Challenges, Practices and Methods as Provided by the Social Media - Essay Example

of westminster- Business school MEASURING THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA: CHALLENGES, PRACTICES AND METHODS. MODULE: 4BIT7E1 Web Resource Management Noora Alkhaja-13505529 Abstract Social Media is the most active trend of the present times. After the advent of internet a few decades ago it is now that all the activity is majorly focused on Social web and via it on the Social Media. This research is attempted to analyze what social media is and how integral is its importance in terms of its structure, functioning and the challenges associated with it. The components of the social web are analyzed and it is discussed how they mediate the data transfer and functionalities of the social media as a whole. Challenges of social media are mentioned in terms of the effects that they have on the corporate arena. Specifically the concept of e-business with respect to its integration with the social web is discussed. Marketing and advertising are also developing new meanings in line with the development of social media across the globe. Social media is the most trending phenomena of the present and the future. It has highly extensive boundaries and should be adopted in order to pace up in line with the developments of the modernized human society. Introduction   The technology boom of the late twentieth century has completely revolutionized the human society. Technologies govern the present times poles apart from what they used to be just a few decades back. Terminologies like web, social networks, web2.0 etcetera were unknown to man and not even in the wildest of their thoughts could our forefathers think that their children would be living in a world that would be completely dependent on high tech stuff. The modern life of a human being is such that it is devoid of much of the in-person personalization and physical effort that one had to go through before the advent of the internet. Today, a smart techie resides in the pocket or the palms of every individual that serves the purpose of connecting us to the grand virtual world of the internet. The social web portals over the internet are breeding grounds for virtual real time connectivity round the clock. The social networking arena has engrossed itself into the human lives such that each individual stays signed into his virtual profile round the clock. These social networks have been the roots of various social media that have evolved from them. Social Media is the new terminology with which the visual social connections of each digital device are connected to each other via the internet. The platforms that support the evolution and maintenance of the social connections are various and limitless. Examples of platforms supporting social web profiles are Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, LinkedIn etc. The globalization of today’s world sees it as such that virtually every human being is connected to the web in one way or the other. People connected to the internet have the privilege of accessing all other sorts of information on it. Via the Internet anyone connected to it can stay up-to-date with the very latest information, can telecommute, check stock prices, compare prices and shop online, communicate with others in chat rooms or on bulletin boards, take different online learning courses, learn how to cook food, book airline, train tickets and even earn an accredited degree. WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA? Social Media can very well be termed as a means of collaboration of information within a network of people connected to the social circle. It is a group of online media that can characteristically be termed as being indulged in participation, openness, conversation, community, connectivity. Talking about the types of social media prevalent in the world nowadays Antony Mayfield, Vice President and head of Social Media at ‘iCrossing’, is quoted to have said the following in his book “What is Social Media?”: “At this time, there are basically six kinds of social media. Note, though, that innovation and change are rife. Social Networks Blogs Wikis Podcasts Forums Content Communities Microblogging.” (Mayfield, 2008) RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds Tags, Folksnomy. Social Media is basically just about human beings. Socializing with people, getting connected to them, collaborating with them, thinking together and working in teams for future benefits etc are all integral traits of the human nature itself. A dash of inventions and technology added just the convenience and timeliness required to promote these traits. The technology oriented execution of collaboration, socializing, team building, future planning etc came to be known as social media.It was with the advent of social media that the spread and acquisition of latest information became just a matter of few minutes. Such was the timeliness of interaction and connectivity for all the kids of social media mentioned above. STRUCTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA The following diagrams depict the structure of the Social Media. Since social media is based basically on the platform of Web 2.0 therefore that is the way these figures represent it. In line with the figures presented on the right it can be ascertained that a Social Media is a phenomenon whereby people connected to a social network and interacting on it via comments or any other form of participation form a network or web. This notion is well addressed by figure 1(b). A Social Media is mainly composed of inputs from the users. This include interactions over the Social Media in the form of articles, comments, Participation in discussions, blog writing and personal profile uploads etcetera. Social Media is a current existing fact that is here to stay and to emerge and transform with the passage of time. SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS The tools/technologies that are needed to operate the “Social Media” phenomenon can be classified as follows: ‘Social Portals’, ‘Integration of Social Widgets’, ‘Web Design’, ‘Blogs’, ‘Wikis’, ‘RSS’, ‘Podcasting’, ‘Social Bookmarking.’ Social Portals Online websites that offer social profiles to be created and maintained are referred to as Social Portals. The most relevant examples of these portals are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Orkut etc. A webpage that hosts a person’s blog page is also an integral tool of Social Media similar to social portals. Social portals are essential components of a Social Media without which a Social Media is incomplete. Integration of Social Widgets Facebook’s like buttons or Twitter’s re-tweet buttons can easily be termed as social widgets. Widgets that is similar to those that can be embedded into personal blogs where readers can leave their comments. The widgets would also enable referring of the data on the blog on other websites and its sharing on the other. Web Design The better the web design of a website the more it is expected to attract more traffic. There are plenty of ready-made web designs available online that can be used to formulate a webpage. A professionally designed web page theme makes it easier to integrate social media tools into it. Since they are the ‘most wanted’ thing everyone looks for in a site nowadays, visitors gt encouraged to interact at the well-designed web page. SOCIAL MEDIA AND E-COMMERCE E-Commerce is conducting business activities online. The exposure of Social Media to E-Commerce enhances the prospects of a business environment to all the users that are connected to the Social Media. It enables comprehensive integration of business processes, provides several outsourcing facilities and also opens a grandeur horizon of prospective buyers for the business’ products. Brian Solis, one of the most published authors in new Media is reported to have said in the book ‘The Social Media analytics ebook 2008 by Philip Sheldrake of Racepoint (2008) that social media is such an integrated phenomenon now that it is neither an option nor is it debatable anymore. Social media does not pose any prejudice and supports all forms of businesses. Rather, it serves as an additional channel via which customers are listened to. Along with them the positions of stakeholders, bloggers, media, peers and other influencing factors are also catered to. In return, the social media serves as a medium that established the building up of a two way path of conversation to its connectors. Whether an individual is present in the network or not, conversations continue to progress in it about your plans, products and services. The resultant is the representation of precious means for building up relationships and evaluating strategies at every step. Since relations maintained via social media are measurable and absolutely tied to the bottom line, they prove to be active drivers for the relationship as a whole. CONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA The human society, at present, is suffering from a number of drawbacks of the Social Media. A brief evaluation of the pros, that is done below puts a little insight into how these facts have negatively shaped the society into its current insecure and unstable form. Youth, on the whole, are the backbones of a society. The way they adapt to the changes in their surroundings is the ways in which a society is eventually shaped in the years to come. The PRESENT DAY youth are exposed to the internet and via it to unsecure data to a degree that has never been seen previously. The impacts this exposure on them are the most long-lasting. These impacts are usually more adverse than beneficial. This mainly is because youth lack the insight and experience of their elders and thus are very likely to indulge into a myriad of endeavors that may prove to be lethal for them and eventually for the generations to come. Since technological literacy is indispensible, the high-tech lifestyle that the youth adopt nowadays is embedded with numerous hazards to themselves and to their surroundings. The youth use the internet and remain signed into their social profiles round the clock. This can evidently be seen by the exhibit on the right. They often stay up at nights so that they may not miss any update from their connections over the internet. Besides health hazards the excessive dependence of youngsters on the Social Media has other various disadvantages as well. These include risk to their life and identity and also to their individuality. The Social Media is a platform where information can very easily be misused as there are no checks and balances in it. Youngsters enter their personal information on various chat software and other social networking portals. This personal information can very easily be misused by frauds that mask the Social Media. Anyone can easily fake any other’s identity over the Social Media and put the former’s reputation at stake. It is because of several reasons that the social networking portals on the Social Media are considered extremely hazardous to the youth. The excessive use of social networking sites can cause personality and brain disorders in children, such as the inability to have real conversations, limited attention spans, and a need for instant gratification, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and self-centered personalities. The fast pace of the sites may rewire the brain with repeated exposure because parts of the brain used for traditional, offline activities become underused.(Waldez, 2010) Studies show that teens spend an average of nine hours per day only on social networking sites (National School Boards’ Association, 2007.). Adolescents also attempt to see strangers personally without notifying their elders. They have no clue to these strangers’ original identity and thus become subject to physical assault most of the times. Unrestricted access to pornographic data over the Social Media has also become widely common. The society with adolescents having the above mentioned traits has been shaped such that the hours per day of face-to-face socializing have declined as the use of social media has increased. Both elders and adolescents who are hooked up to these sites frequently are prone to social isolation. Parents usually spend less time with their children and couples spend less time together even when they live in the same house. This is because they are busy socializing virtually over the Social Media instead of interacting with each other. (Sigman, 2009) SOCIAL MEDIA BASED MARKETING AND ADVERTISEMENT. The inception of social media or the Social Media was initially meant only to enhance the connectivity of people. This field has shown a great progress over the last four years. Currently the Social websites have emerged as a new horizon for computational marketing and advertisement. According to SEO & PPC Expert UK (2007) ‘word of mouth marketing’ and ‘viral marketing’ have been made much easier by social networking. Money does not have to be made directly out of the social networks according to the said authority. Instead, the marketing potential of the social network is used so that it may market the entire business as a whole. Google’s dominance over the internet is beyond doubt. Being ahead in all aspects Google enjoyed a long supremacy. Be it the economic share in the e-market or the market share of total internet traffic, Google has always proven to be invincible. Hats off to the social media that now it is no more an as impressive giant as it used to be. In August 2010, Facebook toppled Google as the top online destination. Google is at par with its new competitor, The Social Media. The social media offers some prominent features that highly influence the marketing and advertisement of the products. Few of them are as follows, Targeted marketing to the similar interest based communities. Replication of word of mouth at manifolds and within no time (Viral Marketing). Virtually inexpensive and yet, most effective. Real time results with guaranteed feedback. High connectivity with the market. Along with the Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a new factor that needs to be taken into account for the promotion and value enhancement of a website is Social Media Optimization (SMO). This is related to the socialization of website to a greater extent through social media. The impact of social media on businesses is observed by the fact that the top 500 fortune companies have their presence on facebook, twitter, yahoo etc. Most of them possess their own blogs. Rests of them rely highly on their constant reviews on big blogs like Mashable and TechCrunch etc. These blogs are the main source of breaking product news for the company. The giants have formal contracts signed with social media. According to Finley (2011), type of social media such as blogging, social networking and online video streaming were found to be successful for majority of companies who studied them. According to Gordhamer (2009), the businesses are experiencing at least four major shifts. Making more connections is the key of the entire process. Selling and marketing are just the other names for it. The embedding of social media with marketing ensures business growth. Smaller replacements take place of advertisements that used to be launched on a large scale. Virtually everyone has its own network for broadcasting through social networks. Timely small acts pay a lot more than huge advertisement and marketing campaigns. No need to project a sophisticated, restricted and formal image of the business. To be ourselves holds more value on this media. The companies that are informal with their employees are more successful on the social media due to the freedom their employees exercise. The accessibility impact from ‘Hard Reach-ability’ has changed to ‘Be with everyone almost all the time’. Having exposed preferences of large audience make it highly possible to enter the communities with highest level of connectivity. CONCLUSION Social media is a phenomenon that is a need of the hour. The benefits associated with it outweigh its cons. Youngsters and adults are inclined towards the social media in an indifferent manner. Corporate sector is highly dependent only the socializing arena that is generated via the Social Media saga. The challenges associated with this new and integrating phenomenon are to be addressed with effectiveness and control so as to ensure the rapid and healthy execution of the stakeholders associated with the concept. It is also essential that social ethics be made prevalent on the social media strengthening the grounds for its future usage and the executed usability associated with it. It is recommended that all new emerging entrepreneurs should integrate their concerns with those of the social media whether they are individuals or organizations. This should be done since it is what the future of the human society would be based upon and it is also owing to the fact that the pros of the promoting systems outweigh its cons. REFERENCES: Connoly. 2008. Depict the components of a social web.website < http://connollyshaun.blogspot.com/2008/06/social-web-defined.html> Finley, K. 2011. The Business Impact of Social Media [Infographic]. Read Write Enterprise. website . [Accessed 23 November 2011] Gordhamer, S. (2009). 4 ways Social Media is Changing Business. Mashable. Website < http://mashable.com/2009/09/22/social-media-business/>. [Accessed 23 November 2011]. How Social Network Marketing Works. (2007). SEO & PPC Expert UK, Bing SEO Crawly| Google Consultant. Website < http://www.theecommercesolution.com/blog/2007/05/01/how-social-network-marketing-works/>. [Accessed 23 November 2011] Kling, R., McKim, G., & King, A. 2009. A bit more to it: Scholarly communication forums as socio-technical interaction networks”. [Electronic version]. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 54(1), 47-67. Website < http://bst.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/23/6/444>. [Accessed 23 November 2011]. Lee, K. R. n.d. Impacts of Information Technology on Society in the new Century. website < http://www.zurich.ibm.com/pdf/Konsbruck.pdf> [Accessed 23 November 2011]. National School Boards’ Association. 2007. Creating and connecting-Research guidelines on Online Social-and Educational-Networking. O’Neil, N. 2010. Google Vs Facebook: A Battle Of Colossal Proportions [Infographic]. All Facebook. website . [Accessed 23 November 2011]. Sheldrake, P. 2008. The Social web analytics ebook 2008. Website < http://conversation.cipr.co.uk/posts/philip.sheldrake/the-social-web-analytics-ebook-2008>. [Accessed 23 November 2011] Sigman, A. 2009. Well Connected?: The Biological Implications of Social Networking, Biologist, Feb. 2009. Waldez, A. 2010. The Disadvantages of Modern Technology among the Youth. Website < http://www.ehow.com/list_7229326_disadvantages-modern-technology-among-youth.html#ixzz1HJ8Lp7LC>. [Accessed 23 November 2011]. Yuri. 2007. Social Marketing: The next edge in the internet marketing. Improve the Web. Website < http://improvetheweb.com/social-marketing-the-next-edge-in-internet-marketing>. [Accessed 23 November 2011]. Read More