Integrated Professional Skills in the Digital Age

This report discusses the positive and negative impacts of social media on the internet, challenges and measures of privacy and security, and the features, applications, and suitability of Facebook and Twitter for business. It analyzes the purposes and effects of social media on internet usage, as well as the risks and challenges of privacy and security. It also compares the features and applications of Facebook and Twitter and their suitability for business purposes.

Integrated Professional Skills
in the Digital Age

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................3
Negative and Positive Impacts of Social Media on the Internet..................................................3
Measures and Challenges of Privacy and Security in Social Media...........................................5
Features Applications and Suitability of Facebook and Twitter for Business.............................6
DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSIONS...........................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Social media is a website/service where people talk to connect with each other people. It
is used by people to get know each other and create a new friend and office work as well. Social
media is available on smart phones, computers, laptops and it is used to share information with
other people. Social media is a web based technology to facilitate social interaction between a
large groups of people through different types of network. Some of the most popular social
media website with includes Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc. This report discusses purposes
of positive and negative aspect of social media on internet. It will also analyse challenges and
measures of security and privacy related to usage of social media. This also includes comparison
of features, application of Facebook and Twitter and whether social media sites can be used as a
communication tool or not with justification.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Negative and Positive Impacts of Social Media on the Internet
As per the views of Kaplan and Haenlien, (2010) social media is responsible for
increasing the grasp of digital culture in modern society. Being started as a simple webpage
based application enabling its users sharing of text message across nations, social media has now
become a vital element of modern digital age. In Modern times, social media has bought major
advancement in the way the process of communication is undertaken between organizations,
individuals and social communities. These particular advancements have impacted the internet
largely both positive and negative in nature. Arguably being officially started in the early 2000's
about one in every three people in the world use social media today (50 Surprising social media
statistics in 2020, 2020). Nevertheless, social-media is considered as a suitable means of
communication by governments and businesses worldwide increasing the overall usage of
internet in the governance and business sectors. This has started a startling conversation in
between various nations of the world to provide free internet connectivity to the public.
Widespread use of social media has also ignited a need of new policies to me made in different
nations around the world related to internet usage, which in turn provided a new image of
importance and necessity to the internet.
As illustrated by Fardouly and Vartanian (2016) internet has widely penetrated the
personal life of public around the world, influencing their thought process and establishing
control over the decisions made by them. The increased reach of social media amongst the

working class, have led to the emergence of many new profitable fields of employment
altogether in the past decade. The use of marketing in social media has led to the emergence of a
new field of social media marketing. This has gradually increased the demand of various
professionals having developed new skills to function all based on efficient usage of internet.
With businesses investing a lot of capital in social media campaigns, the use of internet in field
of marketing is being largely promoted. A recent addition to the domain of social media
marketing is influential marketing, wherein the network if celebrities in social-media is also used
to market different goods by businesses, increasing the usage of internet as an effective market
tool. Social media has also increased the value of internet in almost all the sectors of public life.
Newly emerging features of social media sites have also led to an advancement in the field of
broadcast media. Allowing people to crowd fund any movement or programme they may have
interest in, providing internet a better acceptance as an online community. In the field of e-
commerce, social media has also emerged as a necessary tool increase the crowd capture leading
to an overall increase in the sales of different goods and commodities. Also, the latest developed
field of data mining, allowing user data for target marketing is also the result of growing social-
media market.
In the view of Huang and et.al, (2017) the shear reach of social media amongst its users,
have also led to an overall increase in online threats being posed to them. Acting as an ocean of
fraudulent and dangerous traps aiming to harm its users, social media sites have also tainted the
image of the internet itself. Providing easy access to anyone, there is an increase in spread of
false information being promoted on these sites. That has previously resulted in wide shut-downs
of internet services by the authorities on various occasions. Further, promoting the authorities to
impose a possible stay on internet freedom altogether. With no possible check on content shared,
there has always been a possibility of user data leak and planned attacks on private user accounts
leading to an unsafe and dangerous portrayal of the internet usage. Social media users have also
accused internet services of political polarization and negative influencing of public. Hence, it
can be correctly stated that though social media sites have played a positive role in the growth if
internet services worldwide, the negative aspects of its usage on the internet itself cannot be
denied.

Measures and Challenges of Privacy and Security in Social Media
As per the view of Malik and Malik, (2011) due to the overwhelming amounts of information
shared on social media, there is a large risk of user data being leaked online. As these sites
encourage the users to share their private information online, a lack of privacy efficiency on
social-media sites may lead to stalking and possible distribution of critical personal data online.
It is possible for a majority of users to easily stalk other users online. Mostly it is the users that
are new and naive to social-media platforms, who experience stalking and harassment online.
Hacking of personal information has also become a major issue online. Trained hackers use
social media sites to blackmail and further extort money from users, in exchange for their stolen
personal information. Mostly known faces of society are targeted for the same. Even more
dangerous impact of such leaks is observed when the location of social media users are tracked
resulting in possible theft and further life threatening outcomes. Leading social media platforms
are frequently accused of lacking to provide necessary protection to user privacy. Therefore,
these sites usually face challenges to deliver the same. Although, social media sites do update
their privacy policies when in need, user privacy still remains largely at risk.
In the opinion of Quinn, (2016), a majority of social media users face a continuous risk of
privacy breach online. Usually the users are attacked with the sole purpose of delivering some
harm to the user, either monetary or social in nature. Generally, an informed user can protect his
privacy by avoiding accessing his social media profile on unsecured devices such as company
desktops and unsecured public networks. While using social media profiles in multiple tabs,
services such as ad blocker must be used to avoid any fraudulent ad links being activated. The
location feature should also be turned off unless necessary in order to protect the information
related to recent location if he user. It is more secure to use different email accounts for different
social media sites so that in the case of one account being breached, there are minimal risks
posed to other social media accounts. Furthermore, while visiting unknown sites on the internet
that might contain dangerous malware or spyware, it is more secure to use VPN services. VPN or
virtual private network helps the user to mask his identity from the websites visited by him/her
and provides the necessary protection from a third party sever accessing the details of data
exchanged between the user and the website. Lastly, every user should read and understand the
privacy policy of the social media platform he/she use and should make required changes in the
privacy settings to minimize the risk of future privacy breach.

As illustrated by (Mao and Zang, 2017), with the increasing use of social media worldwide,
threat to user security has emerged as a major issue. Owing to the large amounts of data
transferred online, and the ever-increasing population of users on social media, there is an
increase of cybercrime in the society. Recently due to the increasing cyber-attacks on social
media platforms users face challenges related to their account security online. Phishing attacks
and Frauds are usually executed from the accounts of non-active users efficiently operated by
hackers to gain confidential information of users such as bank accounts, passwords, financial
dealings etc. Mostly new and naive users fall prey to cyber-attacks on social media platforms.
Certain groups or pages are created by trained hackers on social media platforms to trap users,
and extract personal information from them. It is evident that social media platform do try to
upgrade their security features frequently, but the users still face various security risks while
accessing social media online.
In the opinion of Masys, (2016), a majority of user based security measures can help
secured accessibility of social media accounts online. Using updated antivirus software can help
the users to avoid the risk of phishing attacks online. Also, in home PCs where there is a doubt of
updated antivirus being enabled, devices such as webcams must be disconnected or covered with
black tapes. Also, frequent setting up of strong passwords every month which are unique in
nature can help in the prevention of security breaches on social media platforms. Furthermore,
using different email accounts to access different social media accounts can in turn help the user
minimize the risk of multiple attacks on all the social-media accounts. Also, the users must avoid
visiting unknown groups and pages in social media platforms in order to avoid possible risks of
attacks by spyware and malware. Lastly, the users must carefully read and understand the
security policies of a particular social-media platform, in order to determine the amount of
personal data that can be securely shared on the particular social media platform.
Features Applications and Suitability of Facebook and Twitter for Business
Basis of comparison Twitter Facebook
Features  Twitter is an online social
connectivity and microblogging
service that enables its users to
read and post short messages,
 Facebook is an online
social connectivity
website that allows its
users to connect and

known as 'Tweets'.
 It enables its users to compose
text messages in under 140
words or characters.
 The main features include Direct
Messaging, Tweet, Retweet,
Topics, Follow People &
Trending Links, Photos and
Videos (Shane-Simpson, C. and
et.al., 2018).
 It allows its users to switch
between only two privacy
settings i.e. public and private.
send information
online.
 It allows its users to
share multiple text
messages in no
particular limitation.
 The main features
include Friends, Wall,
Fans, Fan Pages,
Groups, News Feed,
Messaging, Apps,
Photos, Live Chat,
Status, Likes, Polls,
Videos, Links, Gifts,
Games, Text, Pokes,
Classified section,
upload and download
options for photos
(Shane-Simpson, C.
and et.al., 2018).
 It allows its users to
switch between private,
friend only, public and
custom privacy settings
on each posts made by
its users.
Applications  Twitter is usually used by
individuals for its micro
blogging feature. It is mainly
used to communicate with other
individuals having similar
 Facebook is usually
used by individuals to
stay connected with
people known to them
in real life. Users share

opinions and interests regardless
of the fact that the individuals
are known to each other in the
real world.
information regarding
their personal life on
the form of photos,
videos etc. with their
own network.
Suitability  Twitter is a site which offers low
prised marketing campaigns to
businesses. Being a low
multimedia oriented platform, it
doesn't enable a largely focused
target audience, but does allow a
comparatively less competition
from similar businesses.
 Advertisements are generally
supported in the form of
promoted tweets and accounts.
 With more than 300 million
users, this site offers a rather
faced paced appeal to various
world leaders and influential
personalities. The playing field
here is under saturated and
boasts of a less competitive
market place. That too in a
considerably low price. With an
increase in the social media
trends on twitter. Twitter may
emerge as a steadily suitable for
businesses in future.
 Facebook is a site that
offers a wide focused
audience for targeted
marketing but at a
higher price altogether.
There is a wide
audience capture but
also a highly saturated
market place available
here. With high
competition from
similar businesses.
 Advertisements are
generally supported in
the form of casual
games, banner ads,
video ads, referral
marketing etc.
 With more than 3.5
billion users, this site
does cater to a wider
audience altogether.
But a highly saturated
and competitive market
is observed here with
high prices for custom

features. Facebook may
grow even larger in
near future making it
the most suitable
choice for businesses.
DISCUSSION
Social media is a powerful tool to communicate to the outside world about struggles
faced by members and in our communities. Social media network such as Facebook and Twitter
provide advertisers with information about the consumer which is crucial. It's also a free and
open forum to debate, exchange ideas and share information. Social media allows for even
deception of identity. Online communication tools also have the potential to increase awareness
of the movement or social contact. One of feature which makes social media as effective
communication tool is facility to allow instant messaging so that people can exchange
information within few seconds with each other irrespective of time or distance. Social media
provide a sense of connectedness and awareness of others without direct communication.
Internet is the most important place where people connect with organization and a sense if
togetherness. Social media communication creates the better customer, service and increased
sales. It is the most important part of the communication channels for businesses. Companies that
are serious about reaching customer cannot afford to invest in it. However, social media
communication has increased among businesses and has changed the dynamic of business
communicate internally and externally.
It can be stated that social media has played a pivotal role in promoting internet services
amongst its users, and also increasing the growth in internet usage worldwide. In order to
provide unique features to their users, social media sites are also investing in developing the
overall internet framework itself. There are also various risks negative impacts of social media
on internet, which have changed the image of internet who have suffered through social media. It
always associated with risks which have impacted various users, so it is really important for the
users try to enhance its security measures and privacy as well. There are various features of
Facebook and Twitter which has increased their suitability for business operations.
CONCLUSIONS
It can be concluded that in this digital age, social media platforms do have a major impact

on the internet. The impacts were found to be both positive and negative largely depending upon
the individual usage of the user. It was further concluded that social media users faced challenges
related to security and privacy when accessing social media online. It was also concluded that
these challenges can be easily tackled by the users themselves through gaining education
regarding account privacy and security settings. With the help of a comparative study it was
further concluded that both Twitter and Facebook can be used as efficient tools for business
sustainability in the near future. Finally, it was concluded that all the social media platforms can
be considered as efficient communication tools.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Fardouly, J. and Vartanian, L.R., 2016. Social media and body image concerns: Current
research and future directions. Current opinion in psychology, 9, pp.1-5.
Huang, Q. and et.al, 2017. The moderating role of social media usage in the relationship among
multicultural experiences, cultural intelligence, and individual creativity. Information
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Quinn, K., 2016. Why we share: A uses and gratifications approach to privacy regulation in
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Mao, E. and Zhang, J., 2017. What Affects Users to Click on Display Ads on Social Media? The
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Masys AJ, editor. Exploring the Security Landscape: Non-Traditional Security Challenges.
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Shane-Simpson, C. and et.al., 2018. Why do college students prefer Facebook, Twitter, or
Instagram? Site affordances, tensions between privacy and self-expression, and
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Fox, J. and Vendemia, M.A., 2016. Selective self-presentation and social comparison through
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Online
50 Suprising social media statistics in 2020. 2020. Available Through:
<https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/social-media-facts-statistics>