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  • Writer's pictureKyle Hjelmeseth

REFLECTION: Conversation Prism Updated

Source: Mashable

What You Need to Know:


In 2008, a chart was released that made major waves, analyzing top websites to market on by category called the “Conversation Prism”. This chart has been newly refreshed for 2017!


Breaking down 28 different categories of how people interact with social media, this chart can help pinpoint the best sites to use for your focus.


The “Conversation Prism” is a snapshot that revolves around “you”, the user, and your intents in 2017.


conversation-prism-influencers




The prism lends itself to tracking history, but also helping narrow down what sites your consumer will be using and for what reasons.




The Rest

When looking back to 2008, the way we used the internet was completely different. Myspace was still more popular than social media sites like Facebook, which wouldn’t surpass Myspace until 2009. Taking a snapshot of the year and how we used the internet is shown in a graph called the “Conversation Prism”. Since its inception in 2008, the prism has grown from 22 to 28 different categories that track how we continue to use the internet. The prism lends itself to tracking history, but also helping narrow down what sites your consumer will be using and for what reasons. If you’re looking to have an event, this prism will tell you what the top event hosting websites are.

Save your company time and money by focusing your effort on specific sites that hit the categories of consumers that you’re trying to reach. The internet is constantly evolving in how people interact with it, shown by how much the Conversation Prism has grown. People are interacting in much more specific and complex ways as the internet grows as a marketplace.

Having influencers who are on various platforms helps do most of the research for you as a brand. For every website in the chart, there is authoritative users who understand the individual needs of the user on it. Taking advantage of these influencers helps increase your reach on these platforms from an inside voice.

Moral of the Story

One year you know everything about your targeted platforms, a few years later they might be obsolete. In less than ten years the internet and the users have changed drastically, and it will continue to change. Keeping up to date with charts like the Conversation Prism will help develop you develop more of an awareness with the current state of the internet. “It’s meant to remind the viewer that social media is about the people in the center of their online experiences. Social media is much more than a series of broadcast networks. You shape the experiences of others as they shape your online experiences,” Brian Solis, founder of the “Conversation Prism” said. Knowing how your company interacts with the prism can change social perception of your brand and how you cater to your consumers.

Little tip from the Top

Hitting the major sites is important, but also take notice of what sites you aren’t utilizing. They made the “Conversation Prism” for a reason. Although the user base may be smaller, they tend to be very dedicated users who keep that site or platform alive for a reason. Much like the micro-influencer, smaller platforms have a lot to offer once they are invested in.

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