When companies analyze, develop and use the social media, However, it is important to take into account some factors that are instrumental in these processes.
Digital Audiences
The “digital divide” is real, meaning a lack of access to information and communication for billions around the world. Even as technological access expands rapidly through wireless networks and mobile devices, there is a socio-economic and cultural divide. This is because many sectors of society have low economic levels for access to digital devices and networks. When planning PR, marketing and communications activities, we need to keep this issue in mind.
A second key factor is that many social media users are passive, observing and monitoring, but not actively contributing to discussions or content. One estimate considers that up to 90 percent of Internet users exhibit this behavior. This means that only 10% of the online audience are active participants in interactive environments. However, even when reading and viewing content and following messages from others, these users are learning and consuming content. Therefore, even just “lurking” can be a form of participation.
Transforming the Scenario
One of the most serious concerns raised about social media is that the content circumvents the gatekeepers that operate in traditional media - the editors, sub-editors, and writers who check sources and confirm the veracity of statements and facts. Despite concerns about flaws in their role, social media is open to anyone with Internet access and relies on a process of “self-correction“.
The evolution of the Web has depleted the ranks of these cultural decision-makers, such as professional critics, journalists, editors or artists. And other creators of specialized information are being replaced by bloggers amateurs, “hacktivists” or individuals dedicated to subjects as hobbies.
Some social media users, particularly “citizen journalists”, run the risk of presenting opinion as fact, rumors as reporting and innuendo as information. Although social media content is not controlled by intermediaries (where the means between producers and receivers meet), mechanisms for maintaining the quality of content and its credibility are increasingly common and effective.