I’m starting to post here on the site to share the wisdom from different age groups regarding a common computer related question. Our experts here are Eleanor McCallum – also known as Granny Blogger (shown in the photo to the left), myself – the non-techie online marketing specialist, Bridget Greenwood – our photographer and model train enthusiast, Melanie Bremner – the content queen and also a fantastic virtual assistant, and our lone male representative and Mac computer specialist – Kyle Greenwood. We all hope you enjoy this new feature and find it helpful.
Today’s question is “Which is your favorite social media platform and why?”
“My favorite is Google Plus, mainly because of the Hangout ability. Also because all the people in my circles post very interesting stuff. I have to say stuff because it is more than just comments. It can be videos or references to blog posts of my circle friends or pictures, you get the point. Also Google+ suggests others to add to my circles and then I get more stuff from them.”
Eleanor McCallum – senior blogger
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“My favorite social media platform is Pinterest because I am a visual learner and with Pinterest everything is displayed as an image. For example, a recipe on chicken will be displayed by the photo of the food, not the text, and the image will link you to the text with cooking directions. I can learn so much more about people by seeing what they like (what they pin) than I can by reading their comments and can connect with people that have common interests . Pinterest can be very time consuming. I try to scan really quickly thru the “pinners that follow me” tab and see what they’ve pinned and then I quickly scan thru the “everything” tab and pin things that interest me. When people follow my boards, I go see if they have boards I have an interest in. You can follow individual boards rather than the person if you aren’t interested in everything they share. ”
Bridget Greenwood at PhotosByBridget.net also includes a Pinterest video tutorial if you’d like to learn more.
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“I would have to say my favorite is Facebook. I am there throughout each day and use it for both personal and business. With my Facebook Page, people can like my page and keep up with what is going on in my business. I have my blog there too and during those times when I don’t know what to write on my Page, I can still have content. I also find that people seem to be a little more interactive on Facebook than on the other sites I frequent. Finally, I like the fact that I can have a live text chat with someone if they are using Facebook when I am. The more I can do from one platform the better. ”
Melanie Bremner at MelanieBremner.com
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“I, personally, am not a fan of social media for my retail business. I believe that it takes away from the personal customer service that a small business needs and is just not present enough anymore in today’s big box retail world. BUT, for my websites and online business, I like Facebook more than any other. I’ve been using it since 2004 for my own page and am very familiar with how it works. Facebook also has great search engine readability and gets great results in Google and Bing. Facebook also allows you to have multiple business pages linked to one personal account so I never have to remember extra logins. I’ve never really gotten the hang of Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, or any of the others and they all feel uncomfortable and awkward to me.”
Kyle Greenwood Mac specialist
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As for me, I would have to say Facebook is my favorite, also because of the interaction I get with people there. Sometimes I feel like people aren’t listening on Twitter, they are just talking. I am going to start using Google Plus more though. After hearing that Guy Kawasaki spends two to three hours a day curating content to share on Google+, I think it should demand more of my attention.
Bottom line is try out a couple, find out the one that feels most comfortable to you and is where the people you want to interact with tend to congregate. As business owners, we don’t have time to waste, so use productivity tools like Hootsuite and don’t jump on the social media bandwagon simply because you think you should.
Now we want to hear from you. Which is your favorite social media platform and why?
Until next time, Carol
Even though I know I’m supposed to say I prefer Linked In – because that’s where my most likely client base would be, I really like Facebook. It’s more personal, so I really get to know my followers and build relationships. In my line of work, people need to trust me and facebook lets them know about me as a person and build that trust.
That being said, Twitter, LI and FB have all been amazing for me in breaking the ice and turning cold contacts into fantastic relationships much faster than face to face alone. I guess that’s simply because I can keep in touch online much easier than coordinating schedules and being away from work for hours.
Hi Carol, I agree that social media platforms can really break the ice and start establishing real relationships with people. It would be interesting to find out how many of your initial contacts heard about you on LinkedIn and then came to Facebook to get to know you on a more personal level. Any idea?
Just taking a quick look at my LinkedIn connections, I’d say just over 1/3 come join me on Facebook. Every now and then I’ll post something on LI that invites people to join me on Facebook.
That is really interesting and another reason why it’s good to use more than one social media platform. Then the ultimate goal is to have them join you on your own website!
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