Understanding the Most Popular Social Media Platforms

Social networks are taking a vast portion of internet traffic with 3.2 billion users staying connected through a colourful array of various social media platforms. Generations that are used to physical interaction find it difficult to grasp the overwhelming possibilities that social media offers, and we don’t blame then!

This post aims to display the possibilities that different social media platforms offer. Whether you’re looking for a way to stay in touch with friends and family or looking for a way to promote your business, social networks provide means to deal with almost any aspect of your life.

Social media phenomena

At the beginning of the third millennium, social networks like MySpace and Facebook began their ascent in the digital world. These two platforms were offering the chance to stay connected with friends and family, and MySpace also made possible for aspiring musicians to show off their work and collaborate with other musicians. In time, the social media trend grew stronger and more and more platforms started to appear on the world wide web. Nowadays, it’s difficult to succeed in business unless you’re active on at least one popular social network. Ultimately, there’s so much more to social networks than just chatting with your high school friends, each platform carries a unique value which makes it appealing to a certain group of people.

Facebook

The number of users this platform occupies grows larger by the day, currently surpassing 2.3 billion users. Facebook provides multiple benefits while keeping the users entertained, which makes it an interesting tool for a number of purposes.

First of all, Facebook is a spectacular connectivity provider, designed in such a way that finding people appears seamless. Ability to share almost anything that happens to you, even as it happens, provides a full experience of reaching out to the people you care about. Additionally, with such a large number of users, Facebook is the perfect place to hang your billboard and let everyone know what you have to offer.

Twitter

With hundreds of millions of tweets every day, Twitter is arguably the ultimate source of instant news. What makes the Twitter different and more reliable than news networks is the fact that each post can be debunked or certified by the community in an instant. Bloggers and online news use Twitter regularly to post latest publications in order to increase their reach. This is the platform that invented the use of hashtag as we know it, allowing the users to keep all the related news under the same umbrella.

YouTube

From “How to” videos, to movie reviews, documentaries, recorded gameplay, all the way to music videos and “flat Earth theory” films, YouTube is the place where the online community gathers to share and watch original video content. It’s a popular place to master certain simple skills by watching tutorials or simply enjoy ISS Live stream. More importantly, YouTube offers a way to promote your business or start your own show that you can monetise. Many marketing managers recommend hiring an assignment writing company that could draft textual content to go along with the video for an even stronger delivery.

Instagram

Around a billion people are active on Instagram every month, sharing and engaging with various types of multimedia content. What started off as a place where the younger generation could share their photos and short clips, is now one of the favourite places for online business advertising. According to research, Instagram is 58 times more powerful than Facebook when it comes to engagement. With features like Instagram Ads and Shopping, online stores can present their merchandise to followers more effectively, while making the online shopping experience easier.

Snapchat

Simplicity is the name of the game that Snapchat plays brilliantly since its inception. Favourite among the younger generation, this mobile device-oriented social platform allows users to share quick photos or video clips that disappear after a short time. The creators of Snapchat intended to design a platform that would “push” the users to get creative and publish content rather than simply absorbing what’s already out there. With current rate circling around 10 billion daily video views, it seems that Snapchat is on the right course.

Conclusion:

Social networks could seem strange to people who are used to “face to face” interaction. However, every day, developers work on methods that would provide better inclusion of senior generation. More importantly, social networks are slowly taking over the business world which could lead to a slight shift towards the senior share of the demographics. For now, seniors might need some time to adapt to social networks, which is alright because everyone needs time to adopt new skills.

Lilian Chifley

Lilian Chifley is an IT specialist, teacher, and blogger from Sydney. She loves to talk about artificial intelligence and modern education.