Social Media - Is it making or breaking society

The phenomenal growth of social networking sites in recent years has made the world a smaller place. People sitting in different parts of the world can exchange their views on different topics on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Experts are divided in their views on the plus points and drawbacks of social media. Here are some of the major positive and negative implications of social media on society: -

Positive Implications on Business

Social networking sites help businesses to build brands in numerous ways. Compared to traditional mediums of promotion like TV, radio and print ads, they can produce the best results in the minimal budget. The former often require a big budget and can help businesses to reach out to a limited target audience only. However, with the help of social media, they can reach out a large number of people, and save the time and money they would spend on traditional advertising mediums. Social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter can help you to create a brand of your product/or service within a limited budget.

An Opportunity for Bloggers To Express

The growing popularity of social networking sites has attracted the attention of bloggers and writers who use these platforms to address their views on the subjects of their choice. They also use these platforms to promote the products and services of their clients in the form of blogs, articles, newsletters, whitepapers, case studies etc. The target audience share these blogs within their social circles, which helps in improving the brand’s visibility in social media.

Removal of Barriers of Communication

Social media has in a great way removed barriers of communication and helped people to express their ideas and views on any type of topic. Students, as well as pros in different fields, are able to share their views with people who have similar interests and can ask the latter about their opinions on a specific topic. People can follow their favorite brands on a regular basis and come to know about special offers, discounts, and contests where they can participate. It broadens their awareness levels related to brands and helps them in taking better decisions as buyers.

Negative Implications on Weaker Minds

One of the major negative impacts of social media on society is that it causes addiction among people. People waste a lot of their time on social networking sites as a result of which they lose their focus from important tasks that they are supposed to work on. It lowers their motivational level, which can be detrimental to long-term career growth, especially for students and teenagers. They depend mostly on internet and technology which limits their practical knowledge and know-how related to day to day aspects of life. They fail to develop their problem solving skills as a result.

Cultural Impacts On Kids

Kids can be affected in a negative way if they are allowed to have free access to them. The major reason is that often people share pictures showing violence and sex on social media, which can lure them into performing antisocial activities. Social media’s impact on these young, immature minds often causes them to get involved in criminal activities.

Effects on National Security

Another major issue with social media is that people share too much of information which can prove to be detrimental to national security. The leakage of personal information despite tight security settings can become your major concern on social sites. Circulation of videos and pictures can spread hatred among people from different communities and be the cause of unrest.

Other Negative Impacts

Extreme usage of media on a daily basis may make a person more detached from people around him. As social networks offer people with the opportunity to interact with others, they rarely maintain personal relations with people around them. The widespread use of social networking sites has ruined the charm of people sitting together and sharing light moments.

Almost all businesses utilize social media as a part of their brand management process. However, it can be the cause of distraction among employees, who can use it to interact with their friends rather than doing important work. Recent studies have shown that British firms lose 2.2 billion pounds in a year due to misuse of social media. The efficiency of employees weakens and they become more lax and distracted in their approach to their office based responsibilities.

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intuit.co.uk, plus.google.com, ponder.co.za, glapr.com