Let’s face it, we live for social media and social media platforms are only as powerful as its users. Therefore, it is imperative for social media to keep us engaged by staying fresh with new applications and tools designed to keep users happy and attract new users, even for social media giants like Facebook and Twitter. Social media platforms are building bigger and better tools aimed at offering more opportunities to brands and corporations to share a piece of their story with the world and we see brands immediately adapting to these changes with open arms.
In this week’s PRSA “Friday Five” post — an analysis of the week’s biggest public relations and business news and commentary — we explore new additions to various social media platforms that present new engagement opportunities for brands and users.
Facebook Challenges LinkedIn With Online Job Search Tool (Bloomberg)
Facebook rolled out a new application this week that will make it easier for job seekers to find employment opportunities and connect with recruiters. There will be more 1.7 million jobs featured from participating partners including Monster and BranchOut. Facebook continues to take on new markets in efforts to reach more people and garner more users. Experts say this recent move into the job market is putting pressure on LinkedIn, the professional-networking site whose main function is very similar to Facebook‘s current proposal.
Move Toward Revenue? Pinterest Distinguishes Personal Accounts From Business Ones (The Washington Post)
Small businesses and corporations now have the opportunity to open official Pinterest accounts by linking their company websites to their Pinterest profiles. Companies now also have the option to add a widget, such as a “pin it” button, to their website that would allow visitors to “pin” various items on Pinterest or follow the company’s feed. While some speculate that this could be a revenue booster, Pinterest is a privately held company and does not disclose those figures. However, last month the social media site showed an increase in unique visitors compared to the same month a year ago.
Tumblr Debuts Agency Program AKQA, Deep Focus, Ogilvy and Droga5 Among Initial Partners (AdWeek)
It’s no secret that brands have found great success in using Tumblr to visually tell their story. This week Tumblr announced its A-List Partnership Program, where Tumblr will partner with a dozen ad agency and technology vendors. The program is already being compared to Facebook’s Preferred Developer Program. Some of the partner agencies include AKQA, Social@Ogilvy and Deep Focus. Tumblr’s goal with the A-List Partnership Program is to help escalate brand activity on their site.
Brands Show Early Enthusiasm for Instagram Web Profiles (AdAge)
Last week Instagram rolled out web profiles, an attempt from the photo-sharing service to provide users with a more complete version of user identity accessible through the Web. Brands are showing some initial excitement over the new pages as they are still learning how to navigate them. Brands like Sharpie, BMW of North America, and General Electric see opportunity in having one common place where they can exhibit photos and guide users toward the page from other types of media. Sharpie is looking to use the new web profile as a new-age portfolio where they can house the well known hand-drawn images created in-house. General Electric is already thinking ahead as to how they can link their different social media platforms such as using their Instagram feed to “serve up on platforms like Tumblr”.
This Is What Social Media Sites Would Look Like in a High School Yearbook [INFOGRAPHIC] (Mashable)
Finally, I thought we would wrap up the week by taking a look at an Infographic masterpiece, created by Web design company Wix that looks at social media as the high school of the Internet. Students attending this high school include Pinterest, LinkedIn, Yelp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and about a dozen more. What do you think of this year’s high school social media yearbook?
Nicole Castro is the public relations associate at the Public Relations Society of America.
