BY RUTH BERAN
The term social media can be hard to define because of the broad range of platforms out there.
Wikipedia defines social media as “interactive digitally-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.”
DISCUSSION: What are some of the common elements of social media platforms?
Social media:
- are interactive
- are internet based
- are based on user-generated content
- enable users to create profiles
- facilitate social networks
TASK
Social media scholar Fred Cavazza defines six types of social media platform:
- Social networking
- Publishing (blogs, wikis)
- Sharing (photos, videos, documents)
- Mobile messaging
- Professional messaging
- Discussion
- Write a list of all the different social media platforms you can think of.
- Divide the social media platforms in your list into these six different categories.
- Do some platforms cross into different types or purposes?
WATCH: A data visualisation of the most popular social media platforms based on monthly active users.
For each of the social media sites you have listed, research:
- Number of users (globally vs Australia)
- Audiences/demographics (ie age, gender, country)
- Purposes (why do people use that platform/what are the pros and cons)
- Which platforms are most popular in different countries? Are there certain platforms that are particularly popular in certain countries, For example, China, US, UK, France?
DISCUSSION: Why is this information on social media platforms useful for our social media strategy for Off Campus?
TASK
Prepare a one-page research brief on one of the topics below:
- Mental health and safety online
- Cultural safety online
- Audience profile of a specific social media platform (eg TikTok)
- Hashtagging
- What makes good content
- Copywriting for social media
- Collaboration and monitoring
- Brands on social media
- Truth and verification
- Fake news
- Misinformation
- Disinformation
- Monitoring tools (eg Analytics)
Include:
- A short (50-100 word) summary of the topic
- Key considerations for the Off Campus brand for that topic
- Relevant data, sources or resources for the topic
- Sample posts, materials or how-to guides
This research brief can form part of your portfolio for the Assessment. (See the Subject Guide for more info.)
