The Emergence of Social Media
The emergence of social media and networking has made it easier for people to send and receive information around the world. Through simple posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other media platforms, anyone can become aware of various issues existing across the globe. According to Kietzmann et al. (2011), the origin of social media traces back to the emergence of the Internet (p. 249). The number of individuals using the world wide web remained limited due to the lack of technological skills required for using it. Technology has developed with time, and people became able to use the platforms even without the technical background knowledge. Currently, the social media creates an avenue through which the public can share information worldwide, thus leading to the increased level of public interaction and improving human lives.
Social Networking Empowers the People
Social networking empowers the people by giving them the courage to express their thoughts and opinions and share ideas with others across the globe. The creation of the platforms creates awareness among the members of the society about the existence of other people reacting to the posts. From this point of view, it is evident that social media improves the lives of people by crossing the barriers of communication experienced in the traditional society. As Gil de Zúñiga et al. (2012) noted, about 22% of the Facebook users comment on other people’s status, while 15% of them like the opinions of their colleagues (p.322). Social media provides search applications through which individuals can look for people they have lost touch with for an extended period.
Positive Impacts on the Economic Sector
Social networking has positive impacts on the economic sector. The platforms create the opportunity for businesses to voice their brands and interact with customers and workers. According to Laroche et al. (2012), 94% of all companies across the world make use of the social media to carry out their marketing exercises (p.1756). It is possible for the companies to cut short the advertising expenses by posting the products on the social sites. The investors can choose to create a link through which the customers can view the products that the business offers. Through such platforms, the clients can pose the questions about the brand of the company, thus receiving immediate feedback. The use of social platforms in business operations requires the investors to know the nature of their enterprises. For instance, small businesses and large corporations need entirely different social media. However, social networking contributes positively to the success of any company.
Relieving Limitations in Traditional Sales
The emergence of social networking relieves the companies the limitation of relying on the customers who visit the stores to make purchases. It became possible increase the sales volume through the application of online selling. In cases where the clients post their questions and complaints in Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or other platforms, the business operators can react to the customers in time before the messages destroy the reputation for the companies. As Vinerean et al. (2013) notes, 68% of the businesses that make use of social media in their activities experience an increase in their total revenues (p.66). The employees use social networks to share the issues affecting the company. In addition, such platforms create the opportunity for managers to remain in contact with the workers at all levels.
Impact on Recruitment and Information Gathering
Social media has significantly affected the manner in which the recruiters select the candidates that fit their requirements. Before the emergence of the social platforms, the only option was spreading the advertisements for the job opportunities, and therefore, the number of applicants was limited. Such challenge compelled the recruiters to select a wider range of candidates, including those with limited knowledge. According to Stelzner (2014), the emergence of the social media enabled the message to reach several potential candidates, thus increasing the probability of making the right choice (p. 46). The search functionality of the social media allows to look for the individuals with particular qualifications in a given area. Furthermore, enterprises can use such applications to find potential and clients who would purchase their products. The social platforms bring benefit to both the recruiters and the job candidates as the employers advertise the vacancies through the media. The messages reach large audience, including those who would otherwise fail to receive the information.
Predictive Role and Response to Natural Calamities
The information that people gather from social sites is essential in predicting the outcomes of an event. In some cases, both organizations or individuals may find it difficult to collect comprehensive information from a specific person before the latter’s engagement in the real activity. As Zúñiga et al. (2012) notes, investors may be willing to get the reactions of individuals from the target market before getting into the establishment of the business (p.325). The application of predictive role of the social platforms is attributable to the US elections, when the community predicted the victory of Trump through the social media. People used a sample of 2000 tweets regarding the possibility of Trump winning the election. The final results matched the outcome of the information used in the sample prediction.
Social sites increased the response rate to natural calamities affecting both the society and the organizations across the globe. According to Gibson (2015), before the invention of social technology, people used to delay in reacting to different problems faced by the people (p.184). For example, fire accidents and storms would occur and extend their impacts to several people before the community responds to the issues. Social sites have made it easy for the people to send messages to the public in circumstances of such occurrences, thus allowing for quick reactions. If the natural disasters split the members of the family or work, they can use the platforms to reunite. For example, after the earthquake in Haiti, the locals spread the message through the social media to receive rescue from the public.
Transformations in the Political Sector
Social platforms have brought transformations in the political sector regarding the manner of conducting campaigns by the candidates. As Kaplan and Haenlein note (2010), the aspirants traditionally used to rely on holding rallies through which their manifests were sold to the public (p. 62). Therefore, some of the potential leaders could not hold rallies, thus being deprived of the opportunity to clinch to power. The emergence of social media has made it easier for the leaders to conduct campaigns as they only need to create and post their messages on the media platforms, thus getting immediate feedback from the followers. According to Shirky (2011), 23% of the Facebook and Twitter users convince people to vote for a particular candidate, while only 10% of the voters are convinced through the rallies (p. 22). Therefore, the use of social sites has evidently contributed to the shift in the political sector.
Benefits in Society
The benefits experiences by the society due to the use of social platforms is evident in the political, economic, and communication aspects of the community’s life. The influence of the media originates from its ability to connect various people across the globe. From the economic point of view, the sites give the companies the opportunity to market their products through the social media. As a result, they experience an increase in sales volumes, thus enjoying financial benefits. In politics, the aspirants can make use of the social media to influence the people to vote for them, thus reducing the costs of campaigning. Through the comments from the followers, the media users can predict the outcomes of the events they intend to pursue, thus deciding whether to continue the activity or not.
References
Gibson, R., 2015. Party change, social media and the rise of ‘citizen initiated’ campaigning. Party Politics, Vol. 21, no.2, pp.183-197.
Gil de Zúñiga, H., Jung, N. and Valenzuela, S., 2012. Social media use for news and individuals' social capital, civic engagement and political participation. Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, Vol. 17, no. 3, pp.319-336.
Kaplan, A. and Haenlein, M., 2010. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media.. Business Horizons, Vol. 53, no. 1, pp.59-68.
Kietzmann, J., Hermkens, K., McCarthy, I. and Silvestre, B., 2011. Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business Horizons, Vol. 54, no. 3, pp.241-251.
Laroche, M., Habibi, M., Richard, M. and Sankaranarayanan, R., 2012. The effects of social media based brand communities on brand community markers, value creation practices, brand trust and brand loyalty. Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 28, no. 5, pp.1755-1767.
Shirky, C., 2011. The political power of social media: Technology, the public sphere, and political change. Foreign Affairs, pp.28-41.
Stelzner, M., 2014. 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. Social Media Examiner, pp.1-52.
Vinerean, S., Cetina, I., Dumitrescu, L. and Tichindelean, M., 2013. The effects of social media marketing on online consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 8, no. 14, p.66.
