My Favourite Social Media

Earlier this week I heard about Prohibition PR’s ‘Evolution of Social Media’ timeline. It’s undoubtedly a fun content marketing campaign that got me thinking about my favourite social media, but more importantly made people stop and take notice of Prohibition PR.

For those unfamiliar with the agency, it underwent a re-brand last year changing from Dinosaur PR to Prohibition PR in order to reflect the ‘rule-breaking challenger positioning’ of the business. Prohibition PR is headed up by Chris Norton – a leading light in the UK PR scene who I’ve known for several years, having first met when I was living and working in Leeds. Subsequently, I’ve followed the fortunes of the agency closely and it’s safe to say they are one the few that genuinely understand the importance of search, content and analytics within modern PR.

In his post, Chris lists what he thinks are the ‘game changers’ within social, whereas I’ve merely gone for those I like. Nonetheless., I’d encourage you to take a look at Chris’ post and think about your favourite social media.

Without further ado, here are my favourites:

1. Wikipedia
The movement that is Wikipedia never ceases to amaze me. To think that it’s one of the world’s most popular sites, with a small workforce, but a legion of volunteers is a fantastic example of the collaborative economy in action. Education and knowledge changes lives, and to have this body of information, available free of charge in a single place, maintained by volunteers is one of man’s greatest modern achievements.

2. Twitter
I use Twitter. A lot. I love the fact it’s instant, brief and direct. It gives you unparalleled access to people and the brevity of messages means you are more likely to get a reply. It’s fair to say that Twitter has aided my career immeasurably, by enabling me to speak with industry leaders, start debate and network. It’s also the third highest source of traffic to my blog (behind organic and direct), so it has clearly helped develop my reputation and enabled me share my ideas with a larger audience.

3. Facebook
This may sound surprising for someone who used to have ‘social media’ in their job title, but I’m a low-activity Facebook user. Sure I check-in most days to see photos, respond to event invitations and reply to messages, but now I rarely post images, share updates or comment. Don’t get me wrong, Facebook is great to keep in touch with friends, but increasingly most of my interactions with friends are taking place on WhatsApp and via text message (as they always have). I can’t see myself closing my Facebook account as there are so many photos and connections that i’m keen to keep, but I can envision my usage decreasing.

4. WhatsApp
At the moment my friends and I are moving away from Facebook towards WhatsApp. It’s free, easy to use and just feels more private than Facebook. It also makes sharing media easy within groups. I know Facebook has many of these features, but the WhatsApp interface just seems more intuitive than the Facebook app. Having said that, the product team at Facebook are a class act, so I wouldn’t be surprised if another product release reels us back in.

5. Yelp
If I’m thinking about going to a pub, bar or restaurant for the first time, then Yelp is invariably my first port of call. Dublin has a wonderful social scene with new places opening all of the time, but choosing one to visit can be tricky (with so many new and exciting options). But the chances are that a fellow Yelper has visited the place and left a review, making my decision of which place to visit that bit easier. I don’t base my decisions solely on Yelp, but in my experience recent reviews do give an accurate representation of the venue.