The Different Types of Social Media
Social media has become an integral part of modern communication, shaping the way individuals and businesses interact online. With multiple platforms available, each catering to different audiences and content styles, understanding their unique features and best practices can help you make the most of your online presence. This guide explores the most popular social media platforms, their user demographics, security concerns, and how businesses can effectively utilize them.
Jump to: Facebook • Instagram • Twitter • Pinterest • YouTube • LinkedIn • TikTok
Facebook – Share Anything (and Everything)
Facebook, originally created in 2004 as a platform to rate Harvard students’ appearances, has since evolved into a global social media giant. Today, users range from businesses and celebrities to pets and even the deceased. Facebook offers various features, including Marketplace, Events, News, Groups, Messenger, Friends Nearby, and Dating. Users share content such as text, videos, pictures, and website articles.
Setting Up a Facebook Account
Users can choose between a public profile, where posts are visible to anyone, or a private profile, where only approved friends can see shared content. If you enjoy sharing every aspect of your life, Facebook is the platform to do so—whether it’s selfies, job promotions, or family dinners. However, remember that even private posts can be shared beyond your network, and Facebook retains ownership rights over uploaded content.
In 2016, Facebook expanded its Like button to include reactions such as Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry. In 2020, the “Care” reaction was introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Facebook is a great place to connect with family and friends, it’s also a space where personal agendas are frequently pushed.
Check out our recent blog post on a newer Facebook scam to stay informed!
Security Concerns for Facebook Users
Facebook has long been scrutinized for tracking user activity and collecting data. If you’re logged into Facebook, the platform monitors the websites you visit. Regularly updating your privacy settings is crucial, as automatic updates may alter your data-sharing preferences. The first thing you should do is make sure your friend list is set to only show to your friends so hackers do not impersonate you to your friends.
Additionally, Facebook is home to shady pages selling questionable content, and bots or scammers may attempt to contact you. Staying vigilant is key.
Facebook’s User Demographics
Younger users (under 35) are shifting to platforms like Instagram and TikTok, leaving Facebook with an older user base.
Business Use of Facebook
Facebook is ideal for posting brand updates and event promotions. If your business has an upcoming sale, Facebook is a great place to advertise it.
Instagram – Look at Me
Instagram is a free photo and video-sharing app available on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. Unlike its website version, posting on Instagram requires the mobile app. Users share pictures, videos, and live streams, often accompanied by hashtags to categorize content (e.g., #dogsofinstagram, #michigan, #outdoorlife).
Using Instagram
Like other platforms, users follow each other to see shared content. Private accounts restrict access to approved followers, though screenshots can still circulate your posts beyond your intended audience.
Instagram allows integration with Facebook, enabling cross-platform posting.
Security Concerns
Public Instagram accounts may receive unwanted messages and comments. Adjusting privacy settings can help minimize this.
Instagram’s User Demographics
Instagram is popular among users under 40, with influencers often promoting products and services. Businesses increasingly leverage Instagram Live for engagement.
Business Use of Instagram
If your business is visually oriented, Instagram is a powerful tool. Text takes a backseat to high-quality imagery and videos.
X (Formerly Twitter) – Make a Statement
Twitter is a fast-paced platform where users share text-based updates, images, and videos. It attracts businesses, individuals, and a fair share of internet trolls.
Using Twitter
Users follow accounts for updates and interact through comments, likes, and retweets. Twitter’s direct message feature allows private conversations.
Security Concerns
Scammers, particularly in cryptocurrency schemes, are prevalent. Be cautious when engaging with unfamiliar accounts.
Twitter’s User Demographics
Twitter is popular among millennials, favoring quick, concise content over lengthy posts.
Business Use of Twitter
Businesses use Twitter for real-time updates, industry discussions, and customer engagement. While Facebook is better for event promotion, Twitter can serve as a secondary platform for sharing event links.
Pinterest – Here’s What I Design
Pinterest allows users to create visual boards by “pinning” images and articles. It’s a hub for craft ideas, recipes, fashion inspiration, and party planning.
Using Pinterest
Users follow accounts, comment on posts, and re-pin content. Hashtags help categorize pins.
Security Concerns
Aside from general online scams, Pinterest has minimal security risks.
Pinterest’s User Demographics
Pinterest is especially popular among women, particularly teens and millennials.
Business Use of Pinterest
Pinterest is highly visual. Businesses should focus on posting engaging images rather than text-heavy content. For example, a bath remodeling company should showcase completed projects instead of posting lengthy articles.
YouTube – Watch Me
YouTube is a video-sharing platform with diverse content, from DIY tutorials to entertainment. Businesses can host channels or advertise through video ads.
Using YouTube
Users can follow channels, comment on videos, and engage via YouTube Live. Parents should be aware that YouTube’s suggested videos may not always be appropriate for children.
Security Concerns Using Youtube
Misinformation and inappropriate content can sometimes appear in recommendations. YouTube Kids offers a more controlled experience for children.
YouTube’s User Demographics
Teenagers and millennials dominate YouTube’s audience.
Business Use of YouTube
Businesses can upload tutorials, product showcases, and behind-the-scenes content to engage their audience.
LinkedIn – A Networking Event
LinkedIn is a professional networking platform used for job searching, industry news, and business connections.
Using LinkedIn
Users create professional profiles, connect with colleagues, and engage with industry-related content. Employers post job listings, and professionals showcase career achievements.
Security Concerns
Users seeking new job opportunities should be aware that their employers can see profile changes, which may affect job security.
LinkedIn’s User Demographics
LinkedIn primarily caters to professionals and job seekers.
Business Use of LinkedIn
Businesses use LinkedIn for hiring, networking, and industry thought leadership. Unlike other platforms, LinkedIn is not ideal for casual content.
TikTok – 15 Seconds of Fame
TikTok is a short-form video platform featuring quick, engaging content. Originally focused on music videos, TikTok now covers a wide range of topics, from humor to celebrity content.
Using TikTok
Videos are tailored to user interests through an AI-driven feed. Hashtags are commonly used for discoverability.
Security Concerns
TikTok’s young user base makes parental supervision essential. The platform’s algorithm can also lead users into content rabbit holes.
TikTok’s User Demographics
TikTok is most popular among users aged 16 to 24.
Business Use of TikTok
Brands leverage TikTok through influencer marketing and viral content strategies.
Conclusion
If you have children, monitor their social media usage closely. Regardless of the platform, staying informed about security risks and privacy settings is crucial. Social media can be a powerful tool for both individuals and businesses, but awareness is key to safe and effective engagement.
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Courts Challenge Internet Speech
Many people view the Internet as a vast playground where they are free to express their online speech without consequence. Recent legal trends, however, seem to be leading us down a different path. US Corporations have been coming down hard with litigation – and often winning – against individuals for offenses as seemingly harmless as writing negative reviews or downloading public information.
It has become more important than ever to track these cases and understand what can get you in trouble. We’ve been compiling a list of recent and classic cases regarding your online freedom of speech.
Sticks and Stucko
Since June, Zillow has been threatening to sue a blogger, McMansion Hell, for using some of its images for parody. The blog pokes fun at the poorly conceived architecture often featured throughout Zillow’s real estate listings. Although the blogger was not even badmouthing Zillow itself, the company still took offense, stating in an absurd cease-and-desist letter that the blog may interfere “with Zillow’s business expectations and interests.”
This is frighteningly broad language from a legal perspective. Must citizens consider the ‘business expectations and interests’ of any company they happen to discuss in public? Furthermore, the images technically fell under “fair use” because they were used for parody.
For now, this exchange has been limited to threatening letters, but keep an eye on this issue. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have made similar claims about their content. Several social media giants have even claimed that uploading content to their service transfers ownership to them.
Like It or Shut It
[pullquote align=”right”]…courts may interpret negative online reviews as full on defamation.[/pullquote]Another recent case began when it appeared that a wedding photographer was holding a customer’s photos hostage, pending payment of a disputed fee. Rather than paying the fee, the newlyweds took to social media and began publishing negative reviews about the photographer. In short, the bad reviews ruined the photographer’s reputation and she eventually had to close up shop.
The photographer then came back and sued the couple for publishing the negative reviews, stating that the reviews amounted to defamation. Sure enough, the court sided in the photographer’s favor and awarded more than $1 million in damages. This sets precedent going forward that courts may interpret negative online reviews as full on defamation.
Before you write that negative review, make sure to read through any contracts you may have signed with the company. Lately, vendors have been including verbiage in their contracts which waive your rights to write online reviews – good or bad. Specifically, keep an eye out for phrases such as “non-disparagement” or “agreement not to disparage.”
Really Silly Syndication
Generally, companies publish information on the web to spread the word – usually to as many people as possible. To this end, web gurus developed RSS (Really Simple Syndication) as a standard way of sharing information across websites. People can also subscribe to these feeds to receive updates. So what’s the problem with consuming all this free information? Generally, nothing – but if a company doesn’t like what you do with their information, they may have grounds to sue.
Take the 2011 California court case of Craigslist vs. 3Taps for example. In this case, 3Taps had been feeding publicly syndicated information from Craigslist to its own service. Craigslist decided that they didn’t like what 3Taps was doing with their information and blocked their IP addresses from accessing Craigslist. In response, 3Taps simply changed its IP addresses to get around the block. This eventually lead to a court ruling that changing your IP address in order to access a public website from which you had been blocked is illegal.
A similar court ruling determined that Power.com had violated an anti-hacking law when it changed its IP addresses in order to regain access to Facebook.
Don’t Scrape Me
Presently, a small company called hiQ is locked in a high-stakes battle over its practice of “scraping” information from LinkedIn. Scraping is a type of activity whereby bots gather and index large amounts of information for use elsewhere. Archive.org, for example, scrapes millions of pages of information from all around the web and indexes them for tomorrow’s nostalgia.
When LinkedIn sent hiQ a cease-and-desist letter warning that their behavior violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a controversial 1986 law that makes computer hacking a crime, hiQ responded by suing LinkedIn.
This lawsuit could determine whether courts can use the CFAA to curtail the use of scraping tools across the web. The CFAA makes it a crime to “access a computer without authorization or exceed authorized access.” Courts have been struggling to figure out what this means ever since Congress passed it more than 30 years ago.
One plausible reading of the law – the one LinkedIn is advocating – is that once a website operator asks you to stop accessing its site, you are committing a crime if you don’t comply. The contrary interpretation is that by running a public website, a company is implicitly giving the general public authorization to access it and those permissions cannot be rescinded on a case-by-case basis. Both are plausible interpretations of the law, which makes this a very interesting case to track.
UPDATE: A judge ruled in hiQ’s favor, saying that LinkedIn cannot block the startup from accessing its public profile data. Furthermore, the judge ordered LinkedIn to quit blocking hiQ’s IP addresses. The fight isn’t over yet, however – LinkedIn plans to challenge the decision.
