Types of Social Media With Examples

How many people use Facebook, watch created from explainer video company videos on YouTube, scroll Instagram every day or use other types of social media? A couple of millions? Or maybe even a billion (sounds fantastic at this point, isn’t it?). The truth is that there are over 4.48 billion social media users. Slightly less than internet users in total – 4.66 billion. The numbers from different types of social medias speak for themselves. 

Social network types are everywhere on the Internet. And we must admit that they are an inseparable part of our lives. The first thing we do in the morning is checking the messengers. And the last thing before falling asleep is watching the latest TikTok or other examples of social media videos.

Social media is powerful.

If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.

Jeff Bezos, ex-CEO of Amazon.

Every day, the number of social media users is growing. Lots of them join the army of ‘heavy users.’ For example, Facebook has 2.85 bln active profiles every month, Reddit – 430 min, and Quora – 300 min.

Most popular social networks worldwide as of July 2021, ranked by a number of active users (in millions):

Social media differ. Many think that there are no specific types of social media platforms. You will be surprised to know that there are many of them. In our article, we are going to cover six main types:

• media sharing networks
• review networks
• social networks
• discussion networks
• blogging and publishing networks
• sharing economy networks

Each of them is suitable for video marketing. If you plan to use videos for your communication and reach different audiences, you can post them over there. Just choose the right channels for your purposes.

So what networks belong to different types of social media? This article looks at the key networks your business may need to make its online presence efficient.

Media Sharing Networks

These types of social media classifications are predominantly used to interact with any kind of media: video, images, etc. They are good and enjoyable both for personal usage and for professional activities.

Of course, media-sharing networks are the first to come to mind when we’re talking about uploading videos. However, there are other sites that you can also use if you want to make the most out of content marketing.

YouTube

Can you imagine your life without YouTube? Today, this is one of the most popular social media sites that we all know and love. Although we mainly use YouTube for entertaining goals, this is one of the categories of social media that businesses can effectively use.

For example, you plan to post an explainer video about your company and attract new clients with it. Of course, you can publish it directly on your landing page. But let’s be honest: the audience of YouTube is huge while attracting leads costs you money. What would you choose? Posting on YouTube, of course!

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Cost-free service
• The service is simple to use.
• decent source of income
• able to appeal to a broad audience

Cons:

• Adverse content was also uploaded
• Bullying and slander are simple to commit.
• a little challenging to begin earning
• It’s challenging to focus on one thing at a time.

Pinterest

Creating inspiration boards is not the main function of Pinterest. Currently, it has 459 million active users every month, and this is a perfect stage to present your business. It’s one of the basic forms of social media where every business should be present. And today, this is obligatory. Recently, Pinterest became a video platform. 

YouTube, are you ready for such a competitor? We’re sure, soon, Pinterest will become even more popular among the users. Meanwhile, we recommend you post the first videos on this social media. Thus, you’ll be one of the first among your competitors to use Pinterest as a video platform.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

By minimizing the number of steps between discovery and conversion, Pinterest facilitates direct access to the source for users. Compared to other social media platforms, Pinterest visitors are more likely to convert into leads or sales.

Cons:

• Slow Pinterest Marketing
• Results won’t take a year to appear.
• You’ll gain more impressions, rankings, and follows.
• Yet in less than a year, you’ll never use Pinterest to its fullest advantage.

Review Networks

In their latest consumer behavior research, BrightLocal mentioned that 87% of users read reviews online. Moreover, for 73%, only the reviews written in the last month are important. What does it mean for us? It’s vital to keep reviews up to date and encourage your visitors and clients to publish them.

Make sure you’ve added the profile of your business to one of the review networks. They perfectly answer the question, ‘What are the example of social media for keeping reviews about products and services?’ 

Yelp

Restaurants, bars, clinics, and other client-oriented businesses should be on Yelp. The registration is simple, as for all different forms of social media, but the results are great: you get reviews from your clients that help you attract new customers.

The best thing about this network is that users can use enhanced filters to find any business they may need. Therefore, you can attract new customers without spending extra costs on advertisements.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Credibility is created

Even if you already have reviews on other platforms, having them on Yelp will increase your credibility.

• It’s a good idea to have as many positive ratings as you can across as many platforms because some users could trust Yelp more than any other websites you may be using.

Cons:

Its system is made to screen out reviews that were either bought or paid for too.

LinkedIn

If you are working in the B2C sector, LinkedIn is the best professional network to collect and keep reviews and feedback.

LinkedIn is perfect for big enterprises and small businesses. It will equally engage new clients and customers who have been with you for ages.

You can also use LinkedIn as a blogging platform to inform your clients about the latest updates.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Connecting experts from around the world will increase their success and productivity.

Cons:

• Identity theft danger. You must provide a ton of personal information in your profile for the eyes of potential employers.
• Several spam mails, an incomplete profile challenge, time-consuming tasks.
• A pricey premium package.

Social Networks

Social networks help to better connect with your audience, attract potential clients, and build a community united by the services or products your company provides.

Among all types of social media, this one is the most popular, and businesses successfully use it in their everyday activity.

Facebook

If you are struggling for media improvement, make sure you have a strong presence on Facebook. You can use it as hosting for company videos or even turn it into the reviews page.

However, we would recommend combining all features Facebook has for business. And of course, use Facebook ads as they are efficient for attracting new customers.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Efficient for marketing.
• Assists in locating others who share your interests and tastes.
• Maintain contact permanently.

Cons:

• Facebook has the potential to become addictive quickly.
• Some people are capable of setting up phony accounts, which leads to harassment and abuse.
• Hackers are currently sending scams through Facebook that can retrieve all of your personal info.

Twitter

It’s not a blog; it’s bigger than a blog! Although, you cannot post long-reads here. We know Twitter social network example for short messages that must carry the whole idea. And we love it for this!

Twitter is designed to simplify communication, and we’re sure: this approach should be implemented for different kinds of social media.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• You can easily access the most recent news.
• Lists make it simple to follow various categories of people.
• Real names are not required on Twitter.

Cons:

You may become overwhelmed by the volume of updates and be flooded with dismal negative news.
Despite crackdowns, there are still fake accounts which may interfere with a quality marketing.

Discussion Networks

While Twitter teaches us to be concise, discussion networks allow us to talk on different themes in as many words as we may need. This type of social media used for discussion has a list of benefits:

• you can involve your real customers in communication
• you can create topics in different formats
• you can upload any type of content you may want or need for your content marketing

Frequently, discussion networks are used as a marketing tool for your brand.

Reddit

We’re sure: you’ve read Reddit topics at least once. And perhaps, you’ve even started some. But could you imagine that one can also use this social media type for marketing?

Reddit is not the first social media that comes to mind when we’re thinking about marketing. However, content marketers choose it for content distribution: one of the tools to attract new clients with the help of content.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• To seek assistance with a particular issue, such as tech tutorials (or big life crises) are great.
• You are registering for subreddits to keep up with their preferred subjects.
• Making connections with people who have similar interests.
• You acquire fresh knowledge (visit r/IWantToLearn)

Cons:

• Reddit may become a waste of time.
• It is not regulated.
• It appears to be disorganized.
• Can quickly become poisonous.
• You have to be unique each time you post something.
• There’s a flood of information that may deterr from the most important, etc.

Quora

Quora is another discussion network where you can start any topic and present your business in the post. In this question, it’s better to rely on a content marketer: they know when and where to write about your company to make users read this information. 

Pros and Cons

Pros:

A popular forum for asking and answering questions is Quora. Because of its high search exposure, it’s a good place to go for spreading company awareness by providing information.

Cons:

Of course, this should be done natively and requires a professional approach.

Blogging and Publishing Networks

If you plan to use a blog as a tool of your marketing funnel, consider the options of different types of social media networks for blogging and publishing. 

Such platforms allow:

• attract relevant audience
• build your expertise
• increase customer loyalty

Medium

This is the number one blogging platform used by individual writers and company representatives. Here, you can find blogs of The Economist, Twitch, and Product Hunt. We’re sure: when your posts are published along with the articles of such companies, they will be noticed by a bigger audience.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Massive readership
Simple to set up and operate
About technical SEO matters, you don’t need to worry.

Cons:

• It fosters individualism.
• As a result, social contacts with friends, family, and neighbors impact it.
• There is media content that children should not view.
• Restricting children’s access to specific items might be challenging.
• Geographic restrictions apply to papers.

Tumblr

For many companies, content production (especially long-reads and detailed research) takes too much time. Still, they want to post regularly. In this case, Tumblr is the best choice.

Traditionally, Tumblr is one of the types of social media platforms where images are used. You don’t need to write posts here; you can just use memes.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Tumblr has integrations with websites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
• It’s simple to set up and utilize Tumblr.
• Tumblr is quite adaptable.
• A wonderful mobile app for publishing content while on the go is Tumblr.
• Tumblr offers several free themes that can be used for a wide range of publishing requirements.

Cons:

What drawbacks does Tumblr have?
Last but not least, Tumblr’s main drawback is that everything is stored on their network and server. Your page will be affected if something causes their server to go offline.

Sharing Economy Networks

These are networks that allow you to advertise your products or services, buy and sell, find clients, share your goods, or do anything else according to the functions of the network.

As a rule, sharing economy networks serve one business niche: house renting or car sharing. It means that you can offer only this type of service, product, or good for your client.

Airbnb

If you want to rent a house for a trip, Airbnb is the best place for that. Also, you can share your house or apartment for rent here. And get payments! This is a business network where you can find clients, provide services, get reviews, and earn money.  

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Anyone can make some money from their property using Airbnb, which is a simple and comparatively stress-free process. Many visitors discover that Airbnb is more affordable, has more personality, and is cozier than hotels.

Cons:

• Airbnbs are no longer the most affordable choice for users.
• The majority of Airbnb’s income comes from the service fee company charges for each reservation.

TaskRabbit

Another great example of a sharing economy network is TaskRabbit. Here, users do not find friends. They look for specialists who will help them with house routines.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

You can register here as an independent contractor or as a company.

Cons:

There are cross-side network effects with TaskRabbit. More people will search for a handyman on the platform as more taskers are present. More taskers would want to sign up there if more people were prepared to use the platform to hire a helper.

Start Expanding Your Business by Utilizing Various Forms of Social Media

Social media types are various. You just need to choose the one that will help you with running your business.  What benefits do social networks offer? The ability of social networks to help people connect and stay in touch with family, friends, and new contacts; the chance they provide businesses to market their brands; and their capacity to instantly spread helpful, even crucial information to people and institutions are just a few of the advantages they offer.

If you are a big enterprise, you have to add your profiles to Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Yelp, Medium. If you own a small business, don’t forget to create a Facebook page, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Of course, the choice of social media will depend on your strategy. But no matter what you choose, you still need high-quality content. And we want to help you with that!

At Explain Ninja, we create beautiful explainer videos that you can post on any social media. They will attract new audiences and keep existing clients engaged. Write to us also if you want to add some animation to your content. We’re ready to help you out anytime!