Introduction
Social media, a technology that initiates sharing views and ideas over virtual networks and groups, has become prominent in modern society. This media gives the users hasty electronic communication of personal information, documents, and videos. Users engage social media through computers, tablets, and smartphones via software based on the web (Li, Larimo, and Leonidou. 52). The most used social media networks are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. This paper will analyze the causes and effects of social media.
Causes of social media
Social media platforms are common among individuals who began using them to interact with friends and families living in different places. Businesses later adopted them to reach more customers. Social media has a powerful ability to connect and share information with numerous people simultaneously. This platform also enables various technological activities to be shared among people worldwide (Li, Larimo, and Leonidou. 54). Photo sharing, blogging, business networks are some of the most activities shared on social media. Government officials and politicians also utilize networks in social sites to engage with voters.
Effects of Social Media
Social media has negative and positive effects on individuals and society if misused. People utilize social media sites to share ideas with friends and extended family members. Social platforms help such individuals keep in touch with them, thus strengthening their family bond (Sengar 28). Individuals can also utilize media applications to link career chances where individuals with similar ideas share feelings, insights, and emotions, thus helping them progress their careers. Social media is also an essential tool in the business world. Firms utilize this platform to engage with customers, improve sales through marketing and promotions, and offer services and support to consumers. Social media also promotes e-commerce sites to initiate communication with customers, which builds social interactions (Sengar 30). Through social media, company managers can conduct market research and gather the information that will help them market their products, promoting sales as consumers get products and services sold in time. Nevertheless, loyalty programs connected to social media also strengthens customer relationship.
Traders can also get valuable facts about their customers through social media that can assist them in making perfect business decisions. Conversations made in social listening allows firm managers to realize people’s feeling about their companies and the brands in the market. With social listening, managers can discover what audiences like in their companies and their dislikes. Some even suggest how managers can improve their services to produce more brilliant goods that will stand out from the world’s competitive market and reach many people. Business managers can utilize social media sites in marketing and building their new brands. Organic content is freely posted worldwide, thus promoting brand recognition. (Sengar 31). When many people see a specific brand, they become more familiar with it and share it with others. The followers also share with friends and relatives, exposing the particular brand to many people. Such practice initiates more sales as people buy brands they know their benefits.
Adverse Effects of Social Media
Social media also negatively affects individuals, firms, and the government. Individuals get addicted to social media to the extent that they fail to perform their essential daily tasks in life. Individuals addicted to social media spend most of their time sharing on media sites instead of performing crucial duties in life, thus reducing their operating performance leading to job losses (Belangee, Bluvshtein and Haugen. 125). Students are also affected by social media interaction. They spend their study time on sites like Instagram and Facebook instead of concentrating on their school work. The distractions lower school grades, hence interfering with the student’s academic performance.
Cyberbullying is also a negative effect of social media, where individuals are bullied through technological devices such as phones and the internet. This abuse form is more severe because many audiences view the sites, and bullies cannot be identified (Belangee, Bluvshtein, and Haugen. 132). Cyberbullying is used as a revenge tool that might cause suicidal attempts to the victim if guidance and counseling services are not provided to the bullied.
Social media also has adverse effects on business firms. Individuals are free to post what they like and at the same time give views of their dislikes. When a person experiences negativity in a specific company’s product, they might share that fate with others, spreading worldwide. People trust insights made by others, especially if it’s a new product in the market. This practice can have negative impacts, especially in future marketing, thus hindering the firms from getting leads. Marketing campaigns in social media needs a lot of time and resources (Belangee, Bluvshtein, and Haugen. 130). Poor social media campaign tools are a massive challenge to small businesses with small marketing departments and inadequate resources. For a social media campaign to succeed, there should be enough time for posting and monitoring content and responding to people’s feedback for perfect actions to be taken. Firm managers with limited time will not have good and successful media campaigns.
Conclusively, social media sites include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, among others which have both good and bad effects on their users. Individuals constantly connect with distant relatives and friends through technological-based webs, strengthening their family bonds. Marketing can also be fast through social media platforms as it is easier to reach many audiences. Nevertheless, people with evil motives can also use social media to destroy others through unethical practices like cyberbullying and giving poor feedback on a posted brand. Such incidents might ruin someone’s business.
Works Cited
Belangee, Susan, Marina Bluvshtein, and Daniel Haugen. “Cybersocial connectedness: A survey of perceived benefits and disadvantages of social media use.” The Journal of Individual Psychology 71.2 (2015): 122-134.
Li, Fangfang, Jorma Larimo, and Leonidas C. Leonidou. “Social media marketing strategy: definition, conceptualization, taxonomy, validation, and future agenda.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 49.1 (2021): 51-70.
Sengar, Alok Singh. “The impact of social media on business growth and performance in India.” Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management 11.12 (2021): 27-31.
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