The Role of Social Networking Websites for Business Enterprise - Coursework Example

Social Networking Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Advantages of social networking 3 Advantages of social networking Websites tosmall and medium enterprises 5 Conclusion 7 References 7 Introduction Social networking is defined as an online community that allow people to develop profiles of their backgrounds and interests, communicate with friends and strangers, and share thoughts, photos, Internet links, music etc (Vermaat and Shelly 2006). Social networking has changed the way people communicate and interact with each other. Social media involves more than sharing stories, photos, and involves the use of applications as well as messaging to communicate with friends and relatives (Hartley 2010, 67). The first type of social networking was Electronic mail (Email) which was invented in the year 1975. This application allowed the sending and receiving of digital messages through a computer network. Each social networking site offers unique features. The social networking concept did not become popular until the year 2003 when social networking websites like Friendster, LinkedIn and MySpace were launched. In the year 2004, Facebook was launched but with certain restrictions. Facebook was accessible only to the college students until the year 2006 (Shih 2009). These social communities are built on the features of Web 2.0 technology; a platform for social website which allows group of web applications to provide ideological and technological basis for social networking websites and allows the web to exchange and design the user-generated content. Social networking websites are very informative and also help in finding locations of shops, restaurants, universities, banks etc. These websites facilitate communications between friends and relatives and help in improving the creativity skills of an individual by sharing opinions, stories, pictures and music. Advantages of social networking Social networking websites have benefitted teenagers, youth, school children and the business enterprises. It has transformed the process of communication. Social networking websites has become very mobile and can be accessed through gadgets like cellular phones, tablets etc. The use of social networking websites increased with the innovation of gadgets. Access of these websites from the cellular phone unlocks the full potential of social network and makes it more convenient for people to use them. Since it is more convenient to access through cellular phones and other gadgets, the number of users of cellular phones and social networking has increased significantly. Let us discuss the benefits associated with the usage of social networking websites: 1. The social networking websites helps in sharing of knowledge and spreading of information more than any other websites. In USA and UK, 65 percent of the media news reporter and editors of news channels like Reuters, BBC News, and CNN use websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. 27.8 percent of the Americans access social networking websites for breaking news headlines (Social Networking Pro Con 2013). 2. Social networking websites has helped in innovation of new devices. In 2011, New York City Police Department (NYPD) added a tracking unit on Twitter website. The NYPD has arrested many criminals using the social networking websites who have bragged of their crimes online (Social Networking Pro Con 2013). 3. The collective value of all social networks is defined as social capital. Social capital occurs when various groups, friends, relatives, companies and employees come together to interact with each other. It creates value for the people who are connected with each other. Social capital includes examples like candidates running for office elections, exchanging ideas through a social platform etc (University of Minnesota 2008). For example Barack Obama had used social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in interacting with the common people. His political party spent around $2 million in election campaigning and building a social networking site known as MyBarackobama.com. Social networking website increases voter participation among their friends and relatives. In the year 2010, people who visited Facebook website at least 2.5 times in a day were likely to attend a political meeting or rally. In the year 2012, 22 percent of the registered voters posted on websites of Facebook and Twitter about how they voted (Social Networking Pro Con 2013). 4. Social networking websites have created millions of job opportunities for many employees. According to a survey conducted by McKinsey Global Institute, it was forecasted that communication and collaboration from social networking websites could generate revenue of $900 billion through improved customer service (Social Networking Pro Con 2013). 5. The practice of applying social computing principles and technologies to support the product development process, innovation and business goals is defined as social product innovation. Most of the companies like Nestle, Nivea, and L’Oreal use social networking websites to invent new products and processes. Social networking websites also helps the companies to improvise their production process. 6. Social networking websites helps in quick and easy dissemination of public health and safety information. 7. The principals of colleges and universities use social networking websites to recruit teachers (Social Networking Pro Con 2013). Advantages of social networking Websites to small and medium enterprises Small and medium enterprises (SME) are considered as an important part of the economy of a country. There are 2.7 million SMEs in UK that contributes 40 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of UK. SME are regarded as an important source of innovation. In UK, the government regards SMEs to be a potential source for strengthening the economy (North West Regional Development Agency 2012). They are considered as potential source for regional and national economic development. The business enterprises communicate with the suppliers, customers through social networking websites (Arca 2012). It keeps them informed about the day to day business activities and about the changing tastes and preferences of consumers. This platform can be used to communicate about the product development of the business enterprise and gather responses from consumers through websites like Twitter, Facebook etc (Arca 2012). The target of 1.5 million small and business enterprises to embrace social networking technologies (Vermaat and Shelly 2006) by the end of the year 2002 has already been achieved (Government Office for the Northwest 2008). The business enterprises need to respond to the changing environment of the market. Social networking websites are a great platform for promotional activities. Promotion through social networking websites attracts attention of the potential customers and keeps them informed about the latest activities of the business enterprises. User-Generated Content Promotions are used by business enterprises to engage with customers on a social media platform by encouraging them to write about the reasons behind the likeness of their product (Merrill et al. 2011). Social media is a very good platform to reach a large number of potential customers, existing customers and shareholders (Sethi 2010). UK government encourages the SMEs to adopt social networking technologies, as the government perceives SMEs as a medium for innovative and entrepreneurial activities. Apart from innovation, the social networking websites helps the business enterprises to recruit employees (Dasgupta 2009, 76). Social networking has helped the business enterprises to archive employee photos, video conferences and other multimedia content. The managers of the company create podcasts to spread the mission and objectives of the company (Merrill et al. 2011). Most of the business enterprises have developed content sharing software which enables the employees to access information related to work (Vermaat and Shelly 2006). Multimedia content like photos and videos can be stored in a document management system which helps to archive information about important events and projects (Vermaat and Shelly 2006). Social networking has its share of disadvantages also, 49 percent of the people residing in US have heard unreliable and false information through social networking websites. The social networking websites lacks privacy and the information is very open. There are risks associated with the usage of social networking websites; these risks are perceived to be a threat to the business enterprises (Merrill et al. 2011). It can hamper the reputation and increase the reputational risk of the business enterprises. In April 2009, two employees of National pizza delivery chain made a prank video in which the employees had contaminated the sandwich. This prank video was posted on YouTube. This incident had drawn millions of viewers and had tarnished the image of the company. The company responded immediately by claiming it to be false information spread by the employees (Merrill et al. 2011). The social networking websites can pose to be a threat as it can increase the security risk of the company. Security breaches mostly occur due to the malware applications downloaded by an employee from a company website. Applications like “phishing” or “click-jacking” on a social networking website harms the computers and also enables the hackers to download important information from the company website (Merrill et al. 2011). There are legal risks associated with the usage of social networking website. If an employer decides to fire an employee based on Facebook or Twitter interactions then the business enterprise can expect a legal notice from the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) (Merrill et al. 2011). The misuse of social networking websites can also invite property risk, if an employee posts information which belongs to another employee then he/she might be breaching the terms and conditions of Patents and Copyrights act (Merrill et al. 2011). Conclusion Social networking websites are very powerful tools that can be useful as well as harmful to an individual and business enterprise. It has benefitted the common people by providing jobs to millions of people. The usage of social networking websites should be done cautiously and judiciously. Social networking websites are susceptible to security attacks such as hacking and viruses. Posting of Private and personal information may lead to problems and controversies which might hamper the self image of a person. References Arca, Celine. 2012. Social Media Marketing Benefits for Businesses Why and How Should Every Business Create and Develop Its Social Media Sites? Accessed March 08, http://projekter.aau.dk/projekter/files/63562608/CelineArca_MScInternationalMarketing_MasterThesis2012.pdf. Dasgupta, Subhasish. 2009. Social Computing: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications. Pennsylvania: Idea Group Inc. Government Office for the Northwest. 2008. North West of England plan Regional Spatial Strategy to 2021. Accessed March 08 http://www.4nw.org.uk/downloads/documents/oct_08/nwra_1224255799_Final_adopted_RSS_300908_Conte.pdf. Hartley, Darin. 2010. 10 Steps to Successful Social Networking for Business. Virginia: American Society for Training and Development. Merrill, Toby, Latham Kenneth, Santalesa Richard, Navetta David. 2011. Social Media: The Business Benefits Maybe Enormous, But Can the Risks --Reputational, Legal, Operational—be mitigated? Accessed 08 March, http://www.acegroup.com/us-en/assets/ace-progress-report-social-media.pdf. North West Regional Development Agency. 2012. Business, People and Places. Accessed March 08, http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120325084815/http:/www.nwda.co.uk/pdf/Legacy%20-%20Part%202.pdf. Sethi, Anjanee, and Adhikari Bhavana. 2010. Business Communication. Noida: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Shih, Clara. 2009. The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Social Networking Pro Con. 2013. Are social networking sites good for our society? Accessed March 08, http://socialnetworking.procon.org/#Background. University of Minnesota. 2008. Strengthening Social Capital: Examples. Accessed March 12, http://srdc.msstate.edu/fop/levelthree/trainarc/socialcapital/strengtheningnetworks.pdf. Vermaat, Misty, E, and Shelly Gary B. 2006. Discovering Computers - Fundamentals: Your Interactive Guide to the Digital World. London: Cengage Learning. Read More