Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media
Section snippets
Welcome to the jungle: The social media ecology
Social media employ mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms via which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content. Given the tremendous exposure of social media in the popular press today, it would seem that we are in the midst of an altogether new communication landscape. The New York Times recently hired a social media editor (Nolan, 2009); the Catholic Press Association (2010) offers a webinar on how the church can
The seven functional blocks of social media
The framework we use (see Figure 1) is a honeycomb of seven functional building blocks: identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups. Each block allows us to unpack and examine (1) a specific facet of social media user experience, and (2) its implications for firms. These building blocks are neither mutually exclusive, nor do they all have to be present in a social media activity. They are constructs that allow us to make sense of how different levels of
Differences matter: The 4 Cs
It is difficult to stay abreast of the choices people have for social media platforms. It seems that new sites and services emerge every day, vying for the attention of individuals and communities online. When examining the social media ecology, it quickly becomes clear that many sites have struck a careful balance among the different blocks of the honeycomb. Some focus more on identity, some more on sharing, et cetera. None of today's major social media sites focus solely on just one block.
Final thoughts
Social media introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities, and individuals. This presents an enormous challenge for firms, as many established management methods are ill-suited to deal with customers who no longer want to be talked at; instead, customers want firms to listen, appropriately engage, and respond. Firms interested in getting serious about social media will find a useful tool in the honeycomb framework. By analyzing the seven
References (28)
- et al.
When customers get clever: Managerial approaches to dealing with creative consumers
Business Horizons
(2007) - et al.
The network paradigm in organizational research: A review and typology
Journal of Management
(2003) Neocortex size as a constraint on group size in primates
Journal of Human Evolution
(1992)- et al.
Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media
Business Horizons
(2010) - Armano, D. (2009, November 2). Six social media trends for 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2010, from...
- Beirut. (2009, August 21). Why do people really tweet? The psychology behind tweeting! Retrieved November 5, 2010, from...
- et al.
Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship
Journal of Computer Mediated Communication
(2008) - Butterfield, S. (2003). An article complaining about ‘social software’. Retrieved November 5, 2010, from...
- Carroll, D. (2009). United breaks guitars. Retrieved November 5, 2010, from...
- Catholic Press Association. (2010). Using social media: Best practices. Retrieved November 5, 2010, from...
The strength of weak ties
American Journal of Sociology
The search-transfer problem: The role of weak ties in sharing knowledge across organization subunits
Administrative Science Quarterly
Cited by (2876)
Fostering long-term commitment in the sharing economy: Strategies formulated through mixed methods research design
2024, Technological Forecasting and Social ChangeSocial media in accounting research: A review and future research agenda
2024, Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and TaxationEmotion dysregulation and psychopathological symptoms in non-clinical adolescents: The mediating role of boredom and social media use
2024, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health