Digital Media

New media and social media have become increasingly important aspects of corporate practices, from hiring to reputation management to customer service, but their importance is perhaps most noticeable within corporate marketing practices. There is a lot of hype about the use of new media or the importance of social media, as every organization has a Facebook page, tech people are using Google+ to connect with each other (with less tech people joining this all the time), and companies like Amazon is selling more e-books than hardcopy books.

In the midst of this, the terms ‘new media’ and ‘social media’ are often used interchangeably, and it is usually assumed that what is meant by these concepts is clear. However, somewhat a distinction can be made between the two and this distinction is important for corporate practices. This is perhaps most true for marketing practices, but the notion of new media should not always be seen as an equivalent for social media, especially as the tools and techniques of new media and social media differ somewhat.

There is slightly difference between new media and social media

The distinction between new media and social media is not always very sharp. The fact that someone can take a picture with a camera on their mobile, and that this photo can be edited and put on a website is a clear form of using new media. When the photo is put on Flickr or Facebook, it is now a part of social media. The two are clearly interlinked, and more and more new media devices and programs have a more social character. Even this description, written with word processing software that transforms these thoughts into digital information is a form of new media, but it can then be placed on a blog for others to comment on and become part of social media. If the two are so interconnected, why spend all this time making this distinction? The reason is that the distinction can be especially important for the strategic practices of an organization or business. The social aspect of social media makes the intentions an organization had for information more difficult to control and may require increasing attention and work.

The use of LinkedIn for job recruitment processes, for instance, changes a number of aspects an organization may have on who may apply for these positions that used to be solely in their control. This may be a positive change, but the use of social media has shifted practices in a direction that differs in significant ways from traditional recruitment practices. Focusing on proximity marketing for instance that is using geo-location services to market to consumers near one of your stores uses new media. The company has significant control over who gets that message and when (and obviously where).Attempting to create a viral marketing campaign by making a humorous or clever YouTube video that is passed on from friend to friend is much less predictable. Plus it is easily subject to misinterpretation or creating a negative image for the company. Using Twitter for customer care makes these practices far more public than traditional responses to complaint letters or even emails.

To put it simply, using social media allows for some new and exciting possibilities, but it also limits the control a company has over its own practices including how and when and where its message and information is distributed. These become subject to a different set of socio-technical, factors that are bound up in the systems and practices that surround social media.

           Lyimo Joseph                                                                                                                               
           BAPRM 42597