Virtual
Selves
Social media
has become one of the most relevant ways to interact with the outside world. It
seems nowadays that social media is everywhere. It has many benefits to the
consumers and society, including:
advertisement
opportunity and long distance video communication. Social media also gives
people the opportunity to meet each other that may never have, however social
media also poses a safety risk to ignorant and vulnerable people.
Social media
has many things to offer the online community. One of these things is
advertisement opportunity. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumbler, the
list goes on. Think of the sheer amount of people that visit the sites per day.
Millions. Millions of people that would otherwise be unexposed the substance of
what is social media. With such a tool as powerful social media, a small mom
and pop business could easily be turned into a household name within a matter
of hours. According to forbes, social media marketing increases brand
recognition, “Every opportunity you have to syndicate your content and
increase your visibility is valuable. Your social media networks are just new
channels for your brand’s voice and
content. This is important because it simultaneously makes you easier and more
accessible for new customers, and makes you more familiar and recognizable for
existing customers. For example, a frequent Twitter user could hear about your
company for the first time only after stumbling upon it in a newsfeed. Or, an
otherwise apathetic customer might become better acquainted with your brand
after seeing your presence on multiple networks.”
When people view
advertisements through social media, they are more prone to holding on the
information because there is a more personal connection.
Of the many
things that social media is good for, is long distance instantaneous
communication. Think about how hard it would be to have a face-to-face
conversation with someone 10,000 miles away before social media became widely available.
That's right, it was impossible. Imagine how difficult it would be to interact
with people you don't see day to day? Social media platforms like Skype,
FaceTime, and snapshot allow users to do what used to be the impossible. This
opens up many opportunities for the individual consumer but also for business.
Long distance video communication has essentially replaced the conference call.
Social media is changing the world for the better: “Our
increasing on-line connectedness has changed our perceptions of our social
world. Decades ago, our social networks were decidedly local; we primarily
spoke with our neighbors and nearby friends and family members. More recently,
we have become, in Wellman’s words, “glocalized,” simultaneously
involved in both local and long-distance relationships. This was certainly
enabled by long-distance phone service, which largely put one household in
touch with another. More recently, though, the rise of personal cell phones and
social media have allowed us to stay in touch with other individuals regardless
of location. This, according to Wellman, is “networked individualism.” We
no longer require homes, offices, or cafes to stay in touch with people; we can
do it wherever we happen to be.”
One great
thing about social media is, it brings people together. There're so many
opportunities to meet new people, especially ones that you wouldn't have met
otherwise. If only localized interaction was available today much less would be
accomplished in the world. Recently corporations have been throwing events for
specific social media applications. Events like vidcon, magcon, and blehcon.
These type of events facilitate possible friendships and other relationships.
Without social media, millions and millions of people would have never had the
chance to interact. “The idea is simple,” USA
Today explains, “make your initial meeting online.
Then meet in person, in the real world. Entrepreneurs are running with the
concept. For instance, Eddy Lu and Daishin Sugano created Grubwithus, a social
dining network that brings people together over tasting menus at restaurants.
"Grubbers" can browse and reserve seats at meals online or from an
iPhone, and then show up, meet new people, eat and chat.
Social media
poses a large safety risk to most people that engage with social media.
According to SANS institute Risk assessment of Socal Media, “Results of a
September 2011 survey state, 63% respondents indicated “that
employee
use of social media puts their organization’s security at risk”
while 29% “say they
have
the necessary security controls in place to mitigate or
reduce the risk”
(Ponemon Institute,
2011). In another study 49% of executives surveyed said that they feel that the
use of social media could damage company reputation, yet in that study “only one in
three companies addressed those concerns”
(PRNewswire, 2009).
These two studies indicate that social media poses a substantial risk to the
organization but the risk itself is not being adequately addressed. For these
types of risks the organization has less control because they do not own,
manage or controlled the systems.”
People who are naturally
vulnerably to suggestion are suseptible to being finessed by predators. I feel
as if every day I hear a new story about someone being, "catfished."
Predators make fake profiles on different social media platforms such as
instagram, and Facebook. However the real danger is the fake profiles on social
media pre-adult dating apps such as hot or not, or tinder. Predators make the
fake account, then being to interact with people through the app. Once they
find a vulnerable person they lurer them into face-to-face interaction. Once
this happens, the possibilities are endless, sexual assault, kidnapping, and
even homicide have sadly become commonplace in these types of horrid
situations. The only thing that people can do to protect themselves, besides
abstaining from social media is educating themselves. I consider myself a very
tech savvy person. I feel that if everyone had as much knowledge as I do about
social media, the world would be a much safer place, however we wouldn't be
safe from everything. Recently someone discovered a security in the social
media platform, Instagram. Instagram is an app where you can edit and publicly
(or privately if your account in on private mode) post photos for other people
to like and comment on. One feature of the app is naming the location of where
the photo was taken. At first glance this seems fool proof. It's not. Anyone
can click on the location. And view it on a map. Almost every day I see
locations tagged as, so and so's house. All you have to do is click on the tag
and instantly one can figure out where So-And-So lives. The worst part is this
reveals the poster's current location! The only way to prevent people from this
type of danger is to educate.
In conclusion social media has many benefits to consumers and
society's talk, including:
advertisement
opportunity and long distance video communication. Social media also gives
people the opportunity to meet each other that may never have, however social
media also poses a safety risk to ignorant and vulnerable people.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/19/internet-grub-social-networking/1846299/
