Friends and relations
Discuss about the Positive And The Negative Effects Of The Social Media.
Social media is an internet based form of communication. The platform enables individuals to share information as well as make connections (Agichtein, Castillo, Donato, Gionis & Mishne, 2008). At a personal level, social media enables individuals to communicate with the friends and family, learn new things and even develop on their own personal interest (Agichtein, Castillo, Donato, Gionis & Mishne, 2008). There are questions today as to whether the social media is good or bad. Well, there are always two sides of everything. It all depends on perspective on how one perceives it. The same goes for the social media, most individuals admire it since it is a revolutionary invention and some seems to take it as a negative effect on the impact of the society. The essay will outline on the positive and the negative effects of the social media.
Friends and relations:
Social media started as a place to connect with the friends in a manner that is easy and convenient (Correa, Hinsley & De Zuniga, 2010). Many individuals have found their old pals from the school or perhaps college who were out of touch through the social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Social media has provided individuals with the opportunity to connect with other individuals and at the same time build better relationships with the friends with whom they were unable to meet with them personally and let them know about their life and take input in regards to their lives and events which are happening to them (Correa, Hinsley & De Zuniga, 2010).
With the social media individuals are able to communicate their thoughts as well as perceptions in regards to different topics to a large number of the audience and also raise their voice. The sharing feature which is available in the social media such as Facebook makes their opinions in relation to any topic to reach a huge number of the individuals even those who are not on ones friends contact list (Curtis, Edwards, Fraser, Gudelsky, Holmquist, Thornton, & Sweetser, 2010). The social media has the options of making groups with individuals who are like minded and share related news with time and at the same time ask options which are available to us in order to communicate with the others on the social networks.
Social media has become an important part to many individuals (Correa, Hinsley & De Zuniga, 2010). Sometimes not many notice this but as soon as they open their desktops or even laptops in order to access the website, they sometime sub-consciously open their favorite social media sites so that they could see the updates they have received (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith & Zickuhr, 2010). The businesses have noticed the value of the social media in their life, and they are utilizing various techniques in order to promote on their products (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith & Zickuhr, 2010). There are many numbers of the customized applications which are being made on the social platforms, whose major reasons would be to promote the product or even brands. As the social marketing is cost effective and the brands usually have huge audience, they are shifting to the directions of the social marketing.
Communication
Gone are the days in which one could wait around for the 6 O’clock news in order to come to the television or a delivery boy to bring newspaper in the morning (Xiang & Gretzel, 2010). With the use of the social media one can access information on what is happening across the world (Asur & Huberman, 2010). An added bonus is when one can customize their news and information discovery experiences through choosing to follow on what they want.
Without marketing of the business on the social media, the inbound traffic of that business is limited to the usual clients. Individuals who are familiar with the brand are likely to search for the same keywords that particular business is ranked for (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010). Without the usage of the social media part of the marketing strategy, would be difficult to reach any individuals outside the loyal client circle.
Every social media profile that is incorporated on the marketing mix is usually a gateway to the business site and each piece of the content that is posted is another opportunity of acquiring the new clients (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010). Social media is regarded as the melting pot to various kinds of needs and ways of thinking for a business.
There are many studies which have highlighted the extensive use of the social media they have discussed the actual causes of addiction to the users (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010). Throughout their day, they feel posting something on their pages or perhaps check on the other individuals’ posts since it is bound to become something important to their life (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith & Zickuhr, 2010). Additionally, social media has made the youth to have bad grades in their studies. The students most of the time does not focus in class they are studying (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010). They could be using social media to surf Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or even chat with the friends on the messengers (Gerbaudo, 2018). If these individuals could use social media while they are in the classroom they would definitely not concentrate on what they are taught.
Extreme usage of the social media has reduced on the levels of the human interaction. Due to the social media interaction with the other individuals has become effortless nowadays which has forced people to live an isolated live behind their online identities (Gerbaudo, 2018). Face to face communication as well as meeting has been reduced and many have lost the flavor and the charm to be together under the same roof (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith & Zickuhr, 2010). It is also observed that accessing social media the whole day, individuals would not have time for the outdoor activities such as the playing sport or even camping (Gerbaudo, 2018). Rather than going out to meet with their friends these individuals prefers to chat in the social media. Eventually, they would live in the virtual world.
Marketing
When individuals are addicted to social media it would have serious health issues. When one is addicted to social media, they could go to bed late since they are reading news on the Facebook or perhaps chatting with their friends (Gerbaudo, 2018). Staying up late could be harmful to the health, particularly the brain. If one does not get enough sleep health becomes affected seriously since they would feel more fatigued all the time. Moreover, social media could lead to depression (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). When one uses social media they would see others living large through the pictures they post, compared to the situation they are living they begin to see themselves as failures and did not make it in life. Since they are isolated they started becoming depressed.
Most business utilizes social media in finding and communicating with the clients. Nonetheless, it is a great distraction to the workers, who might show more interest to what their friends are posting and start chatting with them rather than work tasks (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010). According to Wired.com they did two studies that highlighted damage to the productivity which was caused by the social media (Shirky, 2011). The nucleus research showed that Facebook shaved 1.5% off on their office productivity while Morse claimed that the British organization had lost more than two billion dollars a year due to social phenomenon (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010). The new technology products they have become available which has allowed the social media to be blocked, but on their effectiveness has remained spotty.
The bullies they have taken to the internet to social media sites such as Twitter, and Facebook, where they have hidden on their identity which has been provided by the internet in order to carry out on their despicable acts (Hanna, Rohm & Crittenden, 2011). The young people run the risk of the inadvertently disclosing on their personal data since on most of the occasion, they are neglected to read on the careful sites privacy policies. When the young individuals fail to read their policies as well as disclaimers, they are more exposed to the risk to have their personal data disclosed (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). This is a matter which should be taken with seriousness since there have been rise in cases of the cyber crime for example identity theft (Asur & Huberman, 2010). The new studies have revealed that the social media have the ability to sway individuals to spending their money on running the advertisements to the users’ page. Such kind forms subliminal advertising which could subconsciously cause people to buy certain merchandise.
Addiction
With so much sharing going on, there are concerns over privacy which could arise and this is a big concern (Duggan, Ellison, Lampe, Lenhart & Madden, 2015). Whether there is a question of the social media site owning their content after it has been posted, this becomes a target after sharing their geographical location online or perhaps getting in trouble at work after they had tweeted something which is inappropriate.
According to eMarketer, social media ad spending had reached more than twenty three billion in 2015 and it had reached more than 35 billion dollars in 2017 (Duggan, Ellison, Lampe, Lenhart & Madden, 2015). Facebook makes more than fifteen billion dollars in the ad revenue alone. Most of the social media such as Facebook, Twitter and many other usually provides their services to the members for free (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The top social ad sellers in the USA market according to eMarketer are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Sites are able to provide services as well as accounts for free because of the staggering sums of money which is spent on the ads. According to the BBC News social media sites are positioned in order to make money through matching individuals and the products (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Given that they generate content on the social media sites which interest organization there is a great deal of other information in relation to the personal preferences (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Targeted information on the Facebook they could be narrowed down to the users who are within a given zip codes, with a specific job title and with interest in printed or perhaps digital publication.
Conclusion
There are a few positive and negative effects of the social media which has been highlighted in this essay. Using the social media can be advantageous to individuals and organization; however, there are negative aspect such as addiction to social media which is not good. This would have an awful impact to individuals especially the students who are studying. To prevent individuals from being addicted they should spend more time playing sport, studying and taking part in various school activities.
References
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