Social Media Marketing

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W
HAT I
S A S
OCIAL A
PPLICATION
?
“The Social Business Ecosystem.” Without identity in at least a general or contextual
sense—and with the exception of specific applications that for a variety of reasons
appropriately allow anonymity—sharing and collaboration are much less likely to
occur, if they occur at all. For typical business applications of social technology, shar-
ing and collaboration are among the primary goals: Identity—and details like profile
completeness—really matter. On Facebook and Twitter, for example, there are no
guarantees (“verified” accounts aside) of claimed identity: However, with friends or fol-
lowers in common across participants, it is fairly simple to assure yourself that at least
the basic elements of most profiles are in fact authentic.
Figure 12.1 A Social Application