A Look Back on Week 1

As week 1 comes to a close, I wanted to take a minute and reflect on all that has transpired. Unfortunately I fear that this week’s introduction into Web 2.0 has left me with more questions than answers. But, I’m okay with that, because something I learned is nobody enters as an expert and as I mentioned in a previous blog post, we’re all in this together. It’s okay if I don’t know everything, because you might know something and I can benefit from sharing in your knowledge.

Social media is bigger than I thought; way bigger. When I first started this course, I thought that I was somewhat familiar with the tools available. I was by no means an expert, but I could rattle off the big named players: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. What I didn’t realize was that I was just scratching the surface of what is out there.

In the article Social Media? Get Serious! Understanding the Functional Building Blocks of Social Media, the authors describe the honeycomb of social media functionality, consisting of seven components: identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups. They refer to these components as building blocks, which is quite appropriate considering that these are the very foundations on which the vast array of social media tools are built.

As I mentioned before, there are a lot of them. In researching this week, I came across an incredible infographic that takes the concept of functional building blocks and expands it. Instead of just seven components, the Conversation Prism divides the “statusphere” into 28 categories to better understand the various usages of social media.

The social media landscape is extremely diverse and continues to evolve as new tools, facilitated by advances in Web 2.0 technology, are developed and introduced. From there, these tools can be used to create new and unique social experiences. What is important to remember through all of this however is that you (and I) are at the center of the conversation. As Kietzmann (2011) et al state:

“The power has been taken from those in marketing and public relations by the individuals and communities that create, share, and consume blogs, tweets, Facebook entries, movies, pictures, and so forth (pg. 242).”

These tools not only represent technological breakthroughs but also a paradigm shift. We have been given a platform to make our voices heard and corporations have certainly taken notice. Large organizations have entire divisions dedicated to managing social media activity, not just promoting their own agenda but responding to the public as well. With all the attention given to what is posted to social media these days, it begs the question of our responsibility for the truth and accuracy of what is said; but perhaps that is a topic for another post.

Kietzmann, J. H., Hermkens, K., McCarthy, I. P., & Silvestre, B. S. (2011). Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business Horizons, 54(3), 241-251.