Free sample - Social Networking. translation missing

Social Networking. Social NetworkingSocial Networking and How it is Changing The Way Companies Do Business Introduction In the past few years, the term social networking has become a business phenomenon. This is a process of connecting people through their friend, relatives and acquaintances. This social networking enables people to connect with others who are in their social circle for some specific reasons. In the communities, Social networking helps individuals to promote some common interests which are greatly facilitated through knowing each other. On the other hand, the business concept to the social networking is used for reasons of high growth and profitability. Some successive business societies support advertising of their business activities. The main reason why many businesses use social networking is to enable their prospective customers and members to easy connection within an organization. Also it is used to enable the potential customers to identify their matters with their service providers. For example, if a customer is looking for a house sales agent, he or she can have a reassurance that the agent will understand the client’s point of view and provide the services that are expected by the clients. This is an essay on social networking and its impacts to business and the people who uses these networks to conduct their businesses. The essay looks closely at Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and Twitter which have many people involved in social networks and it also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using these social networks. Facebook Facebook is one of the social networks that connect a large number of people in the world. It was initially started and aimed at connecting college and university students with their friends from different colleges and even high schools. It has now extended its networking by incorporating companies and businesses around the world. The inventors of Facebook tend to target more users through making the social network available to the general public. Many people can join Facebook if they have some connections to certain companies or regions. A large number of businesses conducting marketing with their fan pages through advertising to consumers to find them there. It allows businesses to have profiles through which the businesses showcase their photos making Facebook a powerful marketing tool. The businesses can be able to connect to an audience of consumers to find out what they need through Facebook. It has a Group function which allows business owners to find groups of likeminded peop le to create their group to find more consumers. This is beneficial to business people as people are allowed to participate in more than one group (Sandberg S). MySpace MySpace is one of the major social networks that are used by all ages and it acquired more than 60 million people in the first three years of existence. This site is more popular than other networks because it targets teens and it is easy to use the large number of friends to meet online. Through MySpace people can create links with others who have common interests. Many businesses rely on this network because it has large number of members and its immense popularity. They use it as a place of promoting their business on daily basis. The promotion is done in the blog posts and bulletins with links to a landing page. MySpace promotes businesses because the key success of businesses the large friend base, which has many other people who are also aiming to promote some businesses. The main benefit that can be obtained from business promotion on MySpace is the cross promotion. For example, if a businessman is on MySpace and he/she tries to promote a site, a freelance writer may come in to offer his/her services to the businessman (Anderson T Chris D). Twitter Twitter began in the year 2006 as an experiment and it has an ability to instantly communicate during any situation. The Twitter, Inc. was founded in the year 2007 and it is currently a privately owned and funded company based out of San Francisco Twitter has a code for each and every account that may be pasted into the HTML code of the website. This assists in linking two parties together as it is used to gain followers on twitter who finds the website first. It also assists in invite new members from twitter to the website (IPWatchdog). It allows businesspeople to keep in touch with their potential customers. They use it to test and see how the responsive clients are to their listed promotions and compare different businesses’ methods of advertising such as blogging. Through this, they can effectively acquire clients who are interested in their business. The businesspeople can then cater their marketing plans and promotions to their most responsive audience and increase the total sales. This reduces the business costs and saves time spent in marketing audiences that do not respond. Through twitter, one is able to connect to his/her consumer audience and announce his or her sales, special offers and even promotions. Business people using twitter are also being able to connect to others in same fields through which they expand their services base. One example is a graphic and web designer who gets a printing company and a specialist in internet marketing. These three can work together hence offering extra business to each other. Also people are able to see what other people are talking about their businesses by using twitter. One can find out about the market situation and he/she may see if his/her products or services are being discussed by others. The businesspeople can be able to get an inside glimpse into the mind of the customer and they can easily learn about their competitor in the market. Twitter allows businesspeople to educate people about some unique aspects of their business and enroll them into finding you new prospects of the businesses. LinkedIn This is one of the social network sites that are centered on business. It was essentially started as means of connecting with the customers, co-workers, business partners and friends. Recently, LinkedIn network has become the hub for online networking in business. It is more professional than the above social networking sites (MySpace and Facebook). In linkedln, one may get the photos of his/her boss, some employment histories and various areas of professional specialization in business. It enables the users to connect with their business acquaintances and allows them to join fifty groups related with their business activities. The users can then engage in conversations that have legitimate value (Schepp B Schepp D. Pg 59-61). Advantages of using social networks in business The advertising power that a business can achieve is one advantage of using the social networking. The most people who make use of the social networks are the youth hence advertising through the networks is very advantageous. These young people are easily persuaded to buy some products or use some services through this advertisement. Through the advertisement, the marketing of the products that are relevant to age group is what different businesses try to target. It is cheaper to use these social networking sites for business because most of it is absolutely free. Through this networking, the businesspeople can find the potential clients and target markets in few clicks and it enhances the promotional strategies (Social networking). Another significant advantage of using social networking by businesses is the large number of people that use these networks daily. If a business owns one of these networks, it will experience many people who would need to use the site. Since relationships are important in any society, some people may fear confronting others face to face and hence the social networks are the means through which people connects and interacts freely without being scared and they can be able to share about their common business interests. Social networking is a big market for making money which is essential in human life. Disadvantages of using social networks in business A security issue is a disadvantage of using the social networking sites. For example, there are people who put virus and malwares in the sites which affect the computers. For instance, the users of MySpace who do not install the anti-malware programs to in their machines will be vulnerable to the dangerous advert programs that are posted on the site by some ill minded people. This may make the businesses to cease from using the social networks. The second disadvantage is imposters where some people take advantage of others. The networks facilitates the meeting of people and may sometime lead to undesirable acts such as rape and murder because it is not easy to determine whether the person you are communicating with is a criminal or a good person. Also, some people have used the networks to con some businesspeople (Terri L.). Solutions to the problems and recommendation The users of the social networks should install spyware and ant-virus programs on their computers and ensure that these programs are continuously updated to deal with the security threats that are found in the sites. The businesspeople should go an extra mile in determining whether the people they communicate with are legitimate customers or those who intend to con their businesses. This can be achieved by using original identification documents. How social networks make money Some of these networks allow some companies such as Google to post their advertisements and in return the companies pay some fees to these social networks. For instance, MySpace and Facebook generate a lot of dollars in revenue through its advertisements. Others get money or revenue through the payments of membership fees (Daniel G. Pg12-3). Conclusion The social networking is a growing tool and it gives the businesses and people the means to associate with others. Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter are the extensive networks which contribute to main source social networking. The use of social networking is booming and it will continue to unite different business associates. References Anderson T Chris D. (2003). MySpace. Retrieved from; Daniel G. (2006). $1 billion for facebook? Retrieved from; IPWatchdog. The importance using social networking for business; Part II-Twitter. Retrieved from; Sandberg S. (2010). Role of Advertising on Facebook. Retrieved from;   Schepp B Schepp D. (2009). How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,   and Other Social Networks. McGraw-Hill Professional. Social networking. (2006). Meaning. ExplanationGuide Encycloepdia. Retrieved from; Terri L. (2006). MySpace: Crime Victims. Retrieved from;