Social Media And The Mom - 5 Ways Moms Use Social Media

Yesterday I went to a SEO and Social Media conference that was led by Bill Seaver and John Ellis. I have a huge notebook full of chicken scratch where I noted all the important things that they were saying about SEO and Social Media. The majority of the conference was geared towards more of the corporate thought process, but there was plenty for the "mommy blogger" to glean and apply;

I am going to give you a list about how the average mom can use social media, but the first thing to understand is...

What IS Social Media?

Guess what?!?! If you are reading this blog right now, you are using social media. If you found this post through my FaceBook page or because of a Twitter message I sent out, you are using social media! Congratulations! You are now using and understanding social media!! See...it wasn't rocket science.

5 Ways The Average Mom Uses Social Media

1. Blogs - This is a huge form of social media for a mom that is growing so big daily that they no longer can easily keep track of the numbers of blogs. The average mom doesn't need to be a techno-guru-geek to create her own blog in minutes where she can share a journal of her life, kids, pictures, recipes, introspective moments, news, politics or entertainment. Blogs are also becoming more interactive as the author responds to her readers and dialogue is begun.
2. Social Networking - Sites like FaceBook, Cyworld and MySpace are available to join, create a profile and in minutes be networking with not only friends and family, but also used to connect with people with similar interests or demographics.
3. Microblogging - Twitter, Tumblr or Foursquare are some of these sites. Twitter appears to be the most frequently used and it goes beyond the social networking connection. Many companies have jumped into Twitter (and FaceBook) and are now using it as a resource to connect with their customers. Moms are starting to pick up on this and in no time are talking back and forth with the brands that they use most; getting questioned answered, customer service issues handled or just being able to rave about what they love most.
4. Multimedia - Services like Photobucket, Flickr, Skype, YouTube, Stickam, etc. are available for moms to use to upload photos or videos to share, store or use to create slideshows or mash-ups, talk to family/friends face to face through the use of a webcam or create your own video to put on YouTube to show the world how to make homemade butter.
5. Reviews and Opinions - More than ever businesses are wanting to get your opinions and the explosion of social media has made it easier than ever to get your opinions on their products or services. Since way back when, moms have shared with each other their thoughts on products and services and used that information to affect sales of products/services. Thanks to sites like epinions, yelp.com and Wikianswers moms can still sound off about their views, but businesses can monitor these sites and see what is being said.

So in what ways are you using social media?