Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Social Networks in Business

This report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using social networks in business. It covers the evolution of social networks and the internet, advantages of social networks, disadvantages of social networks, and more.

RUNNING HEAD: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING SOCIAL
NETWORKS IN BUSINESS 1
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING SOCIAL NETWORKS IN
BUSINESS
Student Name
Institute Name

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Project objective.........................................................................................................................3
Project scope..............................................................................................................................4
Literature review........................................................................................................................4
Evolution of social network and internet................................................................................4
Advantages of social network................................................................................................6
Disadvantages of social networks..........................................................................................8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
Reference..................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Social media can be considered as the most important element in business today and its uses
have evolved over the period of time. Losing productivity has become an overriding and the
main concern in the current time, the important thing now is to harness the power of the
social network since it is has become a most important thing in society.
The report will understand the advantages and disadvantages of social media. Social media is
actually an umbrella word and can be defined as media like video, picture and many more
being shared as a part of social associated with web-based applications for many people to
communicate with the help of posting, commenting as well as sharing. At the same time, the
more traditional form of media including television, magazine as well as newspapers are part
of static and never permit the consumers to communicate with the help of content.
The report will discuss in detail about the various fields of business which is one of the most
important fields in the present time as the main influencer of the social network. At the same
time, the report also highlights the crucial issues of a present world like online crime as well
as addiction to a social network as main disadvantage. Also, there will be an analysis related
to the dominance of social network and how they impact people in the coming future.
Project objective
The main objective of the report is to understand social media and its advantages and
disadvantages. The report will also discuss that how social network will impact business in
the future.
Project scope
The primary reason to select this topic is the vast usage of social media in different aspects of
a business. The Internet is the foundation of telecommunication systems and use of social

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network basically is the extension of the internet. For all kind of connection and factors, the
social media has become an integral part of businesses and people lives.
Literature review
Social networking is a particular kind of social media that helps the consumer to connect with
people and at the same time create a community (Stelzner, 2014). It is more about building
association than just announcing or just posting and at the same time not engaging with
anyone. The managers can use an internal base of social network websites for the workforce
and further leverage public-facing social media base to market the brand as well as attract the
staff and customers.
The concept of a social network is based on the social form of structure which is made up of
a group of actors and complicated set of dyadic ties that lies between such actors. Social
media can also be defined as any kind of publication on the internet or the presence that
permits the user to properly engage in so many kinds of conversation at the same time which
is in or around the content on the internet. Social media, as well as social networking, usually
aim at two-way communication which exists between the site as well as the people using it.
Two-way communication means that feedback is permitted on social media content and there
can be communication between the writer or anyone reading as well as using it.
Evolution of social network and internet
The Internet-based technology came into existence in the year 1960. The ancestor of the
today's Internet was termed as ARPANET and it was created in the year 1969 for ARPA also
called as Advanced Research Project Agency as a part of US Department of Defence. In other
words, they only wanted to build a mode of communication in an electronic form that can
easily carry a military form of data without much disturbance. In the year 1971, Ray
Tomlinson gave invention to the very first electronic mail program (Cook, 2017). Twenty

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years later, in the year 1991, a person called Tim Berners-Lee invented website or world wide
web and developed HTML also called a Hypertext Markup language that settles the links.
The concept of social network came into existence ever since the technology of internet was
the first set up in the year 1960. The very first online communities were Usenet which was
developed by the graduates of Duke University, Jim Ellis and Tom Truscott (Tiago &
Verissimo, 2014). The concept of Usenet was close to the discussion forum where people
were free to share their views as well as suggestions. In the year 1984, the same method of
online communication was termed as BBS also called Bulletin Board System. The upcoming
of the social network was than rocketed with the invention of websites or world wide web.
One of the most crucial and dominant social networks was Friendster which was founded in
2003 by Jonathan Abrams. In addition to this, there were LinkedIn as well as Myspace were
very popular in their fields. Right after the year 2003, the concept of the social network
becomes a trend that by the time Facebook came into existence which was the year 2006, the
users on the internet had so many options in front of them (Tan, 2016). In the present time,
Facebook is considered as one of the most successful social networks with more than one
billion active users every month and over six hundred million of mobile users, approx. fifty
million pages and in the end ten million usages of apps.
As discussed, Facebook is constantly cited and used the first stop for many users. It is also
very important for many business establishments as well to register their presence on social
media. Network on this social networking site is huge which is combined with its flexible
usage as well as simplicity of the usage which further make it an ideal fit for many
businesses. Another social media site that is Google+ has gained a lot of attention in social
networking and it provides so many distinct advantages. Businesses that have the presence on
Google+ enjoy favourable rating in the search results of the company as the company

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constantly work to integrate the network and the platform is considered small in size that can
develop a more intimate as well as customized conversations with the consumers (Aljabre,
2012). Twitter can be utilised the platform for an organization with a normal flow of news
headlines or links that share with a number of followers. For business houses with a regular
stream of content in the form of images and videos and Instagram now also part of Facebook,
helps a visual mode of telling the story at the same time also boasts a huge audience of
consumers. Other than this, there are so many other platforms as well that provide marketing
opportunities for the right kind of business. Platforms like Pinterest is also growing steadily,
mainly for female consumers for its visual and scrapbook style content and the company is
also very popular among so many working professionals who do freelance work to find
clients.
Advantages of social network
Following is the detailed discussion of advantages of social network: -
1. The existence of social network is placed on many online networks where people are
meeting as well as sharing concepts along with experiences and recommendations.
Therefore, it is same as the non-stopping communication with the huge audience via
so many kinds of platforms or websites (Panahi, Watson & Partridge, 2016). This is
part of one factor that the companies are mostly looking for in social media because
this way they can gain diverse kind of advice as well as feedback from people.
2. Many organizations also use a network like Twitter and Facebook just to directly
connect and communicate with consumer and potential consumers. This lends up to
generating so many opportunities for so many job seekers to understand more about
the company and comfortably connect with people who operate there.
3. People looking for the job can also become familiar with one operating via social
network and once they accomplish strong presence on such networks and it further

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becomes the most feasible alternative to reach people which have authority to recruit
workforce (Gilbert, 2014).
4. Different forms of social network convey efficient forms to look for job opportunities.
One such kind of search is also about the organization in Google by just typing the
name of the organization. Platforms like Facebook or Twitter are a perfect example of
a social network which is able to communicate with people who are with the company
(Dijkmans, Kerkhof, & Beukeboom, 2015). There are some instances where one can
meet the recruitment managers and have some communication as well as a discussion
which can raise the chances to get that specific job. In addition, the profile of the
person can also be distributed on the social network, which will further increase the
possibility of getting the job (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). As per the research and many
researchers, developing an online presence permits the hiring recruiters as well as
friends and colleagues to understand more about people and what they are offering
and what an individual actually wants. It is a method to draw jobs to people instead of
spending the time on looking for jobs.
5. Another important thing to take into consideration is the impact of the social network
on business and its functions like social media marketing. By working as a social
network as the important step, social media marketing is able to gain so many
advantages consisting association building, publicity, the building of the brands and
promotions. Thus, social media helps businesses in getting so many opportunities no
matter the size to build the business and establish as a brand.
6. Aid in selection and recruitment: there is a number of social media platforms that can
be utilised in order to publicize the openings, verify the background data as well as
source potential candidates.

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7. Marketing of employer brand: to share media related to events of employees as well
as values that assist in setting up the brand to attract customers and applicants.
8. Provide internal communications: communicating HR policies, advantages, news of
the company, social events as well as professional growth and more can make
presentations to the workforce at any point of time.
9. Engage workforce: internal social media platforms can be more engaged and inspire
huge participation than the routine e-mail interactions. The workforce can feel that
they have a place to put their views when their postings as well as comments which
are encouraged actively.
10. Promoting social learning and sharing of knowledge: giving employees with a method
to connect with the colleagues to solve issues promotes the learning at the social
platform and can rise knowledge sharing on international platforms.
11. Interact at the time of disaster: employees that are displaced can see a lot of
emergency data from the devices to stay in touch with the owner and accomplish
direction.
Disadvantages of social networks
Following are the detailed discussion of disadvantages of social networks: -
1. Crime: throwing light on the advantages of the social network, it doesn't always mean
that there are so many disadvantages as well. In the current time, crimes on the
internet which are also called as Cybercrime shows a rise in a threat to all the users of
the internet. This consist of online exploitation sexually as well as cyberbullying. One
of the main issue to eliminate cybercrime is that it is challenging to recognize the
offender. It is also almost impossible to keep the surveillance completely in such
immense network.

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2. Sexual exploitation on the website: the most aggressive kinds of cybercrime in online
sexual exploitation. This consist of sharing obscene images and harassing through
obscenity. There were more than six lakhs registered sex offenders that were
convicted in the US as per the study conducted on National Centre for Missing and
Exploited Children.
3. Cyberbullying: the concept of cyberbullying is a different form of bullying which is
face to face since the bullies here can do sitting in their home behind an anonymous
name. The concept of cyberbullying is also a kind of cybercrime which consist of
different branches. Most common kind of cyberbullying is harassment, where the
insulting messages are sent repeatedly to the victims. Other forms of cyberbullying
like flaming, impersonation, denigration as well as exclusion are part of the world of
social media. The most important methods are called cyberstalking which adds up the
harassment with crucial threats as well as end up in fear.
4. Safety: use of social media website on organization networks opens the door to
viruses, hacks and breach on the basis of privacy.
5. Harassment: workforce may be part of harassing attitude towards colleagues on social
media, and HR will require taking some concrete actions if it becomes well aware of
such behaviour.
6. Wrong exposure: posting from present to former workforces or even customers
casting the owners in a bad light, may further damage the reputation of employers.
7. Violations in legal work: the owner becomes susceptible to further charge
discrimination, violations of privacy and interfere with the rights of the workforce
under section seven of the National Labour Relations Act which among another kind
of violations when the existence of social media is utilised in the workplace.

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8. A loss in the level of productivity: there are employees that spend a lot of time on
social media for personal motive at the workplace. Enforcement of the clear set of
policy in terms of using while functioning can assist to mitigate the current risk.
9. Hourly and wage challenges: non-exempted employees limited to specific working
hours may cause added compensable hours, consisting overtime and more easily via
social media usage (Borgatti, Everett & Johnson, 2018).
Conclusion
An organization can easily establish a presence of so many social media channels but none of
these platforms will assist them to gain consumers without any proper investment of effort
and time. A Facebook page when unattended or feeds on Twitter can leave a bad impression
on potential consumers and further cause the business to lose customers and followers.
Businesses must also consider the resources right before growing a social media marketing
tool to make sure that they get attention and frequent communication required to embrace
social media in an effective manner (Borgatti, Everett & Johnson, 2018).
After evaluating all the benefits and drawback of social networks, the company which
discusses their interest in social media, came up with many pieces of advice concerned with
the use of social networks.
Initially, it is important to keep a check on the social media functions and every kind of
online interaction about the businesses (Borgatti, Everett & Johnson, 2018). This will make
employees be more vigilant with the ways they approach social media. Second important
point is that one must not accept the bullying and the sharing of personal information must be
done carefully by every employee since it somehow represents the wrong reputation of the
business.

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Reference
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and corporate reputation. Tourism Management, 47, 58-67.
Gilbert, C. H. E., 2014. Vader: A parsimonious rule-based model for sentiment analysis of
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benefits and challenges. Health informatics journal, 22(2), 99-112.
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R., 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons.
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