How do Social Media Titans Yahoo! and Google Use Facebook and Twitter?

By OliviaTwoStreams

Yahoo! and Google are well known to social media. Both companies have so many divisions it is intriguing how they manage their parent companies, in relation to their subsidiaries on social media. Originally, I understood their use of non-proprietary social media to be non-profitable, basic and a hindrance to their own social media platforms.  Something to the extent of search engine, subject matter is what I expected to see when I went to their social media pages. However, I discovered their Facebook and Twitter accounts were much more. It was interesting to see how companies that had their own social media divisions, were using nonproprietary tools.

For the purpose of this assignment I will concentrate primarily on the parent companies Yahoo! And Google and not their subdivisions. Both companies have a link in their respective Facebook About sections http://www.google.com/options/index.html and https://everything.yahoo.com/ that reference their various divisions. Most of their tags and links are general and do not explicitly reference other divisions. However when you click on a link you will more than likely be sent to a Yahoo! or Google owned web application.  For example, below Exhibit A is a story on Yahoo’s Facebook page, when you click the story link it takes you to Exhibit B, the Yahoo! News website. Similarly, when you click a link on Goggle’s Facebook page you could end up on http://googleblog.blogspot.com or https://www.google.com/maps. I think the integration of Yahoo!  and Google products into social media sites are brilliant. The integration allows the companies to be relevant on competing platforms, which also redirects users to their services. 

                                        Exhibit A¹                                                                               Exhibit B²

With regards to content, both companies have frequent updates on both Facebook and Twitter. The content is typically trending topics, national news and some company based updates. On Twitter the pictures did seem to reflect each company. Yahoo! seems to have a more global, national presence. Its pictures are rarely company based and more news centered. Google's pictures do encompass many topics but are brand heavy.

On the flip side, I wanted to know if Facebook or Twitter used a Yahoo! or Google platform in order to maintain a presence on social media.  I could not find a Facebook Blogspot or a Twitter Flickr page, but I did find a Twitter application (Exhibit C) listed on Google Play, which allows a Twitter user to access the app on a myriad of Google products. In addition, Facebook and Twitter do use Google’s Youtube mainly for ad promotion and news updates.

Exhibit C³ Twitter

In an article called, “Who Uses Twitter? Young, Affluent, Educated Non-White Males, Suggests Data [STUDY]”⁴ author Shea Bennett explains most Twitter users are males ranging from 18-29. Furthermore, an article called “What Is the Breakdown of Facebook Users by Age?”⁵ by James Lee Phillips, reveals the average Facebook user in the United States is 41 years old. The information on Yahoo!’s and Google’s Facebook and Twitter pages were not dramatically different and did not appear to be geared towards a specific audience. Based on my findings I believe the social media target for Yahoo! and Google pages are variable. No target age. No target gender. With social media Yahoo! and Google can appeal to whoever based on what’s trending. Hot topics and current events will allow both companies to target active users no matter the age or gender.

¹ http://www.facebook.com/Yahoo

² http://www.news.yahoo.com

³ Twitter app on Google Play, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twitter.android

⁴ Bennett, Shea, “Who Uses Twitter? Young, Affluent, Educated Non-White Males, Suggests Data [STUDY]”, Social Times (www.adweek.com), August 2013, http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/twitter-users-2013/488921

⁵ Phillips, James Lee “What Is the Breakdown of Facebook Users by Age?”, Chron (www.chron.com), http://smallbusiness.chron.com/breakdown-facebook-users-age-63280.html