Task 6 - Researching Social Media Platforms

Instagram

Instagram is a free social media app founded in 2010, allowing people to create and share content that expresses themselves in a unique and fun way. It currently provides a variety of features for one to share a range of content.

Pretty Little Thing’s target audience ranges from 16-25 years old.

From their Instagram page, they post a variety of content which contains feed posts, reels, videos, highlights, series’, guides, and use the story feature. They utilise these functions by showing off their latest looks and new ranges they have released, any influencer photo reposts, quotes, competitions, and food.

Their Instagram account currently has an astonishing 15.7 million followers who can view their latest feed posts. These are updated daily to let their customers know they are active.

Their bio briefly explains who they are and what they currently offer on their website. It also includes the current # they have started, these are #EveryBODYinPLT and #PrettyLittleThing. These can be used by customers to show off their outfit photos and, share inspiration with other followers. They have also stated that they have a separate customer service page that deals with any queries, and they have included the @ so that customers can be taken to this directly. Their website link is included to provide easy access to customers wishing to shop with them.

The #EveryBODYinPLT currently shows up with 70,000 posts created by their customers and, the #PrettyLittleThing has over 2,853,000 posts that have been shared also.

The # function allows customers to search for anything Pretty Little Thing related to locate the specific type of product or post they are looking for. These are used throughout Pretty Little Thing’s Instagram account when they are showcasing any new outfit releases.

They make use of Instagram’s features offered and have currently shared over 14,000 posts to their account.

It can be seen on their account that they have a range of highlights which currently hold their current collections with influencers, their latest podcast releases, and their new home and beauty ranges.

They can change their bio regularly to suit the current season or the new ranges they have released, update their profile photo, and can edit any current captions they have created on their photos.

Twitter

Twitter is a free social media app created in March 2006. It allows people to share their thoughts and comment their opinions on other tweets. As of 2019, there were currently 330 million users, and 16.45 million of these are within the United Kingdom.

Pretty Little Thing currently has an active account within Twitter which currently has 509.1 thousand followers. They have currently shared over 46.1 thousand tweets to show off snippets of their latest podcasts, a new collection, quotes their loving, and host their current competitions.

They have currently personalised their bio to confirm who they are and their current #, #EveryBODYinPLT. They have stated for any queries to head over to their customer service page and provided the @ for this.

They have used the web link function to provide a direct link to their website to shop directly.

Pretty Little Thing’s Twitter account is used a lot for competitions they run all year round. They utilise the like and retweet features within twitter by asking those who wish to enter to use both. A good tactic for gaining more followers and views to their profile.

They can connect with others by having the comment feature enabled on any content they share. This allows anyone to respond to them directly or to like and retweet their tweets.

The retweet feature allows users to share others content directly to the twitter feed for anyone to look.

Online Safety

Online safety refers to ensuring that individuals stay safe online.

There are many ways in which a person can ensure they stay safe online and they must be aware of potential risks which can occur.

Cyberbullying can take place at any point online, whether this is personally or through a company’s business page. Cyberbullying is when someone uses technology and bullies someone.

It can go unnoticed as this can be as small as not including someone in a group chat or photo online and is often repetitive.

InternetMatters.org states that “Cyberbullying can consist of any of the below:

1. Rejection and Exclusion

2. Identity theft by hacking into a person’s social media account.

3. Harassment or stalking

4. Threats and Intimidation

5. Manipulation”.

When viewing a website one must be aware of what websites they are viewing and are not opening any unsecured websites. By doing so, it can create the risk of inappropriate content.

Inappropriate content consists of images and information.

InternetMatters.org states that “Inappropriate content consists of the below:

1. Content that contains swearing

2. Pornographic material

3. Gambling sites

4. Websites that show vandalism, crime, terrorism, racism, eating disorders and even suicide.”

Online grooming can occur within adults and children.

Grooming is the term used to describe someone who pretends to be of a specific age when chatting with someone so that they can take advantage of them for sexual purposes.

Groomers pretend to be interested in similar things, offer gifts to the individual, and use a fake profile.

The groomer will ask the individual to participate in the conversation via private messaging or within another social media platform.

Spreading fake news online can be harmful to a brand's reputation.

When using social media platforms, it can be hard to determine which content is truthful, half-truth or lies.

Two types of fake news can be spread. These are misinformation and disinformation.

Misinformation is content that has been shared that is misleading without any intent to come across maliciously.

Disinformation is the spreading of content with the intent to deliberately cause harm.

Business Etiquette

When setting up a social media account for a company, it is crucial to follow business etiquette.

Before posting anything online, the business must ensure that the right things are said and, the business have listened to the information provided by followers.

With a business profile, it must be updated, and posts made regularly so that followers and potential followers know it is an active profile.

A company should interact with its followers and answer any comments shared on the page directly.

However, the company also must remember not to spam followers, share information without researching this and, handle criticism professionally.

Legal Considerations

A company must abide by rules created by law to ensure the brand and its customers are kept safe.

GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation Act was created in 2018 so that a person has the right to gain information that has been held about them.

However, under the United Kingdom government, this is known as the Data Protection Act 2018.

The act has set limits on how personal information is held by a company, business, or the government.

Anyone who handles personal information must ensure that they are following strict rules which are called “data protection principles”.

This means that the person must ensure that any information is used for specific purposes only.

The information must be used in a fair, transparent, and lawful way.

Information stored must be updated regularly and kept for no longer than required.

A company must ensure that there are appropriate security features in use and that there is protection from any or unauthorised destruction, damage, access, or loss.

There is currently no act for Cyberbullying but, it is protected under the Harassment Act 1997.

It ensures that there is protection to an individual from harassment or similar conduct. Harassment is when a person is alarmed or distressed.

The Equality Act 2010 ensures that people are protected from any discrimination that may occur within society and the workplace. It addresses the different unlawful ways in which someone can be treated.

Gov.uk confirms that the below protected characteristics are the below :

“

1. Race

2. Age

3. Disability

4. Discrimination

5. Religion or beliefs

6. Sexual orientation

7. Gender reassignment”