LJ3- Social Media Metrics & Analytics

 

Something I found interesting in the reading was how social media is increasingly associated with marketing and monetization. At its core, social media, and networks are about communication. However, it seems that somewhere along the line, companies have taken over many aspects of this networking. Companies measuring different things on social media have adopted business terminology to further develop their decisions and platforms. For example, ROI, or return on investment, is a means being used to make a business measure out of social media usage. If the core is social media is facilitating relationships and communication, the shift of widely monetizing sites is now putting a monetary value on these relationships that are created. There is also a direct increase in monetary gain through increased positive communication or interaction with other users.

 Although there isn’t anything inherently wrong with this, I believe that there is the potential to increasingly incorporate bias into the algorithms used by platforms due to this monetization of popularity. Things that are more likely to be popular or things that are popular will always continue to be recommended and prioritized on a platform. This type of system might work well for companies that use a platform to advertise their products or services. If they can always remain in the favor of the algorithm, their goal has been accomplished. However, for people who use a platform to try and connect with a community or creators, the algorithm often works against them. Creators aren’t all given a fair chance to have their content delivered to a wider range of people, and audiences lose out on potential communities or creators they, may be interested in.

This information is not something that is new to me, and wouldn’t change my usage of social media in any way. I’ve seen many content creators or users across platforms discuss recent changes made to different policies on different platforms. Anytime there is some move made to increase favor with companies, and thus gain more money, the majority of users end up suffering from the decision. The readings delving into the intricacies of different measurements and tools used to monetize platforms only further established this idea in my mind.