Companies are increasingly using social media monitoring tools to monitor, track, and analyze online conversations on the Web about their brand or products or about related topics of interest. Social media tracking also enables companies to respond quickly to online posts that criticize their product or service.
Some of the most important strategies within the monitoring, tracking and analysis that we are considering are:
- Identity: Represents the extent to which users reveal their identities in a social media setting. This can include disclosing information such as name, age, gender, profession, location, and also information that portrays users in certain ways.
- Conversations: Represents the extent to which users communicate with other users in a social media setting. People tweet, blog, make online comments and send messages to other users to meet new like-minded people, to find a romantic partner, to build their self-esteem, or to be on the cutting edge of new ideas or trending topics.
- Sharing: Represents the extent to which users exchange, distribute, and receive content, ranging from a short text post to a link or a digital photo.
- Presence: Represents the extent to which users can know where others are, in the virtual world and/or in the real world (some social media sites have icons that indicate when other users are online, such as Facebook).
- Relationships: Represents the extent to which users can be related or linked up to other users.
- Reputation: Represents the extent to which users can identify the standing of others, including themselves, in a social media setting.
- Groups: Represents the extent to which users can form communities and sub-communities of people with similar backgrounds, demographics or interests. The more ‘social’ a network becomes, the wider the group of friends, followers, and contacts can be developed.