Facebook and the Web 2.0 Business Model - Term Paper Example

 Facebook and the Web 2.0 Business Model In the 21st century, the business industry has transformed with the evolution of new technological platforms that have dominated in the business world. The evolution of the computer and sophisticated mobile era has given organizations new avenues for investment and business development. Online presence has become an inevitable reality that any innovative business cannot do without. For instance, web 2.0 development has led to the upgraded of the web from the 1.0 model to the web 2.0 business model. The evolution of social sites today such as twitter, Skype, Facebook andlinked-In has formed new platform for marketing, advertisement and business internationalization. While all these avenues have their strengths in the business environment, they also have their own shortcomingsthat have negative consequences on the public and the business as well. Subjecting Facebook and the web 2.0 business models to a political economic analysis will expose their impactin the business environment. The web 2.0 business model is one of the opportunities that the business world has taken advantage of from the dynamism of the web technology. As Shuen (2008) points out, the web 2.0 is a new platform for advanced business development that is by far much superior than its predecessor the web 1.0 platform. As opposed to the web 1.0 platform that was static and one sided, this new web platform is more interactive and allows both the marketers and the customers to interact. The adoption of this new technology has a wide range of benefits to a business system. One benefit of this platform is associated with the ability for an organization to develop a concentrated website that contains all business details and product descriptions. This way, the organization can roll out its products to the customers within the internet. Given that the internet is an international platform, the business can attract customers from all over the world and push its products to the target customers in the market. Hence, the platform directly benefits the organization by increasing the number ofcustomers by capturing a wider geographical scope. Another benefit associated with the web 2.0 platform is its ability to provide a user-interactive page that allows the customers to provide their feedback and recommendations. For an organization to survive within its marketing niche, it should have a better understanding of its target customers by learning about their tastes and preferences. Through a user interactive website, the organization is able to collect information from the customers’ opinions, which can be used to redesign the products. As such, the organization will be able to produce products that best satisfy their customers and hence satisfy the market demand in a better fashion. This is an opportunity to increase sales and even achieve a higher profit profile within the market structure. Another opportunity that comes along with this platform is the ability of conducting online transactions (Breakenridge, 2008). Today, the web 2.0 platform makes it possible for an organization to carry out online selling and through smart card technology no matter where the buyers may be situated in the world. The cumulative benefit of this web technology is that organizations can push more volumes of their products as they draw a closer relationship with their customers. On the other hand, as web business becomes more sophisticated, the business is exposed to more risks and challenges arise within the organization's operations. One big risk that the organization has to live with is the risk of cybercrime that is becoming a new threat within the network. As malicious people become more acquainted with the technology, they have made online business organizations targets preys as the perpetuate cybercrime remotely. The cyber thieves are able to access private accounts and their credentials which they can use to steal from the people. For instance, today the banks are targeted by hackers who often withdraw from the accounts of their account by acting in disguise mode (United States, 2000). This has cost many banks a lot of fortune sending alarm signals to any online business investors. The cost of web security is quite expensive and at times it seems practically impossible to attain maximum security within an online network (O'Reilly and Battelle, 2004). In this regard, the web 2.0 business model has had many benefits as well as risks to the profits of the business. The social media has become another business avenue that business organizations have taken advantage to position themselves in the market. Social media services are superior in the sense that they attract many people across the world, which to business can be termed as target customers. For instance, Facebook is one of the applications that has been used by organization to market organizational products across the world. Unlike many social media sites, Facebook is unique as it provides powerful buttons that mean a lot to a business product. Organizations are able to develop pages within the Facebook application where they can post their products and share any information online. The viewers are able to comment on the products, like them or even share within their profiles. The comment box allows the management team to find out the reaction of the people on the products, their suggestions and ideas which are crucial in product refinement. The share button is another powerful stroke that allows the products to viewed by more potential customers and hence expand the geographical coverage of a product. From this point of view, the Facebook application helps the organizations to roll out their products to the market faster than through any other advertising media. However, the Facebook application has its own weaknesses that limit its viability as a dependable online site. First, given that it is a site that has a wide range of clients, it is difficult to localize the comments and the customer feedback provided within the change (Schubert, 2008). The fact that the Facebook users are located in different market structures that have different tastes makes it quite difficult to associate their feedback with any given market niche. In product differentiation, organizations try to capture different market and produce goods that best satisfy specific market. This is principally because each market segment is unique and its demands are peculiar to the specific to the people living in it.Although the public feedback may be quite helpful, it is a big challenge for the organization to utilize in product designing and marketing.While marketing on Facebook, this is a weakness that an organization has to bear in mind so as to take advantage of its benefits. Another problem with Facebook is the sensitivity that comes along with it. Often, Facebook can have negative impacts on the business as the people exercise their freedom to provide their opinions on a product. Just as people are free to comment positively on a product, they can have the same freedom to expose the negative aspects of a product. Considering the high number of people who have visual to the Facebook comments, it is possible that a negative comment may have adverse negative effects of a product within a short period of time. Negative comments are likely to shape the idea of people on a product and this may ruin the product's marketability in the public (Gerald and Ruth, 2000). As such, the management team must be conscious of their online presence and manage any negative comments that may arise within the public. They should provide a corrective action to make sure that these public opinions have no impact on the product marketing within the target market. Altogether, online business in the 21st century is a culture that a business cannot do without if it has to survive within the current market conditions. Today, every business organization is utilizing the internet as part of its push strategy to model its supply chain and develop a digital culture within its networks. With more competition within the local market, pushing organizations to expand their market into the international boundaries, organizations have to cope with the risks of the internet world (Gay, Charlesworth, &Essen, R. 2006). A rich online presence within an organization helps companies to enter the external markets with much ease without having to move their physical infrastructure to the new markets. For instance, an organization can sell their items on e-bay without having to be concerned with the location of their customers. Companies such as Wal-Mart can sell their products across countries where they do not have the infrastructure. The customers can order and purchase their goods online which can be sent to their respective position wherever in the world. This makes business mechanics quite easier and cheaper for investors. The proliferation of the internet culture has become another opener of the online market in the recent past. Most governments have reduced the income tax on digital infrastructure leading to a decrease in the price of these gadgets. Political forces have strived to encourage the people to shift into the digital culture as one way of boosting development in the country. The political and governmental regulations have liberated the digital market making it quite easy for the countries to quickly integrate this technology within their lifestyle. In essence, it has become quite easy for most individuals to purchase mobile phones, computers and even tables all which have a positive economic impact on the business. With more people affording to get online, online marketing becomes an avenue in which organizations can meet millions of customers (Chen, 2011). With a positive political influence, business organizations have committed their efforts in developing a strong online presence for their own economic gain. Another factor that has favored the Facebook and web 2.0 platforms as key elements of business models is the quick development of the software world. Software companies have strived to improve the software world by developing business oriented applications that make easier for investors to advertise and the public to access the web. For instance, the Android software for mobile is a cheap software application that has allowed many users to access internet in easier mannerjust like any other computer user. The cheapness of the mobile phones and the existence of well-developed software makes the internet a junction for marketers and consumers. This trend is expected to continue in the near future promising more benefits in online marketing. In this regard, it has become a necessity for organizations to establish their online presence to optimize their marketing strategies within the global market (Ray, 2013).Today, advertising on Facebook is much cheaper and viable than advertising within the broadcasting media. In this light, Facebook and web 2.0 have become avenues of business success and promises more in the future of business industry. Critics of the web 2.0 business model say that it is an expensive technology that raises the issues of affordability. The acquisition of website and hosting requires an initial capital that may quite be expensive for an upcoming business organization. In addition, the website and even the Facebook page require that daily updates be fed into the sites to ensure that it remains active and attractive to the viewers. As opposed to the web 1.0 platform that was static and cheaper, the web 2.0 is more demanding and requires more time to manage it.As such, big organizations that have well developed infrastructure and necessary internet skill personnel benefit from the technology, while others are still blanketed due to the shortage of this technology within their framework (Carter, 2012).However, the proponents of these business models still feel that there is a demand for even advanced web platforms that have more integrated features. In conclusion, the Facebook and the web 2.0 business models are superior business weapons with a wide range of opportunities and benefits. Through the internet platform, organizations can use these models to advertise, launch their products, conduct market research and obtain customer feedbacks on their products. In brief, this is an advancement of the web 1.0 era when online business was limited and unviable. Coupled with the rapid adoption of the web and digital culture within the public domain, Facebook and Web 2.0 platform are of great benefit to the firm. However, they have their own downfalls and risks that must be managed to ensure that they do not hurt the business. Bibliography Breakenridge, D., 2008. New Media, New Tools, New Audiences 1st ed., FT Press. Carter, B. 2012.The like economy: how businesses are making money with Facebook. Indianapolis, IN, Que. Chen, F. 2011. Implementing new business models in for-profit and non-profit organizations: technologies and applications. Hershey, PA, Business Science Gay, R., Charlesworth, A., &Esen, R. 2006,Online marketing: a customer-led approach. Oxford, Oxford University Press Gerald, M., and Ruth E., 2000.Experiments on the Provision of Public Goods. I. Resources, Interest, Group Size, and the Free-Rider Problem.The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 84, No. 6 (May, 1979), pp. 1335–1360 Kshetri, N.,2010. The global cybercrime industry: economic, institutional and strategic perspectives. Heidelberg, Springer O'Reilly, Tim, and John Battelle. 2004. Opening Welcome: State of the Internet Industry. In San Francisco, California, Ray, R. 2013. The Facebook guide to small business marketing. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Shuen, A., 2008. Web 2.0 a strategy guide. Sebastopol, Calif, O'Reilly Media. Schubert, D. 2008. Monetizing Web 2.0. Hamburg [Germany], DiplomicaVerlag. Singer, B., 2009. The Role and Regulations for Technology in Social Wor Practice and E-Therapy: Social Work 2.0. In A. R. Roberts (Ed).. 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