Briefly explained: 10 important social media terms

Corinna Domnick, social media expert at Trusted Shops, gives an overview of the most important social media terms for e-commerce:Recently, social media has also been derided as "anti-social media". Data scandals and filter bubbles are currently shaping public perception, and the "shitstorm" is one of the most feared phenomena of the digital present. Nevertheless, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and co. have become of crucial importance for e-commerce. They can be a driving force for sales - if used correctly. Here are some important terms from the shared world of e-commerce and social media:1st CommunityThe total number of users who have subscribed to a profile on a social network, are provided with the latest news from this site and talk about certain topics. On Facebook, we tend to speak of fans, on Twitter and Instagram of followers, on YouTube of subscribers - one of the basic challenges for companies: Designing their own social media presence in such a way that the community matches the desired clientele of the products. An analysis of which channels potential customers actually use is essential before launching social media activities, and once you have gathered your community, community management is a key task that should not be underestimated. Social media users expect quick and personal answers to their questions and complaints. If they are not satisfied with the response, they are happy to vent their anger publicly. If you sleep on this, you may quickly end up with a "shitstorm" on your hands.2. dataMost social networks are only seemingly free - user data is the currency here. With information about themselves, their preferences and their current interests, social media users leave huge amounts of data traces on Facebook & Co. every day. As a company, you benefit from this: the opportunities for user analysis and targeted advertising targeting have never been as great as they are today, but there is no way around conflict: the balance between data sharing and data protection must be constantly renegotiated. New legislation such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on May 25, 2018, and the EU's ePrivacy Directive planned for 2019 currently have great potential to change the rules of the game, but even if they are not used as an advertising channel, social networks are an important barometer for finding out what is currently trending in your own industry. Which of your topics are users most interested in? What else are they talking about? Listen - and have your say!4. contentContent is the generic term for content on the Internet: Text, images, audio, video and more. Everyone has probably heard the saying "content is king" by now - but it still applies. Interesting and useful content forms the basis for successful content marketing. And social media is one of the most important distribution channels for this content. With practical information, inspiration and a personal, authentic presentation of the company, you can create a lasting, emotional connection with "your" users.In addition to producing your own content, it is still worthwhile to curate cleverly, i.e. to share relevant content from other users on your own channel. This allows you to position yourself even more strongly as an expert for everything important and exciting about a topic.3. algorithmBy definition, an algorithm is a "solution method in the form of a procedural instruction that leads to the solution of a problem in a well-defined sequence of steps." The term describes complex calculation processes that play a key role in ensuring that search engines and many other software programs function as we know them. Social networks such as Facebook use algorithms to control which content is preferentially displayed to users - and which is not. This artificial pre-sorting is influenced by various factors, such as the pages the user has subscribed to and the content they frequently respond to. The probability of users finding new content interesting is derived from this. This also means that not everything that companies post is automatically seen by their followers.5 Organic and paid reachOrganic reach is the number of users who see a published post. In addition to your own fans and followers, these can also be other users, for example if a fan shares the post in their own account. In contrast to organic reach, paid reach is where the post is displayed to additional users who may be interested in the content by using an advertising budget - this is also based on algorithms.6. social proofThis is a psychological phenomenon in which people orient themselves to the behavior of their environment/peers and adapt their own behavior accordingly. In real life, for example, this means that restaurants appear all the more desirable if there is always a long queue outside the door - even if you have no information about the quality of the food. Transferred to the online world, social proof is measured by comments, interactions or even ratings of profiles, pages and companies. The algorithms of Facebook and Co. also follow this concept and prefer content that has a high level of interaction.7th hashtagHashtags are words or word combinations that are marked at the beginning with a hash (#) and thus serve as keywords and search terms. They are particularly relevant on Twitter and Instagram, as users can link their posts to topics and other users can find them. In this way, hashtags bring more clarity to the jungle of information on social networks.8. shitstorm Negative criticism on social media is not uncommon - and no reason to close yourself off from these important communication channels. However, when this is concentrated in connection with a specific event, it is referred to as a "shitstorm". This "storm of indignation" involves mass negative reactions to a topic, a person or a company. Companies that are active on social media should therefore always familiarize themselves with the basics of crisis communication.9. clickbaitIn German, this can be translated as "click bait". With a dramatic, emotional or lurid presentation, users are enticed to click on a link in a social media post - which does not contain the hoped-for content. This is intended to increase the number of hits on a page, primarily to increase advertising revenue. Clickbait primarily leads to disappointed expectations and should definitely be avoided. However, the phenomenon also shows that the attention span of users is very short and an attractive presentation of content is essential. Teaser texts and images should be carefully selected.10. messengerMessenger services such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and Telegram are used for private messaging, but are also social networks in a broader sense. At the latest with the introduction of "Whatsapp for Business", the world's most widely used messenger is also becoming increasingly interesting for companies as an information and service channel. Fast, simple and personal dialog is one of the undeniable advantages here. Facebook Messenger can also be used to place advertisements, and Whatsapp will also be opened up for advertising in the future, which will enable further points of contact with users.