Week One - Introduction (Part 2)

Nothing Personal, It's Just Business...
Which social media platforms seem geared towards personal use and which ones seem to work better for business?

For me, trying to determine which social media platform is best for business or personal is a bit convoluted.  I may be very wrong, but I think that the majority of the major current social media platforms began as more personal social spaces that have morphed into something more.  The only exception to this I believe, is LinkedIn.  I will try to untangle the two and express my understanding of which platforms lend themselves more to one or the other.

I think the king of business platforms would have to be LinkedIn. This is one site that does not seem to cross the business/personal barrier much. It is the leader in business platforms and is excellent for recruiting and networking. It does seem to be more geared towards the B2B sector than any of the other major players. Another business friendly platform that I don't know much about, but have been hearing more recently, is Google+. From my understanding it is a strong performer in the B2C sector. I think this is true because Google search is so widely used that having a Google+ presence just makes sense.

Facebook and Twitter fall more into the personal realm, although they are both widely used by businesses. There are far more personal profiles on Facebook than there are company pages. It is clear that promoting or having a presence on Facebook is becoming essential for business growth. Twitter is an interesting crossover for me. I see it as a personal platform, but when we follow celebrities it is really about business - about promoting themselves.

I think it is those blurred lines that make social media work for business. We develop trust in something from having a personal connection ~ and I think social media can make building those connections much easier.