Social media & Brand You

I see you on Twitter and you are a brand, for sure. How does social media help build the person-brand?

Hyderabad

Charlene, all of us are a brand, for sure. Our very unique names and our very unique personalities make us that.

Persona brands sure can be built on social media, but depending only on it may be depending on too little too much.

Social media is the “other media” even now. It is still not mainline, still not mainstream. However, no one can ignore it, as it plays the role of being a powerful opinion-maker. Social media appeals to the smaller segment of Indian society that is connected to the backbone of the Internet. The Internet is however still not a part of the digital nervous system of this country as large numbers are still not connected.

Optimistically speaking, social media connects 36 per cent of this country. Therefore, this is a media that touches possibly a third of the country. To that extent it is not as mass as television is.

To the segment that social media touches, it is a very frenetic, quick and efficient medium. In literally nano-seconds, communication happens.

Take Twitter, for instance. In the old days, the media was owned by media owners and people who ran newspapers, television channels and even radio channels for that matter. To that extent, when the government controlled most of these, it held a monopoly. Not anymore. Today, media is fragmented, thanks to social media. On twitter everyone is a broadcaster. Everyone is a participant. And everyone has a say. Social media therefore democratises opinion dissemination. Yes, it is anarchy as well, but that is the beauty of a democratic medium such as this.

Take politicians as a case in point. Social media helps build the personal brands of politicians, and political parties alike. And that is the reason that politicians and political parties, and for sure the governments at the Centre and the states have their own strong and aggressive social media presence. Social media helps individuals state their point of view quick and fast. It helps politicians to shepherd their herd. It helps politicians feed their specific brand of fodder to their followers. And it’s done quick and fast.

Social media does also work in building the personal brand quite efficiently as it is low-cost and does not depend on an intermediary.

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