What is one feature that differentiates social media information systems SMIS from Web site applications?

What Is a Social Media Information Systems (SMIS)?

People use social media (SM) as an information technology tool to support the sharing of content among networks of users. People create a community of practice or simply a community of people that have related common interests. A member of a community can be a member of other communities as well. A social media information system (SMIS) is an information system that supports the sharing of content among networks of users. Social media is a convergence of disciplines. Social media is connected to psychology, organizational theory, marketing, MIS, computer science, and sociology. Social media providers are companies such as Facebook, google +, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. These companies provide a platform that enables the creation of social networks, or social relationships among people with common interests. Social media has been the focus of business advertising. Users include both individuals and organizations that use SM sites to build social relationships. Facebook continues to be the leading social media site followed by LinkedIn. There are certain demographic differences. For example, 70% of Pinterest users are female and 84% of LinkedIn users are 25 and older. Organizations are also social media users. A social media site is also considered an information systems site. Social media information systems have the same five components as all information systems: hardware, software, data, procedures, and people. Social media sites are accessed through hardware, individuals use desktops, laptops, and mobile devices to access their desired social media site. Social media data falls into two categories: content and connections. Content data and responses to data that are contributed by users. Examples of content data are when a person responds to a post, makes a comment, or tags a friend. Connection data is data about relationships. Only social networking applications store and process connection data. People will do what they please when they want to post on social media sites. If certain posts are inappropriate the person posting will learn from the consequences. Social media is also creating new job titles and responsibilities. Certain employees of an organization may be responsible for posting work related content to a certain social media site.

How Do SMIS Advance Organizational Strategy?

Traditionally CRM involved a customer contacting a customer service agent and developing a sale. Today the sale process is now more important to an organization because customers can either blog or post about their experience. A customer that spends hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year at an organization’s store may not be as important as the customer that has shopped at the organization’s store and wrote a meaningful review or post. Social media communities may provide better and faster problem solutions to complex supply chain problems. Social media is designed to foster content creation and feedback among networks of users, and that characteristic facilitates the iteration and feedback needed for problem solving. Social media also plays a role in designing products, developing supplier relationships, and improving operational efficiencies. Crowdsourcing is the dynamic social media process of employing users to participate in product design or product redesign. Operations can use social media to improve communication channels within the organization and externally with customers. Social media can be used for human resourcing for hiring employees, recruiting candidates, and candidate evaluation. LinkedIn is an excellent social media site that an organization can use to recruit potential future employees. LinkedIn charges $750 a month to have access to many LinkedIn users perfect for the job. $750 may seem a lot but it cost nearly $4,000 to hire new employees.

How Do SMIS Increase Social Capital?

Capital traditionally is thought and in some cases is still thought as an investment of factories, machines, manufacturing equipment, and the like. Human Capital is the investment in human knowledge and skills for future profits. In some cases, certain people may be an influencer in a certain social network. The opinions, comments, or beliefs may influence others to think the same way. For example, if a person that is an influencer on social media and makes a post of the wonderful service she received from a friend that owns their own business, not only is she influencing others to locate the business but the business owner will now have access to new customers. In YouTube videos, there are a variety of communities with very distinct likes. For example, people that are into makeup and want to learn how to apply new makeup techniques will go to YouTube to find tutorials to learn new makeup tricks and applications. Usually, the user will find a Youtuber that they like and will likely be influenced on what products to purchase. The YouTubers that advertise makeup have a huge influence on how users will spend their money on makeup. The company NYX actually has images of YouTubers that advertise their products in their stores, it has become a part of their brand to support those Youtubers. When a social network is overused it can be meaningless over time. The formula for social capital is social capital = number of relationships relationship strengths entity resources than in the form social capital = number of relationships +relationship strengths + entity resources. In reality, there is no formula for computing social capital. This multiplicative nature of social capital means that a huge network of relationships with people who have few resources may be less value than a smaller network of relationships with people who have substantial resources.

How Do Some Companies Earn Revenue from Social Media?

Having a large social network like YouTube and Facebook generates many users every day. Facebook is at the top of the social media chain but why does the company offer Facebook for free if it can charge its billions of users a fee for profits. As you learned data storage is cheap but it still cost something . Many users may not be aware but they are the product. So how do these social media companies make money? For example, advertising has shifted to social media because it is a new way of living. People do not spend as much time watching television so companies want to advertise where they know their target customers will see their ads. Google is paid to target users with ads by using their search terms, sites they visit, and “scans” of their emails to place targeted ads in front of them. The revenue can also come from charging premium services. YouTube has a premium service where a user can still view YouTube videos while accessing applications. Advertising is at the top for revenue of social media sites. Facebook made 94% of its 2015 first quarter earnings ($3.5 B) from advertising. A pay-per-click revenue model is a model in which advertisers display ads to potential customers for free and pay only when the customer clicks. The freemium revenue model offers users a basic service for free and then charges a premium for upgrades or advanced features. Ad-blocking software has become a concern for social media companies because it grew by 69% over the past year. Some of those social media companies may see their share prices decline if the use of ad-blocking software becomes widespread.  More internet users are shifting to smaller screen devices such as tablets or smartphones. So how will a company advertise on a smartphone if the company is used to advertising on a large screen? According to eMarketer, mobile ad spending increased more than 100 percent in 2014 to $42Billion accounting 29 percent of total digital ad spending. Conversion rate measures the frequency that someone who clicks on an ad makes a purchase, likes a site, or takes some other action desired by the advertiser.

How Do Organizations Develop an Effective SMIS?

Depending on a company’s strategy that will depend on the platform the company decides to take. The first step t is to define your goals. Examples of goals can be a company wanting to be a cost leader, recruit better employee, or differentiate. Step 2 is to identify success metrics. These are simple measurements used to track performance and to see when you have accomplished your goals. A company would not want a high bounce rate, these are companies that enter a website and exit immediately. Step three is to identify the target audience. It is important for an organization to identify who its audience is. Step four is to define your value. An organization should add value to its company if they are unsure they should conduct a competitive analysis. Step five is to make personal connections. The true value of social media can be achieved only when organizations use social media to interact with customers, employees, and partners in a more personal, humane, relationship-oriented way. Step six is to gather and analyze data. You can use online analytical tools like google analytics, Facebook Page Insights, Clicky, or KISSmetrics to measure the success metrics. These tools can help an organization identify which users were most attracted.An enterprise social network is a software platform that uses social media to facilitate cooperative work of people within an organization.