Social Media on the Internet - Literature review Example

? Social Media on the Internet Introduction Technological advancements that have been witnessed over the years have greatly changed the way people live and conduct business. In particular, the advancements have significantly changed the business environment and made it more competitive (Elliott, 2004). One of the greatest and most important innovations of technology is the internet that significantly facilitated the development of social media. Social media is defined as the mobile and web-based technologies that are used in turning communication into interactive dialogue(s) among individuals, communities, and organizations (Hinchcliffe et al, 2012). One of the most notable features of social media is that it has grown exponentially across the world within a very short duration compared to other business and communication tools in human history. To illustrate this phenomenon, Lee (2010) points out that while it took 13 years for television to attract over 50 million viewers and 38 years for radio to attract about 50 million listeners, it took 4 years only for internet to attract 50 million participants. He further points out that it took social media platform, Facebook, one and a half years to attract the same number of participants. There has been raging debate on whether the availability and use of social media on the internet is useful to businesses in regard to providing them with new and different useful information. This paper will discuss how the availability and use of social media on the internet really provide businesses with new and different useful information. Historically, technology has been injected and adopted into the society as well as the business world and it has often required that there be a radical shift in business and cultural processes and practices (Lincoln, 2009). Social media is one such kind of technology in the business world. Unlike other types of technologies, social media technology greatly reflects the social behavior of people. Social media is also unique in the sense that it allows anybody to produce media content and deliver it by interactive communication. Qualman (2010) notes that the available statistics show that social media has established itself as the media of choice around the world over the last 4 years, with over a quarter of the world population using one type of social media or another. The growth of social media has been so tremendous such that social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter have grown rapidly and have gradually relegated other forms of advertising such as print advertisements, and threatened them with extinction (Nair, 2011). The popularity of the use of social media on the internet can be attributed to four reasons. To start with, users can get the latest information on virtually anything they want. Secondly, it satisfies the desires of the users of expressing themselves. Users are also able to see how individuals and groups that they are interested in are doing therefore getting more satisfaction. Finally, it helps people to escape from their day-to-day routine by providing alternative ways of using time (Lee, 2010). The fact that social media has experienced exponential growth over the years cannot be disputed. However, there has been debate on whether the availability and use of social media on the internet really provides businesses with new and different useful information. The response to this question has been two-fold: on one side, there are those who believe that it does provide businesses with new and different useful information, while on the other side there are those who believe that it does not (Nair, 2011). While the later side has its reasons for taking that position, there is a greater consensus among those engaged in this debate that, indeed, the availability and use of social media on the internet provides businesses with new and different useful information (Hinchcliffe et al., 2012). So, how does the use of social media on the internet provides businesses with new and different useful information? Before explaining how this happens, it is important to point out that while many people use social media, most businesses are actually yet to use it although the number of those using it keeps increasing at a considerable rate. It is also worth noting that the very nature of the availability and use of social media in respect to cost, time, relations, and audience has enabled many business including the smaller ones to adopt it as a business tool (Lee, 2010). The availability and use of social media on the internet provides businesses with new and useful information in a timely and durable manner. Information in the social media on issues such as customer feedback is distributed rapidly compared to other forms of media (Lincoln, 2009). In addition, this information is durable in the sense that it has long-lasting impact to the business and other users. Users including businesses can create content very fast and post them on the social media platforms such as twitter and Facebook. Moreover, unlike the mass media, users of social media such as YouTube can disseminate content right away without meeting stringent requirements of distributing information (Shah, 2010). The impact of the content distributed is continuous after it has been released because most of the social media content can be saved and re-uploaded, even after the source has been deleted (Qualman, 2010). In addition, the availability and use of the social media on the internet provide businesses with different and new useful information in a plural and diverse way. The information in the social media can be transferred to a more diverse range of audience or people compared to other types of media (Hinchcliffe et al, 2012). It makes content to be more easily distributed to a large number of people because the networks are formed through voluntary connection, which requires fewer information sharing steps. Another way through which social media provides businesses with new and different useful information is through receiving of information through other forms of media (Chaney, 2009). The use of social media provides a platform through which content can be transmitted to the wider public from another form of media. For instance, blog content can be linked into Facebook or twitter and then reported through mass media (Nair, 2011). Another feature of social media that enables businesses to obtain new and different useful information is that social media transcends class and nationality. In other words, it can deliver different and new useful information to virtually any part of the world (Lincoln, 2009). It is also worth noting that the availability and use of social media on the internet provides businesses with different and new useful information in a more feasible and effective way. Obtaining and distributing information have been relatively costly ventures over the years. This has considerably limited the obtaining and distribution of different and new useful information of business (Qualman, 2010). However, since the advent of social media, this has changed, as businesses have been able to obtain and distribute information in less costly way. Social media reduces the costs of obtaining information as the distribution phase necessary in mass media is done away with. Most of the social media outlets are accessed at lower costs or in some cases, free of charge. This results to high feasibility and effectiveness in obtaining and distributing information for businesses (Lee, 2010). Similarly, through the availability and use of social media, businesses can develop target groups and issue-by-issue promotion and advertising at a lower cost. This will allow them to distribute information to the target customers and get useful feedback from them, as well as obtain business-to-business information from other businesses at lower cost and much faster (Hinchcliffe, et al., 2012). Social media platform such as YouTube offers free statistical data on access regions, gender, age, and time of access, which provides new and different useful information of consumption patterns, demographics, and lifestyles. Furthermore, the availability and use of social media on the internet provides businesses with different and new useful information by forging relationships. Social media tends to create friendly and credible relationships that are critical in obtaining and distributing information to target audience (Nair, 2011). Unlike the traditional method of one-way communication, social media relationships are formed based through interactions and adding each other as friends. Therefore, trust-building and sincere communication is possible. When companies openly share their daily events, they are able to show the friendly image and unique traits of their brands (Lincoln, 2009). More importantly, social media encourages customer participation in various issues, innovative campaigns, and events. Such participations are very important in providing businesses with different and new information from the existing and potential customers. The information obtained from the customers is useful to the businesses in the sense that it enables them to know the areas that they need improve on and the areas that satisfy customers and that they need to strengthen (Shah, 2010). Ordinarily, information can be distorted or misunderstood and this may have devastating impact to any business. The availability and use of social media on the internet has proved essential in ensuring that distortions and misunderstandings are minimized or eliminated (Chaney, 2009). This is because social media offers a platform for interactive communication, which can eliminate misunderstandings that can occur in one-way communication. This aspect is particularly important in building corporate trust and enhancing customer loyalty (Lee, 2010). Furthermore, through social media, businesses will be able to get information that may tarnish their reputation and therefore work towards eliminating misunderstandings and improve their corporate reputations. Besides, since social media allows businesses of all kinds including competitors to share in the platform, businesses have the opportunity of watching competition closely (Hinchcliffe et al, 2012). A business can monitor the activities of its competitors and learn or even mimic them when appropriate. It allows businesses to get quick and reliable information regarding their competitors and find ways of countering the competition in order to improve their performance (Clapperton, 2009). Conclusion From this discussion, it is evidently clear that technology has had tremendous impact on the business environment across the world. One of the technological innovations that have brought immense changes in the business environment is the internet. The availability and the use of social media on the internet have grown rapidly over the years and have attracted a significant number of users within a comparatively short period. Businesses have realized that social media can be an important business tool and they are increasingly adopting it. However, there is still debate on whether the availability and use of social media on the internet can really provide businesses with new and different useful information. As has been noted in the discussion, the use of social media can indeed provide businesses with different and new useful information. Social media is valuable to businesses in four main aspects: costs, relations, audience, and time. It enables businesses to obtain and even distribute information in a faster and more durable way. In addition, it allows businesses to obtain diverse information from different audiences, which are important in business decision-making process. More importantly, social media provides businesses with different and new useful information in most effective and less expensive ways. Finally, the availability and use of social media on the internet enhances business relations by creating a friendly and credible environment to interact. References Chaney, P. (2009). The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media. New York: Wiley & Sons. Clapperton, G. (2009). This is Social Media: Tweet, Blog, Link and Post Your Way to Business Success. Oxford: Capstone. Elliott, G. (2004). Global business information technology: An integrated systems approach. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Hinchcliffe, D et al. (2012). Social Business By Design: Transformative Social Media Strategies for the Connected Company. Jossey-Bass. Lee, D. (2010). Growing Popularity of Social Media and Business Strategy. SERI Quarterly, 3(4), 112-117. Lincoln, S. (2009). Mastering Web 2.0: Transform Your Business Using Key Website and Social Media Tools. London: Kogan Page. Nair, M. (2011). Understanding and measuring the value of social media. Journal Of Corporate Accounting & Finance (Wiley), 22(3), 45-51. Qualman, E. (2010). Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Shah, R. (2010). Social Networking for Business: Choosing the Right Tools and Resources to Fit Your Needs. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Read More