Social Media

1. The trends of social media are increasing as mobile application usage becomes more common. Social media use is 85% up from last year. Social media sites such as google plus and pintrest are up significantly from lastyear while Facebook is actually down by 8%. Nonetheless, social media are increasing with more usage of mobile technology.

2. The takeaways I see from this data are that the usage of social media will go hand-in-hand with increased mobile technology. Mobile social media applications will also increase usage. As technology increases more people will become connected to social media and use them with more regularity. As the survey results said, teenagers are using social media in the bathroom now. Things like this will continue to increase because as more people use technology and it becomes more endowed in everyday life people will use it in different ways. Social media usage will always increase as shown in these statistics.

3. Businesses use social media to heighten brand recognition and develop a conversation with consumers. Social media is used for customer service, and as a presence for establishing a "brand morale." Consumers look into social media sites; businesses should not use social media as a means of advertising because of this dynamic, conversational theme.

4. Social media are not places for advertising. They are also not quick fixes for companies who are looking to increase sales. Social media are places where companies can take part in the dynamic sense of media instead of the static, traditional means of advertising.

5. Social media "is" a place for dynamic conversations between consumers and businesses. Businesses can have dialogue with their customers and get into a more humanistic approach to marketing.

6. Businesses should not use social media for advertising as this is not the correct place for static marketing plans. Businesses should use social media to engage consumers and create a conversation with them. It can be used for brand management and creating a company message or theme. Companies should not use social media as a quick fix to increase sales and it should be used as a part of their marketing plan rather than just the entire plan itself.