Monday, April 11, 2011

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is the broad term used for two-way communication between people or group of people with internet as a mode of broadcasting the information. A vast amount data, pictures, videos, software links, etc. can be shared between communities of people almost instantaneously. As compared to the other traditional modes of communication, social media has much wider scope as well as reach. An internet user can share his personal information with his friends and acquaintances in no time. In addition to this, he can have access to the latest status of his friends. But, in no way, the interaction is limited to a group of people. An online community can have millions of followers with stupendous amount of data being exchanged between them.

The social media has many modes of communication. Blogs, microblogs and social networking sites like facebook, twitter, myspace, linkedln, etc. have changed the scenario of networking completely. A blog can have participation by a number of users who can discuss on a particular topic or subject. Similarly, a microblog can help people reach other in real time. Due to its small size of content, one can post a microblog that can be read by others in almost seconds. Twitter is one such example in which the messages can be posted in the form of tweets; the others can follow the tweets.Orkut, which is widely used in India, provides the options of sharing messages, videos, images and other personal data with others. One can also track the latest updates from his friends, can follow the community they desire to share their ideas with.

An extremely important use of social media is in the form of social marketing. The companies can promote their brand names and make people know about the credibility of their products and services. They can not only earn peoples’ trust by making them realize their genuineness but also can get feedback for their services from the users. The industries can also advertise their vacancies through job portals; can hire the desired candidates in accordance with their qualification and experience. In turn, candidates can have access to a vast number of jobs at a time. Similarly, social media can play an important role in imparting education in which a teacher can impart lessons virtually to his students. Students can post their assignments as soon as they finish them and get feedback almost immediately.

But no discussion about social media can be complete without taking into consideration the major issues involved in it. There is always a threat involved in sharing private data with others. Some sites, such as twitter, allow the sharing of the personal content with the third parties which, in turn, can use it illegally. This can have far-reaching consequences for a user whose personal information has been used without his knowledge. Again, both employees and employers can target each other and malign each other’s image for their own benefit. Last, but not the least, many of the social networking sites carry pornographic and illegal materials that can are improper for the viewers. Efforts must be made to make the networking as safe as possible.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1774086_4.html

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