Social media news and views in 2013 and advice to take into 2014

No matter what your opinion of social media, it’s become a ubiquitous feature of our lives.

It’s also rapidly evolving, with new platforms and features being developed to capture people’s attention and possibly become the next Facebook.

Businesses are also catching on with their own presence on platforms as they need to be where their customers are.

There was plenty of news and advice for readers this year on the latest developments and ways to get the most out of tweets and hashtags and posts and pins.

Quixomatic consolidates social media pages

The story of Sydney-based start-up launching its platform that consolidates a company’s social media pages generated plenty of interest for readers.

Co-founder and managing director Brett Poole, who previously worked for Yahoo, told StartupSmart the idea emerged from the trend of start-ups and small businesses being active on social media first to build traction before investing in creating a website.

Quixomatic uses the information already on a company’s Facebook page to generate a mobile-friendly website. It also plugs into other social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.

Who owns what on social media?

When you post content on social media, who do you think owns it? Many people will say the person who posts the content. That may be true, but the content maker may not be the only owner.

Mentor Vanessa Emilio looked into the issue here and warned readers to be aware of what could happen to their content.

Time-saving tools for Twitter

A tweet has become more than what a bird does. It’s now a message to the world that can whip up outrage, embarrass or entertain. It’s also a powerful tool for business engaging with their customers through the Twitter platform.

But for the busy businessperson, managing their Twitter account can be time consuming.

Lauren Ridgway offers here some time-saving tools when using Twitter, including using Tweetdeck and various analytical tools.

Facebook accelerator program for small business

Many small businesses have a Facebook page. For those who don’t want to create their own websites, it’s a relatively simple option for them.

The news that Facebook was offering places in an accelerator program to help small businesses get the most out of Facebook was widely shared.

“Many small businesses are doing great things on Facebook and we are committed in helping them continue to unlock the opportunities open to them,” Nick Bowditch, Facebook’s manager of small business in Australia and New Zealand, said.

What’s better – advertising a business or using social media?

Advertising and social media provide different paths for promoting your business, as mentor Dean Ramler writes. But in today’s business world, it’s no longer a question of one or the other.

In this post he outlines how social media can be great for engaging with customers while online and traditional advertising also play a role.

“Any good marketing program should combine both advertising and social media for maximum impact,” he says.

Some more articles worth reading:

• How to build social media hype for a crowdfunding campaign;
• Twitter announces a partnership with a young Sydney start-up; and
• Why social media is a must when you want to sell your business.