Business and Social Approaches to Social Media - Opportunities and Essay

Business and Social Approaches to Social Media - Opportunities and Issues - Essay Example Through social media, companies do not have any limit for entry, and there is excellent communication between customers and promoters (Hamill, 1997). Companies using the social media find it easy to penetrate the market, to find information that helps them change their products to meet the customers demand, and also reduces the cost on advertisement. In overall, the company is able to improve its performance as a result of the feedback got from the consumers of its product (Denis et al., 2002). Social networking sites are websites whose accounts are profile based. They are often known as Web 2.0 (O’Reilly, 2005). People are able to form relationships through chartrooms, instant messaging, newsfeed and blogging. Some of the communicating avenues or social network sites used today include; facebook.com, Myspace.com used by people who share the same taste in music and friendster.com used to connect people looking for love partners (Ellison, et al., 2007). In this discussion, we s hall elaborate more on the use of facebook as a social network, and how it has helped companies such as Coca Cola, IKEA to advertise its products leading to an increase in sales and profit maximization. ESSAY Facebook is a social networking means that has made it possible for people with same ideals and values to connect. Originally facebook was introduced to help students connect with each other after school (Ellison et al., 2007). However, today facebook is also used for marketing companies’ products, introducing new ideas, and an avenue to collect data or for advertising purposes. Being a socially appreciated form of networking, facebook has helped to improve the public relation of companies with its consumers, has helped to identify marketing gaps and also to identify consumers tastes and preferences. Facebook has bridged the gap of space and time in business. This has been done through creating of groups, which allows members to ‘like’ the goods and services provided by keeping them informed with the latest information. This has also been done through the creation of facebook pages or use of celebrities in the advertisements. Other than companies using the media for advertising, organizations have also been able to gather information leading to a shift of how they get to collect information; information does not only flow from up to bottom but from down to the bottom. This has therefore, shifted the focus of organizations to providing what the consumers desire. It has not just changed organizations and companies’ methods of advertising, but has also led to an increase of companies’ productivity and revenue as well as reducing costs. In addition, the social network; facebook have helped in detecting criminals. Police in Canada and the U.S. have directed certain videos and requested the public to try and indentify them. The videos were initially on YouTube, but to make communication faster it was uploaded in facebook. This did not only help the police men to get to arrest the criminals but also helped the businesses to get to indentify the criminals incase they just dropped on their doorsteps. Facebook can therefore, be used as a means for protection and for boosting security around our places. However, the success of a company that uses facebook to advertise depends on how well they design their web. A