RobertBurnsII.com – The official website of Robert A. Burns, II

(Note: This post was written by Ryan Chaffin as 100% original content for PR & New Media Today.)

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“Social Media are the future of marketing, advertising and public relations.”

If you think this quote is true, you’re wrong; it’s false.  If you’re confused right now, think about it.  If you really think that’s true, you’re living in 2005 when most people thought that quote was wrong, and probably did not even understand what “social media” are, or would become.  So again, if you think that quote is true, you’re behind!  Let’s get you caught up!

If you are a regular here on the PR & New Media Today website, then you’ve probably noticed clickable “buttons” on the page with weird logos and designs on them accompanying every article.  What are these buttons?  Most of you probably already know exactly what they are.  But in case you do not; they are buttons for sharing that article on other social media platforms.

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So what is a social media platform?  And which ones should you be using?  I want to take a few minutes to answer these questions:

Question #1: “What is a social media platform?”

A social media platform (for the most part) is a website that allows you to quickly and easily share information with a network of people.  Whether it is your personal network, or a network consisting of thousands, or even millions, of users depends on the platform and how you use it.

Question #2: “Which social media platforms should I be using?”

You have all heard of Facebook and Twitter by now, and hopefully StumbleUpon, Digg, and Delicious.  These are all “social media platforms” available for your use.  If you are not already using Facebook and Twitter, get with it!  There are plenty of guides explaining those on the web (in fact, now that I think about it, I have one on my site you are more than welcome to see, titled “Twitter 101: How To Use Twitter”).  The best way to get to know these platforms is to use them!  Go to their sites, sign up, and start playing around with them!

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Before I let you go, I want to quickly focus on a social media platform I have grown very fond of, and am beginning to absolutely love.  I recommend you all use it, and I’ll tell you why in just a few seconds.  The platform is StumbleUpon.  It can be a bit difficult to figure out at first, and hard to get comfortable with.  In fact, I still struggle with it a bit.  But that is beside the point.  In fact, I do not really care if you even use the site to discover cool articles (even though it is really cool!), but use it to promote your articles and own website!

I wrote an article and posted it on my website, and some loyal reader came a long and loved the article (which made me very happy)!  It had not even crossed my mind to submit my article to StumbleUpon, but that reader of mine did.  Within a few hours of my article being “stumbled” that article received 17 unique page visits via its link on StumbleUpon.   Think about it.  That’s easy, effortless traffic to your site.  You never know how many new visitors and (hopefully loyal readers) will come to your site from StumbleUpon.  It’s easy to submit your article.  Do it!

What is your favorite social media platform and why? Let us know in the comments!

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About the Author

Ryan Chaffin is currently a college student majoring in Business Marketing. He loves anything technology, Internet, and social media related along with sports and health & wellness. Ryan currently specializes in search engine optimization (SEO), blogging, and social media and believes in achieving your fullest potential on and off the web. You can also find Ryan on Twitter (@ryanchaffin).