Starting a Business For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 21

Ten Reasons for Using Social Media

In This Chapter

Recognising why social media matters

Putting social media to work in your business

Ensuring that you stay ahead of the pack

The Oxford Dictionary has a suitably pithy definition of social media – ‘websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking’. Social media can be seen as a collection of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration.

Social media may be still in its infancy, but it’s prolific and influential. That using social media for business has become a mainstream activity is evident in the fact that the options are numerous and expanding fast. Aside from the usual suspects – Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter – hundreds of sector-specific sites exist. Pinterest, for example, is a tool for collecting and organising pictures of things that inspire you. YouTube provides a forum for people to inform billions of people around the world by distributing videos for free. eHarmony, Match.com and 6,000 other dating sites aim to help the lonely find love. Social bookmarking sites, including Digg, ...