It is Time We Think About it.

Youth and Social Networking Sites.

Anthony Mayfield says that social network sites allow people to build personal web pages and then connect with friends to share content and communication. While social networking sites are expanding, I will specifically write about Facebook because it has the highest amount of users in the world. So how big of a deal is Facebook anyway? The answer could be very much or very little. Well, it is actually more complex from what is seems, seeing how Facebook has evolved since its existence. Since its introduction, Facebook has been used mainly for communication purpose. The truth is while we are moving forward with time, so is the purpose of Facebook. The table below shows the top social networking sites in the world.

TOP 7 SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES IN THE WORLD

Rank	Sites	Estimated unique monthly users
1.	Facebook	55,0000000
2.	Twitter	95800000
3.	Myspace	80500000
4.	Linkedin	50000000
5.	Ning	42000000
6.	Tagged	30000000
7.	Classmates	29000000

According to Edward Boches, Professor of the Practice of Advertising at Boston University’s College of Communications, he claims that there has been a debate between the old media and the new media. As a response to that, he points out that the question, of course, is whether Facebook is a social media network or an advertising medium.  Brands and organizations tend to reach out to youth where they are which is on Facebook. The advancement in technology has made the advertising sectors shifting to Facebook as a platform to reach out to youth. Now, why youth? This is because youth spend most their time on Facebook more than Google or Youtube.

Here are some of the examples of advertising on Facebook.

1. (RED) ™

(RED) is a non-profit organization that has team up with large brand 
names like Nike, Apple, and Starbucks. The organization’s main objective is to bring awareness and help fight AIDs in Africa. (RED) launched a Facebook campaign to spread awareness to and induce engagement in users and businesses on Facebook. It used Facebook targeting to put its ads out to people who had specific Likes and Interests listed in their profiles

Results:

·      In the first week, the (RED) Facebook Page gained 225,000 fans

·      Over the course of the campaign, the fan count rose 117%

·      On World AIDs Day, the (RED) Facebook Page was the third-highest Page gaining fans at 148 likes per minute

·      Over 100,000 changed their profile pictures to a (RED) photo or shared the (RED) Awareness Video

2. Adidas Originals

Adidas, in a six-month long campaign, wanted to increase the number of connections on its Facebook page, generate video engagement, and re-introduce itself as a modern, trendy fashion brand. The company introduced the campaign that featured Premium Video Comment Ads targeted at 18- to 34-year-olds in 11 different countries. The company used keywords like “Star Wars,” “science fiction,” “fashion,” and “Lady Gaga” in people’s Likes and Interests to target them as well.

Results:

·  The Adidas Originals Facebook Page reached almost 230,000 fans, a 6% increase

·  The video ads resulted in over 722,000 engagements

·  The Originals store had steadily increasing traffic during the campaign on Facebook.
   Many customers noted their interest in the product came from the social media site.

The results show that it is a good sign for the advertisers on Facebook because it is so easy to attract fans. It has been easier for them to get global. We have to question if Facebook is an appropriate medium for advertising. Personally, the accidental click on the ads or pop ups has made me very frustrated honestly. Trust me, I get very annoyed. Resulting from these, I tend to ignore the ads very much. Maybe we can ask ourselves whether we are easily buying these marketing strategies here.

On the other hand, Christine Greenhow of University of Minnesota conducted a research on “Engaging Youth in Social Media: Is Facebook the New Media Frontier?” She argues whether if youth can be persuaded to critically engage in news and conversation on Facebook? Can they feel a sense of community? Furthermore, can their involvement translate into real‐world actions, or will it consist solely of virtual activism? And, if we understood how young people prefer to manipulate, produce and talk through information online, would that move us closer to understanding how to develop successful media‐rich and educational environments?

Conversations on Facebook consist mainly of normal conversations rather than critical engagement. John Perry Barlow says that cyberspace promises a space whereby it is global and anti-sovereign whereby anyone can voice out their opinions. Is this completely true? I have to say that it is supposed to be true but let’s face it. It is not entirely true. I have to disagree with his statement because we are always bound by control and filtering of contents.  This issue here tells us that we are not given the chance to voice out our honest opinion. So this matter question about the voice of the youth being heard and whether the youth is being taken seriously in the development of our community.

“Social networking sites are not only popular for providing a platform for chatting, sharing scraps, videos, pictures etc. but also for discussing social issues. However, certain issues yet require study and research like impact of SNS on youth’s minds and loss of privacy as earlier people believed in keeping their data private but now they enjoy going public and showing wall posts, status updates, tweets and in fact every thrill of their lives.” (Jain, Gupta & Anand, 2012)

This blog post is derived from different perspectives on Facebook as the new medium in our daily lives.  The purpose of this post is to urge youth to think critically and not be passive in the virtual world as well as the real world. I do agree with Christine Greenhow because it questions youth’s action because it tends to be merely virtual activism nowadays.

Ask yourself, what is your definition of Facebook in your own context? The world has categorized us as the Generation Y because we are said to be equipped with skills and talents compared to the older generations. Are we advancing forward or are we slacking behind instead? It all boils down to the identity of youth and what technology is doing to us. Who are you and how do you use the technology?  What do we have to do to be heard?  

Written by,

Michelle Wong.

References:

1. Boches, E. (2010, January 30) It’s time for advertising and social media to work together. Retrieved from http://edwardboches.com/its-time-for-advertising-and-social-media-to-work-together

2. Greenhow, C. (2008). Engaging Youth in Social Media: Is Facebook the New Media Frontier? Minnesota: University of Minnesota.

3. Jain, M. R., Gupta, P., & Anand, M. (2012). Impact of Social Networking Sites in the Changing Mindsets of Youth on Social Issues – A study on Delhi-NCR Youth. Journals of Arts, Science & Commerce, 36-43.

4. Keath, J. 105 (2012, June 19) Facebook Advertising Case Studies. Retrieved from http://socialfresh.com/facebook-advertising-examples/

5.  Mayfield, M. What is Social Media? Retrieved August 1, 2008, from http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_Social_Media_iCrossing_ebook.pdf