Social Media Is it really necessary? What happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas… its on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…

What is social media? A category of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content. They include social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, social news sites like Digg, and other sites that are centered on user interaction. The result is = an overload of information… 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.

Types of modern social media Chat services for corporate use Instant messaging – MSN, AOL, Gchat Social networks Dating sites Forums Classmates.com Facebook Blogs/Microblogs Twitter Wordpress -

Phreaking – send tones through the phone lines to get free long-distance BBC (Bulletin Board System – DOS) mostly used for illicit, illegal, or other shady purposes 1990 the world wide wide became publicly available 1999 – Napster – music file sharing; blogger – suddenly everyone could share anything with the world that they felt necessary 2001 – Wikipedia – 15 million articles and is available in 272 languages 2003 – Facebook – Started at Harvard university… now has over 400 million users 2003 – LinkedIn – now has 65 million users 2006 – Twitter, microblog – whatever you post can only be 140 characters, now has over 100 million users

The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females

The fastest growing segment for social media in general is the 45-54 yr old group

How social networking can be positive An efficient (and cost-effective) way to tell your story Explain what your organization does People want to be a part of something good Collaboration, education, encouragement Build and maintain relationships

How social networking can be negative Uncontrolled and permanent over-exposure Identity Theft Malware, Crimeware, Trojan viruses Complexity Exposure to criminals – robmenow.com

Robmenow.com - Geotagging

Success Stories Coke on Facebook Kogi Korean BBQ on Twitter 3.3 million fans, the 2nd most popular page Managed by fans – not by Coca Cola Kogi Korean BBQ on Twitter Before: 4 employees, sold 30 lbs of meat/day After: 60 employees, sells 1,000 lbs of meat/day Dell on Twitter Surpassed $3 million in sales @DellOutlet –refurbished computers

8 reasons for you (or your business) to utilize social media Branding Lead generation Targeting demographics Market research Events/promotions SEO Customer service Recommendations 1 - 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content – that’s huge 4 - 80% of companies use LinkedIn as a primary tool to find or research employees 6 - The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube 8 - 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands

Thank you! Questions?? Maria Norberg President Rotaract of La Crosse 308 Main Street La Crosse, WI 54601 www.rotaractoflacrosse.org