Social media as a mean to build reputation

Social media is the topic that really catches my interests in MKT595 week 2 class. The discussion on how businesses use social media to promote their brands recalls me of news about Hollywood celebrities started using Twitter as a mean to communicate their activities to fan. Nowaday it is quite usual for famous persons to use Twitter or Facebook to tell their fans about what they are doing or thinking. Thinking about this, it would be interesting to share story about social media trend in Thailand.

In Thailand, though the majority of Thais do not actively participate in social media, many people have started using them rightnow. In political field, Abhisit Vejajiva, prime minister of Thailand, is currently using facebook and have around 40,000 followers. The ministry use Facebook as a mean to communicate the prime minister's activities and build supports. Also, the number of supporters or "like" could be the popularity indicators among new generation.

In entertainment field, I have already become a fan of a Thai comedian DJ, which now she has about 20,000 fans. Also, a friend of mine, who just released her first band album last year, created her band's Facebook page quite a couple years ago and used it as a mean to post her concert videos and tell people about where and when will be the next concert.

As I started searching famous people's name, I found their page on Facebook, though I never see Thai brands on any social media sites. I don't have knowledge about how much it cost to start a page on social media or create an application that has a brand merged in it. Compare Thai market to Western market, I would expect Thai companies that particularly target at youngster will do something more than pasting banner in social media sites within 2011.