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Social Media? Get Serious! Understanding the Functional Building Blocks of Social Media

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a framework that defines social media by using seven functional building blocks: identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups, and explain the implications that each block can have for how firms should engage with social media.
Abstract: Traditionally, consumers used the Internet to simply expend content: they read it, they watched it, and they used it to buy products and services. Increasingly, however, consumers are utilizing platforms – such as content sharing sites, blogs, social networking, and wikis – to create, modify, share, and discuss Internet content. This represents the social media phenomenon, which can now significantly impact a firm’s reputation, sales, and even survival. Yet, many executives eschew or ignore this form of media because they don’t understand what it is, the various forms it can take, and how to engage with it and learn. In response, we present a framework that defines social media by using seven functional building blocks: identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups. As different social media activities are defined by the extent to which they focus on some or all of these blocks, we explain the implications that each block can have for how firms should engage with social media. To conclude, we present a number of recommendations regarding how firms should develop strategies for monitoring, understanding, and responding to different social media activities.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Social media brings a new dimension to health care as it offers a medium to be used by the public, patients, and health professionals to communicate about health issues with the possibility of potentially improving health outcomes.
Abstract: Background: There is currently a lack of information about the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals from primary research Objective: To review the current published literature to identify the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals, and identify current gaps in the literature to provide recommendations for future health communication research Methods: This paper is a review using a systematic approach A systematic search of the literature was conducted using nine electronic databases and manual searches to locate peer-reviewed studies published between January 2002 and February 2012 Results: The search identified 98 original research studies that included the uses, benefits, and/or limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals The methodological quality of the studies assessed using the Downs and Black instrument was low; this was mainly due to the fact that the vast majority of the studies in this review included limited methodologies and was mainly exploratory and descriptive in nature Seven main uses of social media for health communication were identified, including focusing on increasing interactions with others, and facilitating, sharing, and obtaining health messages The six key overarching benefits were identified as (1) increased interactions with others, (2) more available, shared, and tailored information, (3) increased accessibility and widening access to health information, (4) peer/social/emotional support, (5) public health surveillance, and (6) potential to influence health policy Twelve limitations were identified, primarily consisting of quality concerns and lack of reliability, confidentiality, and privacy Conclusions: Social media brings a new dimension to health care as it offers a medium to be used by the public, patients, and health professionals to communicate about health issues with the possibility of potentially improving health outcomes Social media is a powerful tool, which offers collaboration between users and is a social interaction mechanism for a range of individuals Although there are several benefits to the use of social media for health communication, the information exchanged needs to be monitored for quality and reliability, and the users’ confidentiality and privacy need to be maintained Eight gaps in the literature and key recommendations for future health communication research were provided Examples of these recommendations include the need to determine the relative effectiveness of different types of social media for health communication using randomized control trials and to explore potential mechanisms for monitoring and enhancing the quality and reliability of health communication using social media Further robust and comprehensive evaluation and review, using a range of methodologies, are required to establish whether social media improves health communication practice both in the short and long terms

1,693 citations


Cites background from "Social Media? Get Serious! Understa..."

  • ...Thus organizations, including health care providers, need to recognize and understand the social media landscape, where the conversations about them are already being held, and develop their own strategies where suitable [17]....

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  • ...To explore the diversity in form and function of different social media platforms, Keitzmann and colleagues [17] presented the “social media ecology”, a honeycomb framework of seven building blocks that are configured by different social media platforms and have different implications for organizations such as health care providers....

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  • ...Keitzmann et al [17] have suggested that organizations need to recognize and understand the social media landscape, and where the conversations about them are already being held (cognize), develop strategies that are suitable, work out how often and when they should enter into conversations, and be aware of what others are doing and act accordingly....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the role and use of social media in travelers' decision-making and in tourism operations and management have been widely discussed in tourism and hospitality research, and the authors reviewed and analyzed all extant social media-related research articles published in academic journals during 2007 to 2011.
Abstract: Being one of the “mega trends” that has significantly impacted the tourism system, the role and use of social media in travelers' decision making and in tourism operations and management have been widely discussed in tourism and hospitality research. This study reviews and analyzes all extant social media-related research articles published in academic journals during 2007 to 2011, mainly in tourism and hospitality fields. Based on a content analysis on the analyzed articles from both the consumers' and the suppliers' perspectives, this article found that consumer-centric studies generally focused on the use and impact of social media in the research phase of the travelers' travel planning process. Supplier-related studies have concentrated closely on promotion, management, and research functions, but few discussed product distribution. Research findings thoroughly demonstrate the strategic importance of social media for tourism competitiveness. This study also contributes to the academia and ind...

1,060 citations


Cites background from "Social Media? Get Serious! Understa..."

  • ...Kim and Hardin (2010) proposed that virtual world technologies can provide tourism and hospitality managers with social networking opportunities and servicescape experiences....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose five axioms: (1) social media are always a function of the technology, culture, and government of a particular country or context; (2) local events rarely remain local; (3) global events are likely to be (re)interpreted locally; (4) creative consumers’ actions and creations are also dependent on technology; and (5) technology is historically dependent.

931 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors test hypotheses regarding differences in brand-related user-generated content (UGC) between Twitter (a microblogging site), Facebook (a social network) and YouTube (a content community) using data from a content analysis of 600 UGC posts for two retail-apparel brands.

780 citations


Cites background or result from "Social Media? Get Serious! Understa..."

  • ...This result also appears to support the assertion that identity and self-presentation are less of a focus on Twitter than is conversation (Kietzmann et al. 2011)....

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  • ...The site's culture and ephemeral nature also leads observers to argue that Twitter is more focused on promoting conversation than on self-presentation (Kietzmann et al. 2011)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that brand trust has a full mediating role in converting value creation practices into brand loyalty and that such communities could enhance brand loyalty through brand use and impression management practices.

778 citations


Cites background from "Social Media? Get Serious! Understa..."

  • ...The whole model shows that value creation practices enhance loyalty through brand trust as a mediator....

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  • ...For example, potential moderators and mediators such as brand type, culture, structure and type of communities as well as the differences in social media platforms functionality and features (Kietzmann et al., 2011) could be investigated....

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References
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TL;DR: This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright and which are likely to be copyrighted.
Abstract: Social network sites SNSs are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on these emergent phenomena In this introductory article, we describe features of SNSs and propose a comprehensive definition We then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, we discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research

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TL;DR: A classification of Social Media is provided which groups applications currently subsumed under the generalized term into more specific categories by characteristic: collaborative projects, blogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds.

13,932 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors combine the concept of weak ties from social network research and the notion of complex knowledge to explain the role of weak links in sharing knowledge across organization subunits.
Abstract: This paper combines the concept of weak ties from social network research and the notion of complex knowledge to explain the role of weak ties in sharing knowledge across organization subunits in a...

5,947 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper reviewed and analyzed the emerging network paradigm in organizational research and developed a set of dimensions along which network studies vary, including direction of causality, levels of analysis, explanatory goals, and explanatory mechanisms.

2,845 citations