Overview and Advertisement related to Social Networking - Essay Example

AR Social Networking Overview and Advertisement related to Social Networking 16 Social software consist a large number of soft wares which helps the users to interact with each other, share data in form of pictures and media, learn new stuff and entertain ourselves with games and many different tools. It has been noticed that these social networks have grown over the time and are now considered as important tools of social interaction in the society. Not only social interaction but these networks also provide ways to bring innovation in the society by introducing the latest setups which include advertising of products and services. This essay would further highlight the aspects of social networking and would give an overview as to how these social networks are providing ways of improving the society. It would also put forward the innovations that social networking has bought forward with regard to comparison of advertisement through Facebook and the traditional word of mouth (Doyle 2007, Sylvia 2007 & Mooney 2009). Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 General Features of Social Networks 4 History of a Specific Social Network (Facebook) 5 Advertisements in Social Networks and the programs used by Facebook 6 Researches on Word of Mouth and Social Networking Advertisement 7 Privacy Settings in Social Networks 11 Uses of Social Softwares 12 Conclusion 14 BIBLIOGRAPHY 16 Introduction There were times when people had very less friends, they used to socialize very less, there were very less options a person could consult with or people had to go to professional consultants for advise, they had to spend a large some of money for data they required. People used to have very less material for entertainment and people found or referred there life as boring due to less activities and social life, that part of time was when there was no social soft wares or very less soft wares with very limited options in it like MSN and Yahoo messenger which allowed it’s users to interact with different people by finding there email identities and adding them in their messenger software to interact or share different utilities, but this was limited only from one to one user until soft wares like Face book came into being. Nowadays in the modern world the rise of different communication setups can be witnessed. Many things can be included in these communication setups such as Msn Messenger Yahoo Messenger and other similar services. Similarly with the advent of new technologies it is witnessed that social communication through websites is on the rise. Social Communication websties such as Facebook and Myspace are real life examples of such a service. Facebook and Myspace which were originally developed to serve a single community have now been expanded all over the world. Both of these entitites started off with college students and they have now turned out to be world changing entitites. The popularity of these social networking websites has increased such that even the third world countries avail the services provided by these websites (Mooney 2009, Alemán & Wartman 2009 & Liebowitz 2007) General Features of Social Networks Myspace and Facebook have general features set up which help other companies and websites to advertise themselves on these entitites. This inturn helps them to gain profit from these companies if they put their advert on facebook or myspace. Usually these networking sites have a scheme known as click on advert gain. Through this scheme the entitites gain on every click that a user does on the adverts. And as it can be viewed facebook and myspace has several adverts on its site which can help them incur profits. Moreover specific companies are also promoted through these websites because of which these entitites are paid for. And as these entitites have expanded all over the world now the charges that they charge for adverts have even increased more. Both these entitites enjoy the membership of millions of users. And these millions of users use the adverts at sometime so as to create profit for these entitites indirectly (Rutledge 2008). The social networking sites have expanded so much that a lot of users have entered the social arena. Because of the free membership no one can be disallowed until certain clauses are broken. Individuals even from the negative sect of the world can join facebook or myspace so as to track the whereabouts of other people. It can freely help individuals in tracking people until certain privacy settings are set up. Usually people tend to put up their photos on their profiles and these photos can thereafter be used in the wrong terms by the wrong individuals. Similarly the information that the users put on their profile should be limited i.e. they should not be giving off their whereabouts or any personal data. As if the privacy settings are not set up by the user everyone can view his/her whereabouts and personal data. And this on the other hand can cause problems to the users. Moreover, when giving membership to a certain individual these sites do not need any verification. Thus the system can be conned easily by the individuals because of which these individuals cannot be tracked back (Mintel International Group Ltd 2008). History of a Specific Social Network (Facebook) Face book is advertised as “an online directory that connects people through social networks at schools, collages, universities and region.” Started in 2004 by students of Harvard University. About 85% of students in supported colleges have a profile up on FaceBook.75% of students sign in at least once every 24 hours. 9th most visited site on the internet. 250 million hits every day. It is a type of social software which helps its users to interact with each other with the help of different built in applications with help of which its users can connect directly to each other when they are online or leave important and cute messages when they are not online. Face book even comprises of an option in which people can make different social and educational groups and communities, people can join these groups and can interact with different people in the group to gain ideas, or can share their own opinion, this software also contain options like video sharing, music sharing, photo sharing and online gaming for all age groups so people and users of Facebook around the globe can keep them selves busy and entertained. Facebook even gives an option in the face of market place application where buyers and sellers can advertise there goods and services for free. Facebook allows it’s users to make a photo profile for them selves in which they can enter information about themselves for others to view and one might be lucky to be selected for a job or as a life partner. Facebook even acts as matrimonial software which helps its user to find a perfect soul mate for him or her self. Facebook is like an internet store but the difference is that almost every thing is without any cost. One of the greatest benefits of using face book is that it doesn’t allow explicit stuff at a wide range and who so ever exploits the condition is banned and it also gives privacy to its user which is very well protected. My experience on Facebook tells that it is one of the best social software ever made and it has been able to destroy the market of all its competitors like Hi5, Orkut etc, as it provides the most options a user would want in a social software (Mooney 2009). Advertisements in Social Networks and the programs used by Facebook Businesses thrive on referrals, and online media allows referrals to spread from across the block to across the world. Facebook’s digital word-of-mouth advertisings through Social Ads and Beacon program are a unique phenomenon. Social Ads are contextual advertisements targeting users based on their preferences. Beacon program allows display of information of Web Activities of its users on their profile, where it can be viewed by their network of friends. Beacon fuelled controversy when some Facebook users discovered that their friends were being sent automated messages on the basis of those users Web Activities. Inevitably privacy issues erupted. In its defense Facebook maintains that it does not allow such information to be displayed on profiles of its users unless the users have approved of it first when they are making the purchase and second when they visit Facebook (Smith & Coyle 2007). According to Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Facebook’s advertising initiatives raise a crucial question that when users go on one website, do they reasonably expect their information to be transferred to another site? This is no single answer to this. Researches on Word of Mouth and Social Networking Advertisement According to a post by Adrants regarding the validity of P&G’s Vocalpoint which provides marketing services based on Digital Word of Mouth marketing:“While test market pilots proved Procter & Gambles word of mouth arm, Vocalpoint, is a success and increases sales, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and Gary Ruskins Commercial Alert are not pleased with Vocalpoints army of 600,000 moms who spread buzz about P&G products and others because Vocalpoint does not require its "connectors" to disclose who they work for, a key tenet in the Word of Mouth Marketing Associations Code of Ethics.” This takes us to the next issue involving the business side of such programs. Will such programs have the same persuasive affect as the traditional word of mouth? Social networks and viral media have become the new lifestyle habit of choice. With an estimated 173 million social network users in the US alone, Internet communities have broken the marketing process wide-open (Paula Neal Money, 2007). According to a research carried out by eMarketer, there were 32 million moms online in 2005 accounting for approximately one-third of all female US online users. Considering the communication patterns of women one finds that women want to connect and engage. For moms, the Web is not just a time-saving tool; its an extension of their peer-to-peer networks. Digital word of mouth clearly has an important role to play here (How Many Moms Are Online?, 2008). A global study carried out in 2006 by GfK Roper Consulting reveals that people are considered to be the most “trustworthy” source for consumer information. Around 70% of consumers across the world trust friends, family or other people when searching for information or ideas on products to buy. Advertising is ranked second (59%), editorial third (55%) and online resources fourth (18%). On the other hand US citizens put people first (81%), editorial second (56%), advertising third (55%) and online fourth (24%) (Again, more proofs that People Trust and "Word" are Key to Decision Making, 2006). According to a report published in 2006 carried out in collaboration by Northeastern University and BzzAgent, Inc. indicate that for communication medium Face-to-face is consistently high across all age groups (nearly 80%) with no significant differences (Carl Walter 2006). According to new data from Publicis media network ZenithOptimedia (AdAge, April, 2008 Touchpoints ROI Tracker); recommendations from family and friends influence consumers the most. Analysis from the Top 30 UK Online Retail Satisfaction Index, January 2008 reveal that consumer product reviews improve satisfaction, although retailers have not understood their actual potential. Satisfaction for those who recalled customer reviews on the retailers’ site is 10% higher than those who said there were no reviews offered. Loyalty is also increased, as evidenced by 7% higher likelihood to purchase online, 8% greater likelihood to purchase from the retailer next time they’re buying similar merchandise and 11% greater likelihood to recommend the site to others (Industry Statistics). Another study carried out by infoGROUP which was brought to light in July, 2008 shows that a whopping eighty-three percent of respondents polls indicated that online product evaluations and reviews had at least some level of influence on their purchasing decisions. Seventy percent of respondents said they seek out information online for a particular brand of goods and services, with travel, recreation and leisure at the top of list of services most researched. Though the majority of consumers surveyed said they sought out online reviews, only 32 percent reported posting their own online feedback on product or service experiences. According to the survey by Society for New Communications Research, May 2008, 74% of consumers researched agree—including 14% who strongly agree—that they choose companies and brands based on what others say online about their customer service experiences. This study is one the latest ones and clearly it outlines the importance of advertising through digital word of mouth for companies. A study by Prospectiv in 2008 illustrates that 70% of online consumers use internet to research for grocery products. The figure is slightly less for consumers researching for products in general (not specifically grocery products) using internet according to a research by Accenture in 2008. An interesting study by iMedia Connection in February 2008 involving online marketers highlights that 68% of online marketers believe "media is in big trouble and will lose dollars to user-generated content." A 1to1 media survey of the 1to1 Xchange panel revealed in 2008 illustrates that by 2020, 84% of marketers agree that building customer trust will become marketings primary objective, and 82% agree that collaboration with customers will prevail over marketing. A study carried out by eTailing Group, 2008 suggest that 11% of retailers reported a 20% or more overall increase in conversions as a result of adding reviews to their sites, 21% reported an 11% to 20% increase and 5% reported a 1% to 10% increase. According to HitWise, 2008, the share of traffic to question-and-answer Web sites has more than doubled from 2007 to 2008. Another interesting study by comScore Media Metrix in March 2008 pointed out that Yahoo Answers had 25.3 million visits in February 2008. ForeSee Results in 2008 indicate that during the 2007 holiday season, consumers who recalled seeing customer reviews on a Web site reported 9% higher customer satisfaction levels, 9% more likely to make a purchase and 8% more likely to purchase the next time they came to that site. A recent CMO Council study, titled "Customer Affinity, a new measure of marketing," found that 46% of IT decision makers (B2B) find peer recommendations to be the most important source of information and advice in shaping purchasing decisions. Management experts Treacy and Wiersema have outlined three core business strategies for success: operational excellence, product differentiation, and customer intimacy. Companies are increasingly focusing on customer intimacy. Facebook adopting Digital Word of Mouth phenomenon through programs such as Beacon and Social Ads appears to appreciate the growing importance of this marketing strategy and understands the financial gains it can have by acting as a platform for this phenomenon. As mentioned earlier clearly Facebook has to face privacy concerns by its users. Facebook’s Beacon program allows display of its user’s web activities on their profiles which can be watched by their friends. For instance if a user buys certain product from ecommerce site, that information can be collected and displayed on the user’s profile. We can take the example of a weight control exercise gym. If a user buys membership of such a gym online, this information can be displayed on that user’s profile. Clearly not many users will be happy by this (Smith et al 2007). However there are users who don’t seem to mind such marketing innovations being adopted by Facebook. They are of the view that when users join such social networks their aim is to find who they share things in common with. Analyst Charlene Li at Forrester Research is of the view that Facebook needs to reconsider the notification mechanism regarding such programs. Efforts should be made to the effect that users are clearly aware of the implications of accepting their web activities being displayed on their profile. Some people believe that with the passage of time the surprise element will be of less value and more and more people will understand the implications of agreeing to be part of such programs (Marconi 2001) An amateur expert of web designing Jaffer Hussain suggests that an easy way by which users can prevent their web activities being collected by other sites is to configure the browser to not accept any third party cookies since Beacon is done with cookies. If this works it sure sounds easy. (Ray 2008). Privacy Settings in Social Networks How Beacon operates can be understood by the following example. If a friend finds certain book very interesting or books a vacation at a travel site, a ‘News Feed’ item indicating the friend’s activities will appear along with related or relevant ads on the user’s page. The social ads could even appear with a friend’s photo marked ‘sponsored’. External sites such as eBay and Fandago use coding, called a Beacon, which detect a friend’s activities. The biographical information of the user is used to channel the appropriate ads to the user’s site. For instance, advertisers can limit their target customers to a certain age level, gender, or leisure/interest. Companies can create pages and add Beacons for free. But companies which advertise in Facebook do not have access to individuals’ profiles the way their friends do. This is a big plus point of Facebook. So all in all Facebook’s Beacon program appears to be a good step and is most likely going to benefit Facebook over the coming times because a large number of researches and studies indicate that because of the personal nature of the communications between individuals product information communicated in this way has an added layer of credibility and Facebook, considering its immense popularity which is ever increasing day by day; is definitely a best platform available to companies wishing to benefit from Digital Word of Mouth marketing strategies. Social media gives word-of-mouth nearly limitless reach. If Word of Mouth was limited to face-to-face communication, it would have limited reach. However, online communities and social media extend the reach of WOM. This clearly shows that information diffusion through social networking has increased so widely that individuals even visit these sites so that they can know about specific products and services (Espejo 2008, Michman & Mazze 2006 & Ray 2008). Uses of Social Softwares Social software as we all now know is a way of communication, interaction, sharing and learning, it has changed and is affecting the traditional ways of teaching, learning and communicating. In olden days students had to contact there friends for any information they required which was costly and time consuming but now blogs a type of social software allows students from around the globe to post there data and information they have on any subject so other students can use that information if possible which saves time and cost both. Teaching was considered a job when students and lecturers come together to one place called school and sit in a class room and interact with each other on any subject but now the meaning of teaching and learning have been changed as with the help of YouTube and other video sharing soft wares teachers and universities can upload videos and practical on the social software and students can easily watch these videos and learn from that which again saves cost and time. The two ways of social soft wares affecting our traditional ways of teaching, learning and communicating are both offline ways, there are online ways by which all these ways of interaction can be made possible as there are online social soft wares which help the members included in the professions stated above can interact with each other at the same time, for example a teacher can go online from their own personal computers and students from their own and interact online. Many people in this world are still not ready to accept that social software is an appropriate way in which learning and teaching and communicating be done as they think if people interact with each other, face to face is better as one would be able to make his opinion about the other person by direct interaction and still the world comprises of bugs which make modern technology to fail (Alemán & Wartman 2009, Mooney 2009 & Liebowitz 2007). Information diffusion through the softwares has become so steady and smooth that people usually tend to share information through these sites. The social networking sites have expanded so much that a lot of users have entered the social arena. Because of the free membership no one can be disallowed until certain clauses are broken. Individuals even from the negative sect of the world can join facebook or myspace so as to track the whereabouts of other people. It can freely help individuals in tracking people until certain privacy settings are set up. This can be considered as a disadvantage of using these social networking sites. Advertising as mentioned above has become an important criteria for these social networking sites as they are playing a major role in advertising products and services. While hindering and posing problems to individuals who do not want to share their personal things with other individuals the social networking sites provide other opportunities which over shadow its disadvantages. The aspect of these social networking sites has grown at such a level that individuals belonging to different parts of the world can contact and become close. Not only this social networking sites have also improved the arena of entertainment. Games and other forms of entertainment can be enjoyed if one undergoes the experience of social networking sites. Facebook Orkut and My Space are currently the leading social networking sites (Smith et al 2007, Doyle 2007 & Sylvia 2007). Conclusion The social networking sites help its users to interact with each other with the help of different built in applications with help of which its user can connect directly to each other when they are online or leave important and cute messages when they are offline. This software is not only limited to students or teenagers, it is even in use of teachers and adults who can help there students by posting different educational content in the profiles of their students so the content can easily sort out the problems of the students. Thus it provides a medium for interaction, fun, knowledge, creativity, advertisement and entertainment. Not only this the social networking sites are improving he sector of advertising by providing opportunities to the companies to advertise their products and services. As given above the different researches clearly show that these social networking sites are playing a crucial role in increasing the sales of a product and service. The companies are earning a profit by using different methods and giving opportunities to companies so that they can advertise is a way through which the networking sites are making this profit. All these aspects mentioned above clearly show that social networking sites are becoming useful in the daily lives of people. However on the other hand these social networking sites may also have its bad effects. Time spent online is time taken away from studies, extracurricular activities, and other social interactions as it is seen that most of the users of these social networking sites are students. Student’s online disclosure of illegal activities, such as substance abuse, can be used if students come under investigation for related offenses. The information posted may be false and/or misleading, advertisers and marketers may gain the ability to tap into more information about individuals than they have ever had. And lastly the privacy of individuals is not maintained as per the level in the normal world. But here again social networking sites are improving their whole system by introducing programs and softwares which would limit the privacy settings. And by adopting such a way the leakage of important information may be avoided (Mooney 2009 & Liebowitz 2007). In my opinion usage of social networking websites should be encouraged in our daily lives as these sites help an individual to learn and entertain himself. BIBLIOGRAPHY Top of Form Mooney, C. (2009). Online social networking. Detroit: Lucent Books. Top of Form Liebowitz, J. (2007). Social networking: The essence of innovation. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. Top of Form Mintel International Group Ltd. (2008). Online social networking. 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Future marketing targeting seniors, Boomers, and Generation X and Y. Lincolnwood, Ill: NTC Business Books. Michman, R. D., & Mazze, E. M. (2006). The affluent consumer: marketing and selling the luxury lifestyle. Westport, Conn: Praeger. Read More