Where are you with defining yourself? How are you showing yourself?

In the fast-moving world of Social Media, what are you using to put yourself in the Shop Window?

With the many different platforms of Social Media that exist, but which ones are the right ones for you? The situation of sharing the items you want to, can fall between personal and business. But which should you be using? So, to give you some ideas for making sure you are ready for 2014, here are some for you to consider:-

Personal:-

• Facebook more and more people are using Facebook but at the same time, it would seem (according to many recent reports) that the under 28 age group are using Facebook less and less, so consider whether Facebook is pure for your family and close friends
• Flickr is a photo sharing website owned by Yahoo which enable you to have an on-line photo album which can be set to Public or Private or a mixture of both
• Foursquare gives you the opportunity to “Check-in” at your chosen places of interest or locations where you make your purchases and in some cases receive rewards too
• Google+ is now becoming a format where you need a G+ account to enable to do more things with Google products than just view such Google Hangout’s, Google Maps / Earth and YouTube to name a few together with also becoming the host for your emails like gMail
• Instagram is a mixture of photo and 15 second video recording sharing platform which is used by both personal and business and heavily used by the under 28 age group
• Klout gives you the opportunity to link all your Social Media applications together in one place, which then rates your interaction with people to give you a score based on your influencing interactions
• LinkedIn is a professional networking platform where you are effectively showing your work history and sharing business information with a wider audience with the business community. This year has seen the age of entry being lowered from 18 to 13 to help the teenage generation with their careers and interact with companies and universities and colleges
• Path is becoming a more used platform by people wanting a closed group for sharing information with especially as it is secure and limited to only 150 connections hence why the under 28 age group using this more and more
• Pinterest is a platform where you can create on-line scrap-book showing shared photos of your likes together with uploading images you discover on-line
• Snapchat is fast becoming one the most used platforms for sharing photos and these are only viewed once before disappearing based on a viewing time of 3 to 10 seconds especially being used by the under 28 age group
• Tumblr which is owned by Yahoo is becoming more and more the use of the under 28 age group together combing the similar applications of the likes of Blogging, Facebook, Google and Twitter
• Twitter a platform that can either be personal or business and giving you the opportunity to share your views with famous people, celebrities and companies
• Vine is a 6 second recording video site where you can share your videos there or send then out to a wider audience via Twitter
• WordPress gives you the dual ability of having either a website or a blog and both combined if you wish and sharing your dates via the site or with Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Tumblr and Twitter too
• Xing is one of the main networking platforms for senior professionals and senior management personnel along side CEO’s and board members across Europe with a major focus around the Benelux region of Europe plus Switzerland too

Business:-

• Facebook via pages facility give you the opportunity to either give yourself a Public profile or a business page to promote you in a profession aspect away from your personal profile. Also, by providing a “Page”, you are enabling your clients and prospective clients to interact with you
• Foursquare if used correctly is a good marketing platform for your business as well as a rewarding platform too
• Flickr is a photo sharing website owned by Yahoo where you can host your photos. Many companies are using this site a s a way to host their photo albums for their website
• Google+ is your personal website giving you the opportunity to log in and access platforms for your business needs but ca also be the security back up access for platforms such as your business email account and YouTube for example
• Google Hangouts gives you the opportunity to host or take part in video conferencing or seminars
• Google Places is page where by displaying your business allows people to locate where you are. In certain cases this is being provided by your G+ page above interacting with the Google on their mapping facility
• Instagram allows you to host your business promotional photo material together with promotional videos
• Klout shows what your interaction across all your Social Media applications and platforms can achieve and the level of influence you have created across your Circles of Influence
• LinkedIn allows your company to have Showcases, Company pages and Company Groups too, to promote not just your company but specific aspects of your business also
• Pinterest allows you post all your promotional photos and other information on a dedicated business page
• Snapchat I foresee if used correctly will be one of the biggest marketing platforms of 2014
• Tumblr is a combination of blogging and a website which aims to allow you to post information either as a quick update, photo sharing, a blog and or as a website depending on your needs 
• Twitter is a great way of providing an interface to your prospective clients and clients together with providing information to what your company is doing
• Vine via a 6 second video clip you can promote your company or your products
• WordPress gives you a website that you can build, develop and update yourself and if you then want to get a professional company to take it over, then they can with losing all the words, photos and articles you have done. With being able to share this with Facebook, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Tumblr and Twitter – you can provide updates and releases in one go

Whilst there is many more you can use, these will give you the basis to start in the Social Media arena or take you to the next level. Yes you can add other platforms that brings information  together or allows to cross promote or schedule, but the main thing is to get yourself going and get things right before extending into other areas.

So, make sure you get yourself involved with these platforms for the start of 2014 so you can start the year on a professional platform that gives you a depth of platforms and new audiences when you post on these applications.