How social media has 'Linkedin' to hospitality

Social media is becoming ever more popular and the competition between the various forms of networking is even greater. With it being such a diverse tool, it can be used to network yourself and gain a good reputation in the same way as keeping in touch with family and friends is very straightforward.

As social media is forever expanding, it begs the question of which is the most popular platform being used in the present day? The answer is Facebook and (Ofcom, 2014) of the 2/3 of people having an active profile on any platform in the United Kingdom (UK), 96% of them have an active Facebook account showing what a vast global brand it has become.

Twitter has always being associated with having a user rivalry with Facebook and in the UK alone ₍₁₎ 30% of social network users have an account coming up well short in comparison. Despite being well respected by many, it has now been demoted from 2^nd place in the rankings by Instagram (Sparkes, 2014) who boasts 300 million worldwide users compared to Twitters’ 271 million users. After being bought by the networking heavyweights Facebook in 2012 (BBC Technology, 2012) for a whopping $1 billion, it has grown and consequently has shot up the social media leader board.

Instagram has benefitted from its simplicity and flexibility. Users can post their photos at the touch of a button linking them in to their Facebook and Twitter profiles therefore enabling a wider audience to see the images.

As far as hospitality is concerned, LinkedIn would be a surprisingly popular choice between chefs and managers alike. It has accumulated 15 million worldwide users (Eckstein 2014)and has unlimited potential to broadcast and network yourself resulting in a growing platform despite it being a network and not a social based media website. This enables users to market themselves with a view to career progression and further networking. The hospitality trade can look between each other’s businesses in search of inspiration and in turn aspiring to be like others.

With all this exposure, is it benefitting or downgrading our industry?

BBC Technology, 2012, Facebook buys Instagram photo sharing network for $1bn, BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17658264 (Accessed 30th September 2015)

Eckstein.A, 2014, Thank you to our 15 million members in the UK, LinkedIn Official Blog, http://blog.linkedin.com/2014/03/11/15-million-members-in-the-uk/ (Accessed on 25th September 2015) 

Ofcom, 2014, A range of social media devices are being used, although Facebook remains the default service, Adults' Media use and Attitudes Report 2014,(online), http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/research-publications/adults/adults-media-lit-14/ (Accessed 23rd September 2015)

 

Sparkes.M, 2014, Instagram overtakes Twitter to 300m users, The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/11285727/Instagram-overtakes-Twitter-to-reach-300m-users.html , (Accessed 22nd September 2015)