SIMS Project Sample: U1.E2 - Social Media Technologies
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A quick sample of one of the Social Media Networker project Content. This sample covers Learning Objectives 1-3 in Unit 1, Element 2 - Social Media Technologies
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SIMS Project Sample: U1.E2 - Social Media Technologies
- 1. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Introduction Social Media Networker SAMPLE COURSE Unit 4: Social Media Challenges Element 2: Marketing and CRM http://ecqa.org
- 2. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Job Role Responsibility As a Social Media Networker, you should: • Understand the basic technical elements behind Social Media. • Understand the key terms, processes for the different forms of social Media. • Be able to clarify social media concepts and terms for others. • Be able to identify the best social media tool for requirements
- 3. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Learning Objectives 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The student understands technologies and concepts which enable Social Media. The student knows the characteristics of Social and Business Networks and some instances of these. The student knows the characteristics of Blogging and Microblogging tools and some instances of these. The student knows the characteristics of Content Sharing tools and some instances of these. The student knows the characteristics of Collaboration and Recommendation tools and some instances of these. The student knows the characteristics of Education tools and some instances of these.
- 4. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Technologies and concepts which enable Social Media. Learning Objective 1 • A database stores the information • The social network outputs the information
- 5. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Dynamic content A Dynamic Web page draws its information from a source outside itself and is displayed to the user with custom content based on the results of a search or some other request. Dynamic web pages operate on the basis of both client and serverside scripting
- 6. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Client & server scripting 1. Information is sourced from a database, 2. It’s compiled with a programming language (e.g.: PHP/ ASP) 3. Page is generated with HTML Client-Side Scripting: Resides on client machine, interprets and changes behaviours based on user actions/ requests. Server-side Scripting: Resides on web server to provide dynamic pages from external data sources.
- 7. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies LAMP stack The LAMP stack is a suite of software bundled together to facilitate a general purpose web server and web hosting. The LAMP stack. Linux, Apache, MySQL Programming language (PHP/PERL/PYTHON)
- 8. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies LAMP stack links • The LAMP stack is the basics – you should not need to know technical details. • Actual solutions will be more complex, depending on the Social Media platform. Presentation by Aditya Agarwal discussing Facebook’s architecture: http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Facebook-Software-Stack How Facebook works: www.makeuseof.com/tag/facebook-work-nuts-bolts-technology-explained/
- 9. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Concepts • Semantic Web • Information Sharing • Mass collaboration • Bottom up control • Communities of Practice
- 10. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Semantic web The semantic web refers to a movement in the World Wide Web with the aim of enabling users to find, share, and combine information more easily. • Facilitating communication • Information sharing • Interoperability • User-centred design • Collaboration
- 11. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Information sharing Information sharing involves the publishing of information to many sources, in many formats, to many people from a single source, like a post on a wall in facebook • One-to-one • One-to many • Many-to-many • Many-to-one • Etc
- 12. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Mass collaboration Mass collaboration is a type of collective action when a group of people (usually in large, large numbers) work independently on a single project, developing it in a modular fashion. • Information sharing • Interoperability
- 13. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Bottom up control Bottom up control, or bottom up support, represents a mode of using social media in a way which is lead by the ordinary individuals who are using the system Some the advantages: • Encourages and supports individuals who want to collaborate and communicate. • Leads participants to form teams
- 14. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Communities of practice A community of practice (or COP) is a group of people who share, discuss and collaborate on a common interest. COPs help with: • Creating new information • Discussing and developing information
- 15. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies 2 The characteristics of Social and Business Networks and some instances of these. Learning Objective 2 • Social Networking: Focus on facilitating communication - Facebook • Social Media/ Hosting: Focus on presenting media - YouTube/ Flickr • Business-orientated Social Networking: Focus on Career information - Linkedin or Xing
- 16. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Social Networking Social networking is the practice of interacting socially by making contact with individuals. Within the context of the World Wide Web, this generally refers to the use of social networking sites. 1. Exchange of information through communication tools 2. Addition of information to other user’s pages 3. The creation of “friends lists” to control and share information
- 17. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Typical social network systems Typically, all social networks will have some common features: • Friend list
- 18. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Typical social network systems • Privacy Control • Profile Section
- 19. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Typical social network tools Typically, all social networks will have some variation of tools such as: • Messaging • Message Board/ Wall
- 20. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Typical social network tools • Instant Messaging • Group/ Page
- 21. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Business Social Networks Business Social Networks A business social network is a business orientated social network Platform which anyone can use to make connections and improve employment opportunities or connections to other businesses/ professionals; it is not limited to businesses.
- 22. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Business Social Networks Example: Linkedin.com • Personal information section • Information related to employability • “Connections” rather than “Friends”
- 23. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies Business Social Networks Example: Linkedin.com • Group/ Page Vs. business • Employment facilitation • Personal Vs Professional
- 24. SIMS.U1.E2 SIMS.U4.E1 Culture of Sharing and Online Reputation Handling (Management) Social Media Technologies FOR MORE INFORMATION, CHECK OUT THE FULL SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKER COURSE AVAILABLE AT: http://www.ecqa.org/index.php?id=333
Notas do Editor
- An essential element of being a successful social media networker is in knowing what social media is, how it works, and some to the tools associated with it.As a beginning step of their training in the job role of a Social Media Networker Manager, it will be important, before you can progress to using these tools for specific purposes, to demonstrate knowledge of the technologies and tools which fall under the category of Social Media.
- In your job Role as a Social Media Networker, you should be sure to be aware of the basic elements of Social networking - in particular, the use of the key concepts and technological terms. You should have a clear and accurate overview of how the social media world works – the key terms, the processes involved, the technological information, etc.This is also useful for being able to deal with nonsensical “buzzwords” and similar inaccurate terms surrounding social networking and social media – you should be able to clarify concepts and terms for people who may have a poor understanding of social networking but have a knowledge of some of the jargon and a loose understanding of the concepts
- By the end of this module, you should:Understand technologies and concepts which enable Social Media.Knowthe characteristics of Social and Business Networks and some instances of these.Know the characteristics of Blogging and Microblogging tools and some instances of these.Know the characteristics of Content Sharing tools and some instances of these.Know the characteristics of Collaboration and Recommendation tools and some instances of these.Know the characteristics of Education tools and some instances of these.
- Learning Objective 1: Technologies and concepts which enable Social Media.At the end of this chapter you should have a basic understanding of some of the technologies that allow social media tools to function & how these technologies facilitate this.At a very basic level, the technology behind social media & networking operates as follows: A social network relies on a database which stores the information related to users – username, passwords, friends, likes, etc.The social network takes information from this database, sorts it and outputs in HTML in dynamic web pages – which forms the pages the user sees – their profile page, their message board, their contact list, etc..
- A Dynamic Web page is a web page that draws information from an external, updatable source and is displayed to the user with custom content based on aload occurrence, the results of a search or some other request.The "dynamic" term is used when referring to Web pages created specifically for each user - in contrast to the billions of static Web pages that do not change. E.g.: A facebook page will be different depending on who’s account you log in under, but a basic HTML page will display the same information for everyone.Dynamic Web pages are different to Dynamic HTML or DHTML – DHTML refers to any page which uses a combination of a markup language, a style sheet language and a scripting language.
- With Client & Server Side Scripting, whilst the user may think that they are seeing a simple HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) page, in actuality, these pages are being built with information sourced from a database, compiled with a programming language such as PHP or ASP and then generated with HTML.The process for this is as follows:Information, such as usernames, friends, messages, settings, etc. are sourced from a databaseThis information is passed to the social network engine which compiles this information with a programming language such as PHP or ASP – Essentially, you can think of these PHP files as “templates” which fill in the information – e.g.: Everyone’s Facebook profile page has the same basic layout, but the details shown will change based on the information taken from the database.These pages are generated as HTML pages which are displayed in the browser.All of this is based on Server-Side scripting and Client-Side scripting:Server-side Scripting is a form of scripting which resides on the web server and are most often used to provide dynamic web pages with information from databases and other external data sources.Client-Side Scripting is a form of scripting which resides on the client machine (e.g.: the device you are looking at the World Wide Web on) and interprets the information from the Internet server by changing behaviours within a specific web page, in response to user’s actions/ requests.
- The LAMP stack is a basic breakdown of a suite of software bundled together that commonly facilitates a general purpose web server and web hosting for applications such as web 2.0 applications.. LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and a Programming language like PHP/PERL/PYTHONLinux serves as the operating system which all the applications in the stack use. Linux is an operating system that behaves similarly to the Unix operating system and has the advantage of being open-source, extremely flexible and customizable. This means that it is a very suitable platform for running a wide variety of web applications. The Apache HTTPD server functions as a web server for the LAMP stack. Similar to the Linux OS, the Apache HTTPD server is open-source and flexible. The Apache HTTPD server is particularly useful in the LAMP stack as modules can be implemented in the server to utilize an interpreter (which is a program that handles instructions) for one of the LAMP programming languages – typically PHP, Perl or Python. This improves the speed with which instructions from these languages are executed.MySQL (or more specifically in the LAMP stack, the MySQL Relational Database Management System) is a database server that is used in the LAMP stack, and therefore, in most web 2.0 applications. MySQL has proved so popular as it has been found to be efficient with applications that have a large number of queries (this refers to obtaining information from a database) making it ideal for web 2.0 tool such as social networks.The final element of the LAMP stack involves the use of a general-purpose programming language for dynamic web. Typically, PHP, or Personal Home Pages, is the language used for services such as Facebook and for most blogging software, such as Wordpress. PHP is favoured as it is a language used for web development and so is a logical choice for online services. Perl and Python are also languages often associated with the LAMP stack.
- As mentioned in the previous slide, the LAMP stack forms the bones of many social network services and web 2.0 tools, but it is typically a more complex solution than what we just discussed and the social media tool in question - Twitter, for example, uses Ruby on Rails, a solution stack that uses the Ruby programming language (instead of PHP or ASP as a programming language). what is used by successful social networks or social media. The LAMP stack describes the basic processes and elements involved, but these solutions will differ depending on the social network in question.Generally, you will not need to know much more than the basics of the LAMP stack for implementing social media – as you are using social media tools instead of building them. The technical implementation of social media networks and tools requires the expertise of a software developer.If you are interested, please click on the web links shown here to see more about how Facebook’s architecture operates.
- In addition to the technology behind social networking, there are a number of concepts related to social networking which are useful to know in terms of acting as a social media networker in order to ensure that these concepts are implemented. These include: Semantic Web Information Sharing Mass collaboration Bottom up control Communities of Practice
- The semantic web refers to a movement in the World Wide Web with the aim of enabling users to find, share, and combine information more easily. The concept is closely linked to the idea of Web 2.0, characterized by elements such as Facilitating communication, Information sharing,Interoperability, User-centred design and collaboration Web 2.0 is also linked to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and web applications. Some examples of this include social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, pod casts and web feeds.The semantic web, as envisaged by Berners-Lee has, to a large degree, come to pass. The Web nowadays has provides machines tools to find, exchange and, to a limited extent, interpret information. This has been primarily possible through “metadata” which is machine-readable information which has been added to web pages, which makes these pages and items on these pages readable by the existing World Wide Web. Metadata is machine-readable data which is used to describe other online data. Metadata is typically invisible to people who look at the page on the web, but is visible to computers. Metadata information which would be typically available, for example, for a DVD on amazon would be the genre, the title, the specifications, the genre, the condition, the cost, the shipping information, etc. For more information on the Semantic web, see Unit 4 (Social Media Challenges) Element 3 (Information overload)
- Information sharing involves the publishing of information to many sources, in many formats, to many people from a single source, like a post on a wall in facebookInformation sharing regarding social media incorporates most aspects of a social media or social networking platform. When one posts a post on a wall, or tweets, or updates their information, much of the time, they are sharing their information. Social networking platforms, essentially, are designed to share information. If we take this as a given, then it may be more useful to think of social networking information sharing in its different forms – such as: One-to-one: This would involve a direct message between 2 users – such as a message in facebook or LinkedIn or a direct message in Twitter.One-to many: This would involve a message from 1 user which would reach a lot of other users – such as a post on a wall in facebook or a Tweet in twitter.Many-to-many: This would involve a message between a group of users to a group of users – such as a wiki or a file repository.Many-to-one: This would involvemultiple user's input being aggregated into a single stream or page – such as a recommendation or a tagging system.This is useful in classifying tools of a social network (e.g.: in facebook, the chat system can be one-to-one, a tweet from twitter can be one to many, etc.) as identifying the best tool for your purposes. Information sharing is an important issue in developing functioning communities of practice – particularly in the context of encouraging other members of a community of practice and people from outside a community of practice to develop material. To develop, in particular, an environment of mass collaboration in a social network, information sharing must be encouraged – a good example of this is the development of Linkedin as a means of a tool for employment. Members are encouraged to share information related to their experience, qualifications, etc. to allow them to identify potential employees/ employers/ collaborators, etc. This has led to a revolution in the recruitment and selection processes where individuals can be immediately identified by their experiences and qualifications. Information sharing on Linkedin is also important in online learning for encouraging intercommunication between potential employees and employers and establishing rapport between individuals.
- Mass collaboration is a type of collective action when a group of people (usually in large, large numbers) work independently on a single project, developing it in a modular fashion.Mass collaboration on a social network, or online in general, will usually involve large amounts of collaborators and/ or will facilitate participation by anybody online. These mass collaboration projects are usually facilitated using social and/ or collaboration tools which provide an with which to (potentially) develop an infinite amount of collaborated material. An important aspect with regard to online broad-scale collaboration from other forms of broad-scale collaboration is the concept of “bottom-up” development, in which the process is directed by the material being developed as opposed to being guided by social interaction as can happen in real-life. Mass collaboration is closely tied in to information sharing and interoperability: Information sharing – which we described a moment ago. Interoperability – when dealing with social networks, interoperability typically refers to the ability to spread information across a number of social platforms and the ability to show the same information that appears in one social network tool in another.A major issue in mass collaboration is the ownership of data - who owns what, who is entitled to use what, etc. A prime example of social media which facilitates mass collaboration and shared functionality are wikis – collaborative websites which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it - the most prominent example of which is the Wikipedia project.
- Bottom up control, or bottom up support, represents a mode of using social media in a way which is lead by the ordinary individuals who are using the systemBottom up control means the control comes from the users – instead of being led, or having use imposed, from a single central source at the top dictating what individuals should do and how the system should work – a “top-down” approach. With a top-down approach, the use of social media by participants is dictated to them from an individual or small group of individuals. The bottom-up approach requires no imposition on users on how they use the social network.Some of the advantages which come from bottom up control includes:Encouraging and supporting users who want to communicate, collaborate and engage with each other in ways that they feel is effective, as opposed to defining a set way in which participants can do so.Itnaturally leads participants to form teams as they are able to access the social network platform in whatever fashion they wish and will develop a common purpose or interest based on similar intentions and interests or the need to deal with a common issue. Bottom up control encourages people to use the platform as they see fit – which can take the form of communicating, collaborating, sharing resources, etc. Due to bottom-up control, Social networking platforms have generated more popularity within businesses as a tool for employees as a means of building, learning and communicating together.
- A community of practice (or COP) is a group of people who share, discuss and collaborate on a common interest. Members of a community of practice typically work together to fulfill the group’s and/ or individual’s purposes. Social networks are naturally advantageous in terms of setting up, maintaining and facilitating social interaction, leading to communities of practice as they provide a wide array of tools with which users can interact with each others. Elements such as mass collaboration, information sharing, etc. all present in social networking can aid in the development of communities of practice. Social networks which provide a means of developing groups with clearly defined spheres of interest are especially useful in developing communities of practice.COPs are extremely beneficial in terms of creating new information to forward the area of interest. This can be done by discussing and developing best practice, areas of knowledge and even new knowledge. COPs can be especially beneficial for individuals with no prior knowledge of the area of expertise as they can access not just knowledge and best practice but can also communicate with experts in the correct area. The advantage of an online COP on a social network is that it is accessible by anyone from any location.Communities of practice typically require the presence of individuals who possess some core, central information related to the spheres of interest which can help form and inform the community of practice. While a COP eliminates the need for a “leader” of a community of practice, there should ideally be a group of individuals who possess core knowledge on the COP’s area of interest. In addition, a COP’s specific intentions and subject area should determine the technology and activities which support the COP.
- Learning Objective 2: The characteristics of Social and Business Networks and some instances of these.At the end of this chapter you should have some broad knowledge of the characteristics of social networks and business networks - an overview of what functions they perform, the high-level differences between the two, some contexts in which they are used for business/ for social activities, commonly-used social network & business network tools.Social Media is used as an inclusive term to refer to all forms of social networking, although there are differences. Social networking sites such as facebook are typically focused on facilitating communication between users, whereas social media sites such as YouTube and Flickr specialize in presenting users' videos and photographs and allowing users to receive feedback on these. Business-orientated social networking sites such as Linkedin or Xing are social networks, but with a focus on the professional aspects of the users.Social networking sites typically allow you to contact other individuals and exchange information with them through the communication faculties on the website. Most social networking sites allow the use of a number of standard procedures. This typically begins by a new user creating a personal profile which allows them to input details about themselves and customize settings on their “page” (a personal page which they can customize and display information on), control who has to the option to see their information and to what degree, the ability to block other members on the social network site, the ability to upload photos, weblinks and other media and join groups or communities – all formed within the social networking site.
- Social networking is the practice of interacting socially by making contact with individuals. Within the context of the World Wide Web, this generally refers to the use of social networking sites.The main focus on social networks is in making connections with and communicating with others, primarily for social purposes. Social networking websites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Google+ have created new ways to socialize and interact online with huge amounts of people all at once through a variety of ways:Social networking systems facilitate contact with other individuals and the ability to exchange information with them through the communication faculties which are available on a given social networking site. Users on these social networks are able to add information to pages on the social network, make use of communication tools, interact with other users, Users of these sites are able to add a wide variety of information to pages, to pursue common interests, and to connect with others. It is also possible to find existing acquaintances and to allow communication among existing groups of people. Following the initial profile setup, the next logical step in progressing with a social network would involve making connections with other users. In most social networks – including Facebook, Myspace and Bebo, this is termed as making “friends”. The friends system typically allows users to identify other users that they wish to develop and form a connection with. Another important facet of the friends system in a social networking site is the ability to determine who has access to your information, who has the ability to communicate with you via the platform and who has the ability to comment or collaborate on content that you have publish.
- Typically, all social networks will have some common features:Friend list:The friends list, and friends system, in a social network system is one of the more basic tools used. The friends list is a standard for all social networking systems. This is always one of the first tools which users should use – to identify other platform users with whom collaboration and communication would be beneficial. Typically, the friends system in any social network will allows users to identify users who have similar interests/ ambitions to develop and form a connection with them. Another important facet of friends systems in social networking platforms is the ability to determine who has access to content which you develop, who has the ability to communicate with you via the platform and who has the ability to comment or collaborate on content that you have developed.
- Privacy control:Social network sites typically allow you to some degree of privacy control – this typically allows you to customize who has access to the information related to your profile and can also provide the option to block other members on the social network site.Profile Section:The general experience of many social network systems begins with a user creating a personal profile in which they fill out a number of forms about themselves and then customize options on their “profile page” (a personal page related to themselves which displays information about themselves and on which people can leave messages, or make contact in some way) which determines what information other users see when they visit this user’s profile page. A profile section is a personal page related to the user which displays information about themselves and on which people can leave messages, or make contact in some way: Most profile sections are developed from a user filling out a number of forms about themselves when they sign up.Most social networks allow users to customize their profile section which determines what information other users see when they visit this user’s profile page.
- Typically, all social networks will have some variation of tools such as:MessagingThe advantage of the messaging system in a social network platform is that it is a means to send another user a private message – similar to email, as opposed to sending another user a public message through leaving a comment on the other user’s message board, where it may be visible to any other user who visits that page. The messaging system can also be used to send images and/ or media between two friends on the platform.Message board/ Wall:A standard tool for most social networking platforms is a message board which each user possesses as the main hub of activity for their account. This is typically the main space associated with a user – each user message board is a profile space where information about the user is typically available, along with a space where other users – depending on privacy permissions set - can post short messages. These messages can then be seen by other users depending on if the profile facilitates privacy control.
- Instant MessagingMost social networking platforms will offer some form of Instant Messaging (IM) tool. The primary advantage of the IM tool is that it facilitates synchronous (real-time) communication which relies on entering text, not speaking which is displayed to the other user. Depending on the platform, the IM tool may allow for communication with more than 2 users at once.Group/ PageMost social networking sites will provide the possibility of developing ad-hoc communities around participants similar interests. This is central to the primary aim of a social network site - the idea that the activities and structure develop from the users themselves and the users interests and their own intentions form the structure of the system. Groups can be open to new users or private, accepting users by invitation only - Pages and groups give small businesses and communities more control over the exchange of ideas and information with interested parties
- Business Social NetworksMuch of the functionality of the social network described previously is applicable to business orientated social networks. The main difference is that whereas a standard social network will focus on the provision of communication tools to the user for whatever purpose they wish, a business social network will provide many of the same tools and functionality, but with a focus on business purposes. An important difference to point out here is the difference between business social networks and businesses using social networks for business. A business social network is a social network platform with a business-orientation which anyone can use to make connections and improve employment opportunities or connections to other businesses and/ or professionals; it is not limited to businesses. The majority of businesses will typically have some form of presence on a social network for marketing and communication purposes (or just as the name suggests, networking).
- If we take probably the most famous example of a business social network, Linkedin.com, we can see that this possesses many of the same functionalities associated with social networking sites such as facebook, but with a focus on professional contacts. Personal information/ profile section:Basic profile information visible on a user’s facebook profile includes name, surname, gender, date of birth, location, high school/ college, company, interests, relationship status, etc. This information is suitable for the purposes of socializing. A Linkedin profile contains some of the most basic information that is displayed on a facebook profile, such as name, surname, location and company, however the rest of the information available on a linkedin profile has a specific focus on business. Information related to employability: This information directly associates with information typically connected to the user’s employability, including the user’s education, previous workplace experiences, educational qualifications, publications, recommendations from individuals the user had worked with, and so forth. This information is requested from the user on signup to the platform and is inherently tied into the platform as a whole – re-enforcing the platform as a means to showcase their employability rather than as a tool for socializing.“Connections” rather than “Friends”: In keeping with the theme of the LinkedIn platform, the focus of the platform is on providing professional connections for networking, recruiting and other professional purposes, as opposed to simply making connections and friends for social purposes.
- Group/ Page vs businessWith social networking sites such as facebook, it is possible to develop communities based around shared interest, or develop pages for an entity such as a band, club or organisation. In Linkedin, a page may be dedicated to an organisation, listing who is employed, who has had dealings with the organisation, etc. In addition, it is possible to form and join a group/ association which will refer to a shared interest or area of expertise. Users can follow different company pages and/ or groups to receive notifications about activities and offers available. Employment facilitationLinkedin and similar business social networks have developed their platforms in order to facilitate employment opportunities and associated tasks. Specifically, employers on Linkedin can list jobs and search for potential candidates. Users can then save/ bookmark jobs which they would like to apply for and apply via Linkedin. In addition, job-seeking users can review the profile of hiring managers on the platform and discover which of their connections can introduce them. Personal Vs ProfessionalA hugely important element in terms of users and organisations selecting a business social network as opposed to a “pure” social network – that is, a social network used exclusively for socializing – is the concept of personal vs private. Users may not wish for their personal information and personal communications to be available to potential employers. To this end, the attraction to many users in a business social network is that it allows them to separate their online personal presence from their online professional presence. Some of the most popular social networking platforms for business include:LinkedinXingFocus
- Please complete this activity to demonstrate what you have learned in this chapter