The 13 Social Media Categories - According to Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

This semester, I am focused on how professors and other higher education professionals can incorporate easy-to-read and understand infographics to help others understand potentially complicated information.

Here's the information that could be perceived as a complicated concept. If you've ever read the Social Media Bible book, I know that you've discovered the various social media categories introduced in the book. This book has not been updated in awhile and social media is changing DAILY. This means that I had to make my own list of social media technologies.

Here it is!

This infographic represents an updated list of social media technology categories to reflect the changing social media landscape.

by Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards - @drjtedwards

Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Associate Professor of

Communication Studies at Tarleton State University

Here's the text copy of the infographic.

1 - Multi-Focused Social Media

This category includes social media incorporating three or more of the social media categories listed below as primary features for users of the technology. Example - LinkedIn, Facebook (pictures, video, live-casting, commerce, gaming-focused)

2 - Photo-Focused Social Media 

Example - Instagram, Pinterest

3 - Video-Focused Social Media

Example - YouTube, Vimeo

4 - Audio-Focused Social Media

Example - Soundcloud, Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora

5 - Social Media for Content Curators

Example - Flipboard, Stumble Upon, RSS Feeds

6 - Blogging

Example - Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr

7 - Microblogging

Example - Twitter

8 - Commerce-Focused Social Media 

Example - Amazon, EBay, Offer Up, Varage Sale, LetGo

9 - Rating-Focused Social Media

Example - Amazon, Yelp, Trip Advisor

10 - Anonymous Social Media

Example - Livewire, Yik Yak, Sarahah

11 - Gaming-Focused Social Media 

Example - MPORG - MultiPlayer Online Role Playing Games

(World of Warcraft, Minecraft, League of Legends)

12 - Learning-Focused Social Media

Example - Coursera, Lynda, Udemy, Blackboard

13 - Business-Focused Social Media

Example - Asana, Slack, Yammer, Sharepoint, Basecamp

References

Aichner, T. & Jacob, F. (2015, March). Measuring the Degree of Corporate Social Media Use. International Journal of Market Research, 57

Safko, L. (2012). The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success. Wiley Press.

Please let me know what you think!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

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