and video for TV news and
documentaries as well as videos for social platforms.
• There are two things that make mobile
journalism unique. First, it enables reporters
to carry out many production and distribution
activities with a single device. Second, and this
is what makes smartphones truly
revolutionary, the audience also has access to
the means of producing content. This allows
for new forms of storytelling, and supports a
more inclusive approach to journalism.
 WHY MOBILE JOURNALISM? THE BENEFITS
OF MOJO
• It’s Affordable. When you add up the costs of
all the heavy duty equipment that’s needed to
be a journalist, it can start to get very
expensive. Being able to capture high-quality
pictures, video and audio with your phone
without any additional cost is a huge money-
saver. Even with added costs of supplementary
apps and equipment, it’s still a much cheaper
way to tell a story.
• It’s Flexible. Taking away all of the heavy duty
equipment, in addition to the team needed to
operate it all, means you’ll be much more
flexible. You won’t be slowed down by a van
filled with cameras and other people. It’ll just
be you and your phone. You can move at your
own pace, going wherever you want,
whenever you want, without being held back.
• It’s Empowering. With all that newfound
flexibility and mobility comes independence.
Working on your own means you get the
freedom to choose what story you want to
tell. Your phone empowers you to control
every aspect of production, meaning you get
the opportunity to make your voice heard.
• It’s Friendlier. Big news cameras can be
intimidating. If you’re trying to get an
interview with a local or a witness, they may
be less open to doing so with a giant camera
in their face. Mobile phones are smaller and
more familiar, and therefore less intimidating,
making you much more approachable to a
person who you’d like to talk to.  
• It’s Safer. Journalism can be a risky business.
Whether it’s covering a natural disaster or
reporting from a war zone, covering a story
can be dangerous. Doing it from a mobile
device can allow you to be more mobile, and
to not draw attention to yourself when in
these riskier situations.
CHALLENGES OF MOBILE JOURNALISM 

• Working alone. The downside to all the

freedom and independence mobile journalism
grants you is that working alone can be very
difficult. This means you’ll be responsible for
every step of the process, and for every aspect
of the project, from reporting and interviewing
to filming and editing - and that can be
exhausting and overwhelming. You’ll quickly
need to learn multiple skill sets to keep up.
• Limited camera. As great as smartphone
cameras have become, they are still fairly
limited. They do not film or photograph well in
low light settings. They don’t have optical
zoom, meaning that you’ll generally need to
be pretty close to whoever or whatever you
are filming if you want good quality. Without
any kind of stabilizer, they produce very shaky
video.
• Limited audio. As with a smartphone’s
camera, smartphone audio is also fairly
limited. The recording quality drops off
significantly as you move farther away from
your subject, and when filming outdoors, the
slightest gust of wind can ruin any recording.
Unless you are right next to whatever you are
recording and in a quiet, indoor space, you will
likely have issues with your audio.
• Battery. Gone are the days of simple flip
phones with batteries that last for days.
Today’s smartphones, with all of their
capabilities, generally don’t have batteries
that are built to last that long, especially if
they are being used as frequently as a mobile
journalist needs to use them. The chance that
a story may break at any time means being
extra cautious about your battery usage.
• Storage capacity. As a mobile journalist, you’ll
quickly find yourself deleting things from your
phone to make room for a new video. With
the amount of apps you’ll need, and the
amount of photographs and videos you’ll be
taking, your phone’s memory won’t be
enough, and you’ll have to start finding
alternative methods for storing everything.