Introduction The term social media as used in popular culture and literature can be at times confusing. For example, there are those who think that social media refers to Facebook, twitter, or MySpace. However, although such assumptions are not quite far from the truth, the exact definition of social media according to Mathews (n.d) is as follows; “any medium of communication that allows interaction.” Another definition is afforded by Waters & Lester (2010), who describe social media as “a collection of online services that allow people to create and publish web content and connect with each other over the internet.” According to Waters (2010), social media includes social networking applications, video and photo sharing applications, blogs,
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Initially, Zuckerberg designed Facebook primarily for Harvard University students in the United States to stay connected after leaving campus. However, today, Facebook is the world’s largest social networking application, overshadowing other competitors such as Twitter (Huotari & Nyberg, 2012). Whether one is a professional, a student, a teenager, or just about anyone, Facebook offers free registration. As a matter of fact, their home/landing page states explicitly that Facebook “is free and always will be” (Facebook, 2015). But how exactly does Facebook work? The WebWise Team (2012) states that after signing up by providing a few details such as name and date of birth, one is ready to begin using Facebook by way of posting updates. Facebook will then send notifications to people you might know based on a several factors, and one can begin connecting with old friends or make new ones. According to the WebWise Team (2012), one has the option to share public information on their wall, or post pictures, upload and share them. Besides this, Facebook is also a great business tool that can be used extensively for marketing (Huotari & Nyberg, …show more content…
According to Steele (2014), Whatsapp currently enjoys at least 450 million monthly users on average. When it was first launched, its greatest selling point was that users could send text messages to each other without having to pay for SMS fees. However, the popularity of the app has since increased with the introduction of features such as chat and voice calls, which are extremely popular among the youth. Currently, according to Hern (2014), Whatsapp allows users to send photos, audio messages, and videos, in addition to sharing their location via their phone’s in-built GPS system. The application also supports group messages, which is why many prefer it to traditional SMS, since users can broadcast messages to multiple contacts. According to Steel (2014), Whatsapp is free for the first year, which is normally offered as a trial. However, after the trial period has lapsed, Hern (2014) states that Whatsapp charges $0.99, a significantly low amount in comparison to what one gets in
Initially, Zuckerberg designed Facebook primarily for Harvard University students in the United States to stay connected after leaving campus. However, today, Facebook is the world’s largest social networking application, overshadowing other competitors such as Twitter (Huotari & Nyberg, 2012). Whether one is a professional, a student, a teenager, or just about anyone, Facebook offers free registration. As a matter of fact, their home/landing page states explicitly that Facebook “is free and always will be” (Facebook, 2015). But how exactly does Facebook work? The WebWise Team (2012) states that after signing up by providing a few details such as name and date of birth, one is ready to begin using Facebook by way of posting updates. Facebook will then send notifications to people you might know based on a several factors, and one can begin connecting with old friends or make new ones. According to the WebWise Team (2012), one has the option to share public information on their wall, or post pictures, upload and share them. Besides this, Facebook is also a great business tool that can be used extensively for marketing (Huotari & Nyberg, …show more content…
According to Steele (2014), Whatsapp currently enjoys at least 450 million monthly users on average. When it was first launched, its greatest selling point was that users could send text messages to each other without having to pay for SMS fees. However, the popularity of the app has since increased with the introduction of features such as chat and voice calls, which are extremely popular among the youth. Currently, according to Hern (2014), Whatsapp allows users to send photos, audio messages, and videos, in addition to sharing their location via their phone’s in-built GPS system. The application also supports group messages, which is why many prefer it to traditional SMS, since users can broadcast messages to multiple contacts. According to Steel (2014), Whatsapp is free for the first year, which is normally offered as a trial. However, after the trial period has lapsed, Hern (2014) states that Whatsapp charges $0.99, a significantly low amount in comparison to what one gets in