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Anastasia Balezdrova 

Where could most Greeks be met? The answer is: in social networks that are part of everyday life for millions of them.

Social networking websites are potentially considered the Eldorado of brands. But what have they done to fully use this "golden thread"? 

Greek and foreign specialists in the field of social media presented the results of their experience within the conference on "When you dig in the social goldmine", organized by Boussias Conferences.  The organisation has produced more than 130 conferences in just 7 years, bringing forward up-to-date international know-how, and offering services which prove to be a valuable asset to the critical mission of professionals in Greece.

According to them all, the fastest growing social network seems to be Facebook. The number of people who had profiles on the site was 200 million in January 2009 and their number could reach one billion in November 2011 if it continues to develop by the same dynamics.
 
At the same time, people continue to largely use traditional media, especially when they want to be informed of any special event. But as soon as they see some news on the TV or hear it on the radio, they "enter" the social networks to comment, criticize or just talk about it.

"Recent events in Egypt are a typical example of the power of social networks. The people there planned their protests on Facebook, coordinated them on Twitter and posted them on Youtube", said the manager of one of the largest polls agencies in Greece Dimitris Mavros. In his opinion, the next term for social media is "winning media". "On the one hand, this term means that users have won them and on the other, that brands have to win them." He defined personal websites and applications as personal media, and the traditional media, i.e. TV, radio, press – as paid media.

According to most studies worldwide, every user on Facebook has 150 friends on average. When the person publishes or comments on something it is very likely for many of them to read the comments or see the photo or video uploaded. Thus, certain information can reach indefinite and in any case a large number of people, which brands strive to target.

But can the personal and paid media exist along with the winning media?

"All research seeking answers to this question divide people according to their influence in the following categories: "Sellers," who can persuade others to do something, "Users - connecting units," which have large audiences and "Wise men," who have knowledge about what is happening to a brand or generally in society. However, there is another category of the so-called "Champions," who have a bit of everything mentioned so far. At the same time, people who write their opinions on clothes in blogs and social networks never give up paid media. The same applies to all areas of trade; therefore, the first conclusion is that these two worlds do not oppose one another."

However, the content that users create can not replace the professional work of specialists, so it can only be supportive.

Some international companies have already managed to take advantage of this dynamics of the social media. A world famous brand of home furniture and equipment has made a Facebook page and uploads pictures of its products, and users have the opportunity to "tag" themselves and their friends. Thus, a link to the specific page has appeared in their profile and their friends are able to see it and examine it. So, the company has reached hundreds of thousands of users and effectively advertised itself, without spending any money for this.

Social networks have created in their continuous development process working tools, which can be especially helpful for the brands. "When we look at our "wall" on Facebook, we do not really see everything but things we probably would like. This is the result of our personal preferences, which we show when we "like" certain things," is the opinion of specialists. They believe that companies can benefit even from blogs if they use them in proper manner. "The people write blogs about things that concern them, they are dominated by emotions. So, we need to be careful not to provoke negative reactions in an attempt to launch or defend our product from negative criticism," said Eleni Yanakaki - account manager, Hill & Knowlton PR.

"Listen, influence, be familiar with the things from technical point of view, act quickly and have impact," are the five rules of Katy Howell, who thinks that social media has radically changed the PR’s work. She is the managing director of  the British company Immediate Future and an expert in public relations and social media issues. 
 
The conference took place in a hall full of people and the organizers had to bring additional folding chairs. The opportunities offered by social media were duly appreciated by the participants, who expressed their hope that they could help revive the economic life of Greece shattered by the financial crisis.