If there’s one thing you should know about me is that I’m in tune and sometimes addicted to social media specially Facebook and Twitter. Before the social media wave, it was more challenging for us to connect with our friends, colleagues, fans and even celebrities. But now social media has given us access to a virtual world where anything and everything is nearly possible! When did you ever imagine that you can interact with your favorite celeb like Kim Kardashian or Ashton Kutcher via twitter and they will actually reply back? How about following your favorite entrepreneur, catching up with old high school friends or networking for job opportunities via social media.
This is what I call the social media wave, there is a new generation out there that prefers to communicate over twitter instead of calling, employers are now researching Facebook profiles before hiring, job seekers and recruiters now use linkedin as form of networking. As for me I use it to connect with my fans, network for new opportunities, follow my favorite friends & family, a resource for up-to the minute news, prospect potential job seekers, a vehicle to advertise and promote all of my companies and it allows me to connect with all of my fans and my followers access to my daily life. Do you feel there is no purpose for social media? Are you unemployed or looking for new job opportunities? Are you looking to meet your favorite celeb? Looking to advertise or promote your business for free? An entrepreneur one of our many responsibilities is to network, socialize, promote our brands and social media allow you to do all for free! If you haven’t done so I recommend you sign up to Facebook or Twitter and follow me at www.facebook.com/lorenridinger or twitter.com/lorenridinger .
Below is an article I recommend you read from mashable.com “Why Social Media means big opportunity for Women”
Women have firmly established their presence on the social web, and account for the majority of users on many popular social media sites. But what does this mean for the future of women in social media?
One word: Opportunity.
Companies looking to reach women — whether as consumers, entrepreneurs, employees, or advocates — have an unprecedented opportunity through social media to engage them. For women, social media presents abundant opportunities to lead, effect change, innovate, and build relationships across sectors, locally, nationally, and globally.
Many companies are searching for the perfect blend of online and offline strategies, and their forays into social media are impacting their interactions with women in important ways.
“Businesses are going where their customers are, in an effort to reach them in their environment,” said Rashmi Sinha, CEO and co-founder of SlideShare. “[They] are also starting to share content and join in the conversation in the same way that individuals do.”
Conversations between companies and female consumers are moving beyond “what do you want?” types of questions. Companies are starting to use social media to secure real-time feedback from women on products, services, and marketing campaigns—sometimes before they go to market.
Unilever used social media to launch their new Pond’s Age Miracle moisturizer in China, recruiting bloggers to try the product and share their findings. The strategy was risky because of the heavy usage of social media there, but it came with a huge upside: If the bloggers liked the product, word of mouth could lead to major success. If not, the poor publicity from blogs would make the launch difficult to salvage. The risk paid off and the moisturizer was a hit, leading to the adoption of social media strategies by other Unilever offices in Asia.
Kmart’s Smart Shoppers Unite is a different style of interaction with consumers. It’s a promising community with a mix of deals, shopping advice, and lifestyle discussions. Features include tips from The Frugalista, a popular bargain-shopping blogger, a coupon section, and games. What’s interesting about this network is that it’s interest-based — anyone interested in budget-conscious shopping can join. As the number of female social media users increases, and notions of women’s interests expand, we are likely to see more of these interest-based types of sites.
Margarita Quihuis, a researcher at Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab, sees social media as a relationship enhancement tool.
“Human beings have always gotten together, collaborated through their church groups and PTAs, told stories over coffee or over the backyard fence,” said Quihuis. “Social media merely allows us to do what we’ve always done faster, better and with scale… From a persuasive standpoint, social media can be used to surface engagement opportunities and increase participation through building new social norms.”
In other words, social media can increase the visibility of opportunities to engage, and influences actions so that the visibility of the engagement acts as a catalyst for increased involvement. We’ve seen evidence of this type of engagement with the recent catastrophe in Haiti. Quihuis noted, “When individuals see all their friends texting money to Haiti, they’re persuaded to do so as well.”
In addition to overcoming hindrances to action, social tools help people to connect across cultural, social, and other barriers to interaction. For women in business, this is especially good news, as they often confront difficulties in securing capital, gaining access to key decision-makers, and finding opportunities to demonstrate their expertise. The “flattening” effect of social technologies allows women to develop relationships with people previously out of reach, and they can demonstrate their expertise using blogs, webinars, and other social tools.
A significant opportunity exists for companies to connect with women using mobile technologies. Women comprise 47% of current mobile web users, and between 2008 and 2009, the number of women using the mobile web increased by 43%, compared with a 26% increase in the number of men.
Joyce Kim, CEO of Soompi.com, a Korean pop and Asian music and entertainment community, understands the need for a comprehensive mobile strategy. “Accessing content via mobile devices is getting both more popular and easier across the Internet,” said Kim. “Also, a good percentage of our traffic originates in Asia where mobile usage is more widespread.”
In addition to mobilizing their sites, companies are moving towards making women’s lives easier, according to Corvida Raven, a technology blogger and social media consultant.
“We’ll start seeing more apps catering to the lifestyles of women on a personal level, such as shopping apps that provide discounts on popular items that women usually buy for their homes and kids,” Raven predicted. She added that some apps are upping the convenience factor: “Location-based apps are partnering with stores to provide discounts and deals through augmented reality.”
Companies targeting mobile women should also consider developing or sponsoring apps which cater to a broad array of women’s interests, including careers, politics, personal finance, and organization, in addition to the more traditional categories of shopping, fashion, and parenting.
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