Problems And Gaps Associated With The Use Of Social Media In Businesses

HI6008 Business Research

Project Objective

Social media refers to the many web-based communication tools which are used by people to communicate and share other information through different ways. We have many social networks which are used today for sharing information. Such social networks include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, WhatsApp, and many others. According to research done in 2017, we have about 2.46 billion people who use different social media platforms in the world today. Facebook is the most popular social network and has the highest number of users of about 1.86 billion users in the world. With the ever-growing technology, it is estimated that the number of people using different social media platforms will shoot to 3.02 billion users by 2021. According to Wang, Niiya, and Mark (2015, pp.571-582), the largest percentage of the people who use social media are young people especially the college students.

Social media plays a great role in the business world. For the businesses to do well, they require a big number of customers. These customers can be found in the social media, and therefore, it’s good for the businesses to engage in social media platforms to market their products, ideas, or services to the billions of users who participate in social media. A business which uses social media well to market its products or services gets many customers who help the business to thrive well. 

The main objective of the business research proposal is to address the gaps and problems which result from the use of social media in businesses.

In this business research proposal, we will review various gaps and problems which were discussed in Assessment 1 and develop some solutions which can be used to address these gaps and problems. We will base our research from various scholarly academic resources to help us to come up with some amicable solutions to solve these gaps and problems.

The social media is well known for promoting the businesses by attracting many customers to the business. However, we have many gaps and problems which result from the use of social media networks to promote business. In this section, we are going to highlight some gaps and some problems which are associated with the use of social media in businesses and come up with some measures which can be taken to solve these gaps/problems.

The use of social media in business is associated with some gaps and problems which have led to huge losses in businesses. These gaps/problems have also limited the growth of these businesses. Some of the major gaps and problems include the following:

Project Scope

Social media networks have increased the problems of copyright issues in businesses. Many businesses have copied some goods or services offered by other businesses and have ended up draining customers from the original businesses to their businesses. This has reduced the profits made by the original businesses which came with the new goods or services.

The social media networks have interfered with the security and the privacy of many businesses. Many businesses share information about their location or other critical information through the social media. This information has been used by thieves or hackers to interfere with the operations of the businesses which has led to huge losses in the businesses.

The social media has helped to spread rumors or other negative feedback from some people who may be jealous or have malicious motives about the business and this have ended up chasing away some potential customers.

Social media networks have promoted the spreading inappropriate behaviors such bullying or harassment in the businesses. The managers or other senior officials in the businesses may harass the junior workers through the social media platforms. The social media has also promoted the wicked behavior of conmen who take the customers’ money illegally.

Some measures which should be taken to address the gaps and problems associated with the use of social media to promote businesses.

To address the copyright issues on the social media, copyright laws have been formulated to deal with those who copy other peoples’ work. Some social media platforms such as Pinterest have taken the issue of copyright very seriously and gives the rights of the amendment of some contents to only the people/organizations which posted the contents (Hykel, 2013). 

To address the issue of privacy and security, the businesses should be very keen on the people who can access their information over the social media. The businesses should make sure they set login alerts which should alert them whenever a new visitor logins in their social media platforms. They should also block any spam users on their sites (Kumar, Saravanakumar and Deepa, 2015). It is also good to control the information which should be accessed through the social media. The businesses should be very keen to monitor the information they post on their social media networks to make sure the information can’t be used by the criminals to interfere with the privacy or the security of the businesses.

To address the problem of rumors and negative feedbacks, the businesses should make sure they deliver good products and services which satisfy their customers. The customers will be happy with them and won’t spread rumors the negative feedbacks. However, we have some malicious customers who spread rumors just to tarnish the name of the businesses, in this case, the businesses should take legal actions against these malicious customers.

Literature Review

To deal with the problem of the bad behavior of the people who harass others, or those conmen who squander the customers’ money illegally, the business should monitor their social media fully and take the necessary actions against those who are caught practicing inappropriate behaviors over their social media networks.

To address the problem of time wastage over the social media, the business should monitor the employees who are responsible for monitoring their social media platforms. The businesses should make sure these employees don’t overspend their time on the social media platforms doing some unnecessary activities on the social media. The businesses should give the social media work to mature and responsible people who won’t waste a lot of time in the social media sharing or accessing unnecessary information.  

In qualitative research, we are going to generate our results in words rather than numerical data (numbers) used in quantitative research (Catherine Marshall, Gretchen B. Rossman, 2016). We will use the following major steps in our qualitative research:

Decide on our questions of research. Our questions of research as stated above are:

To determine the major problems in businesses which are associated with the social media.

To determine the minor problems in businesses which are associated with the social media.

To check some unfilled gaps in business which should be filled by the use of social media in businesses.

Do a literature review on our research question. This is covered in the literature review section.

Consider the ideal sampling and sample size. In this research, we are going to do our research in a hundred businesses (both small and large businesses) selected randomly to identify the major and the minor problems affecting the businesses as a result of using social media. We will also research some available gaps which should be filled by use of social media.

The approaches to reliability and validity of data. To make sure we get reliable and valid data, we will use some friendly data collection methods, and we’ll avoid interfering with the businesses private data. We will also encourage the businesses to give correct and valid data which will enhance our analysis.

The data collection methods and variable specifications. We are going to use some friendly data collection methods to ensure we get good responses from the businesses. We will also specify all the required variables clearly for us to get the required responses. We will use some methods like observations, surveys, interviews, and questionnaires (Creswell, 2008). (A sample questionnaire form used is shown in the appendix section)

Some gaps and problems in businesses which result from the use social media

Data analysis. We will analyze the collected data accordingly to get the required results and solutions which will help to answer our research questions fully.

In quantitative research, the data is collected in numerical forms (numbers) and the analysis of the data involves some mathematical computations to help us to get the solutions to the research questions in numerical forms. The major steps used in quantitative research are:

• State the research questions problems. These are the same questions used in the qualitative research approach.
• Define the objectives of the study. The main objective of the research is to address the gaps and problems which result from the use of social media to promote businesses. We also aim to identify some unfilled gaps which need to be filled by the use of social media in business.
• Carry out the literature review. The literature review of this research is discussed in detail in the literature review section.
• Formulation of hypothesis and variables. This is the step where we formulate the proposed solutions of our research questions which need to be proved right or wrong by our quantitative research.
• The research instrument. This is the step where we choose various methods which will be used to collect the required data from the businesses. The research instrument could be a questionnaire, an interview, the eyes for observation or any other research tool (M. Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012).
• Sampling and sample size. In this step, we select the best sample size which will be used in our research. The businesses selected are usually selected randomly. We select a sample size of a hundred businesses.
• Collection of the data. After selecting the best methods and the best sample size, the personnel responsible for data collection visit the different businesses to collect the required data.
• Reliability and validity of data. The data collection methods used must ensure collection of reliable and valid data.
• Data analysis. After collection of data, the necessary mathematical computations are done either manually or by use of special computer software to obtain the desired results.

Our research faces many limitations. These limitations include the following:

Some businesses may not be willing to give some of their information especially if the information touches some of their private issues.

The cost of conducting the research is also a limitation. We may require a lot of money to collect the data through some methods such as interviews and questionnaires.

The data obtained may be invalid, unreliable or inadequate to do our analysis. This will limit our research.

Another limitation which may affect our research is the geographical conditions. Some businesses may be located in geographically inaccessible areas which hinder us from conducting our research in these businesses.

Some data obtained may be inaccurate, and this will limit the accuracy of our data analysis which may lead to incorrect results and conclusions.

Our research is estimated to take one month. In this one month, all the necessary data will be collected from all the hundred businesses (sample size), the data will then be analyzed using the necessary computer software like Excel, SPSS or other software, and the necessary results and conclusions will be drawn.

The schedule we are going to use is shown below:

Conclusion

From the research, we realize that businesses are affected by many problems which result from the use of social media networks to promote the businesses. The businesses should be very keen in using social media to promote their products or services for them to realize some profits, they should make sure they address all the problems which may result from the use of social media platforms. The businesses should also try to identify the unfilled gaps and other available opportunities and utilize the social media well to generate more profits from these gaps and opportunities.

References List

Bauer, I., 2015. When Copyright and Social Media Meet: Zooming in on Current Issues and Cases. FAU Undergraduate Law Journal, 2(4).

Billions, N., 2017. Number of social media users worldwide 2010-2021 | Statista. [Online]
Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/

Cassell, B. L. a. C., 2011. Research Methods and Research Practice: History, Themes and Topics. International Journal of Management Reviews , 15(2), pp. 123-131.

Catherine Marshall, G. B. R., 2016. Designing Qualitative Research. 6th ed. Massachusetts Amherst: Sage Publications, Inc.

Creswell, J. W., 2008. Educational Research. Fourth ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

Hykel, R., 2013. Copyright Issues for Social Media. [Online]
Available at: https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/copyright-issues-for-social-media

Johnson, G., 2014. Research Methods for Public Administrators. 3rd ed. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc..

Kara, H., 2012. Research and Evaluation for Busy Practitioners: A Time-Saving Guide, Bristol: The Policy Press.

1. Saunders, L. a. T., 2012. Research Methods for Business Students. 6th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Mark Easterby-Smith, R. S. T. a. P. J., 2008. Management Research. 3rd ed. London: Sage Publications Inc.

Michael, K. A. a. H., 2010. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), pp. 58-62.

Nadim Akhtar Khan, S. J. a. I. A., 2014. Research trends in select Science faculties of University of Jammu, Lincoln: Libraries at University of Nebraska.

Rangarjan, P. S. a., 2013. A Playbook for Research Methods, s.l.: New Forums Press..

Senthil Kumar, S. K. a. D., 2015. On Privacy and Security in Social Media – A Comprehensive Study, Nagpur: Elsevier B.V.

Sergio Moro, P. R. B. V., 2016. Predicting social media performance metrics and evaluation of the impact on brand building: A data mining approach. Journal of Business Research, September, 69(9), pp. 3341-3351.

Yiran Wang, M. N. a. G. M., 2015. Coming of Age (Digitally): An Ecological View of Social Media Use among College Students, Vancouver: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

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