Social Media as a Business Platform

Social media has become an ever-evolving industry that continues to exponentially expand. We, as social users, have continued to find new ways to innovate, expand and use social media in new ways. Around 10 years ago, in the relatively early stages of social media, it was mostly used to connect people and build small online communities. However, social media in our present day has not only continued to grow the social connection aspect of the industry, but also, has now grown into the industry of advertising, professional platforms, political outlets, broadcasting streams and many more. Professionals and creators have realized that the industry with the brightest futures for marketing business is social media. Creators like photographer and filmmakers, artists, chefs and restaurants, sport associations and many more have used social media to vastly increase attention and success for the respective business or company.

I myself am a photographer and filmmaker, and I’m very interested in visual stimulation on social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. I love seeing the work that other photographers and cinematographers produce on those sites. I also see a great amount of smart marketing done by these creators, as well as many others from different industries. Techniques such as attaching a business website link in the users Instagram bio for example, can rapidly boost business’ awareness and help to boost financial success. For performers and artists who put on shows and exhibits, advertising their shows on their social media posts greatly increases the likelihood of higher attendances at the events. In fact, often times, social media users will see news of a show or performance coming up, for the first time though social media.

In addition to individual profiles posting and advertising content, social media cites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram allow companies to post pop-up ads to promote their content and product. Ads such as small products or movie trailers are often featured on users’ timeline streams. For example, Kevin Hart’s movie are usually very heavy advertised on social media. With his latest movie, Jumanji, which he co-stars with Dwayne Johnson, I have seen endless ads and trailers on my Instagram and Facebook feeds, and even billboard ads in downtown Toronto as well. So, should Hart and other actors who promote their movies get paid to do so? In my opinion, definitely. Now that’s not to say that people like Hart need the money, in fact Kevin Hart couldn’t be farther from needing that money. Yet, acting and being a comedian like Hart is, requires more work than just shooting the scenes of a movie or a comedy show. When it comes down to it, advertising and promoting is part of his job, and as he works to promote his movies, whether he needs the money or not, he deserves to be paid for the job he does just like we do.

There are other actors and comedians however, who feel they have not gotten the same deals and opportunities to market themselves and grow their brand. Comedian and actress Mo’Nique has become well known for her stand up comedy, TV shows and her Oscar-winning role in the 2009 movie. Recently she called for a boycott of Netflix, accusing them of color bias and gender bias. She was offered a $500,000 stand up deal on Netflix, but was upset, as comedians such as Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and Amy Schumer were offered deals closer to $13 million. Although it may seem unfair that she was offered so much less, the unfortunate reality is that because they are more popular comedians who generally earn more money, Netflix can afford to offer them more as they will get a greater return than someone like Mo’Nique. Overall, social media has become a crucial tool for the modern creator to market themselves and their brand. It allows us to access more creativity and reach and infinitely bigger audience, which will only continue to grow.