OLJ Task 13: Information trends

The video – “The Social Media Revolution“ shows some very interesting statistics. Here are the 5 trends I identified from the video:

1. 1. 1. Visual content is more likely to be shared,
      2. Social media is becoming the main source of news for young people.
      3. mobile phones are becoming the most popular platform people use to access social networks. 
      4. Social networking has become a place for people to look for employment opportunities.
      5. The young generation is the main user of some social networks.

Understanding these behaviours is important for the business to effectively make and implement the information policy and plans. According to Coles (2017), social influence, which occurs when a person’s emotions, opinions or behaviours are affected by others. For example, if a post with many likes and views, it is more likely that the post will be viewed by a person who browses the information.

When the libraries make the information policy, they will try to reach the targeted audience in the most effective way. When they put the effort to engage the patrons on the social network sites, they would like to achieve a high influence on the targeted groups. Understanding the behaviours of the targets is essential for the success of the information policy and campaign.

We can look at how the five examples help the library’s information policy and plans:

1. • Visual content is very important. That is probably due to the fact that our brains typically process visual information 60,000 times faster than text. Study shows that people will retain 65% of the information if it includes a relevant image- compared to only 10% without (Hightail Inc, 2016). When librarians post information on social networking sites, it is probably a good idea to include relevant pictures or videos all the time.

1. •  A significant number of young people between 18-24 uses social media as their news source. When libraries need to promote services targeting this age group, it may be worthwhile investing time and money to promote it on social media besides the traditional marketing strategies

1. • Smartphones have become a necessity for digital generations. In order to reach the audience effectively, it is not enough to just build a traditional online existence with a website. It should aim to provide the best browsing experience on mobile phones too.

1. • Social networking is not only used for sharing personal life but also can be used to establish professional networking. The best example is Linkedin. So part of the information policy of a library should be how to build professional connections with professionals from other libraries.

1. • A major part of the library job is to provide services to young people. When considering promoting services on social networks, it may be more effective if it is promoted on Snapchat than just on Facebook.

References

Coles, L. (2017). Social Media for Business : Foolproof Tips to Help You Promote Your Business or Your Brand. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/reader.action?docID=4908157&ppg=19

Hightail Inc. (2016). Why visuals are so important in content marketing and five ways to do them well. Retrieved from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/why-visuals-are-so-important-content-marketing-and-five-ways-do-them-well