Integrated Professional Skills in the Digital Age Report: CFPBUS006

This report, prepared for the Integrated Professional Skills in the Digital Age module (CFPBUS006), delves into the multifaceted aspects of digitalization and its impact on professional practices. It begins by evaluating the positive and negative effects of social media on businesses and individuals, highlighting the significance of effective communication and brand awareness. The report then addresses the critical challenges related to security and privacy within social media platforms, such as phishing attacks, hacking, and the spread of viruses and malware, while offering potential mitigation strategies. Furthermore, the report compares and contrasts the features and business applications of two social media platforms, assessing their suitability for various business models. Ultimately, the report underscores the importance of adapting to the dynamic digital landscape, emphasizing the need for continuous learning and strategic implementation of digital tools for enhanced business performance.

Integrated Professional
Skills in the Digital age
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3

MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
Evaluation of positive and negative aspects of social media on the internet..............................3
Analysis of challenges and measures of security and privacy individuals can take while using
social media.................................................................................................................................6
Comparison of two social media handles, their unique features and applications along with
discussion of suitability for businesses.......................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Digitalization is basically integrating digital technologies in everyday life of individuals
and organisations by digitization of everything and all processes which can be digitized. This is a
process of converting information into digital format, separating the data units in organized
manner. Digitizing information makes it easy to store and preserve it for individuals for longer
period of time and they can access it anytime they want. Digitalization also helps in enhancing
business practices and processes along with the skills of professionals. It enable individuals to
perform better academically and professionally (Huda and et. al., 2017). Digitalization will
improve the talents and skills or individuals providing them ease and comfort, therefore,
digitalization is becoming part of day to day life of people. This assignment is based on the
integration of professionals skills with use of digitalization. Different aspects are covered in this
report in relation with digitalization, initially positive and negative effects of social media is
examined on businesses and day to day life of individuals. Then some challenges and measure
are discussed in context of security and privacy of social media services. At the end, two social
media handles are compared, different features and application of them are analysed in context
of sustainability of businesses. Moreover, effectiveness of social media tools is evaluated for
conducting proper and clear communication in business and in life of individuals.
MAIN BODY
Evaluation of positive and negative aspects of social media on the internet
Social media refers to different applications or websites designed in such a manner for
allowing people to share content quickly and efficiently. These are different communication
tools which are providing ease to individuals and a platform for conducting effective
communication amongst each other. Nowadays, with digital age coming in and more people
started using internet for social media and it is moving to virtual world. Social media tool is used
for marketing by businesses from very long time and due to digitalization it is now becoming
more easier and helpful for organisation to market their product effectively, reaching to
maximum population. Social media plays a vital role in business activities with increasing
digitalization and use of internet (Hall and Marston, 2017). Therefore, it is very important to seek
knowledge about the negative and positive aspects of social media on the internet and their
impacts on different businesses.

Positive aspects of Social media Negative aspects of Social media
The most effective and potential aspect of
social media for perspective of business
owners is effective communication. Social
media provides and allows potential means of
communication and exchanging information
from one party to another. It enables
organisation to increase their brand awareness
in minds of public and reach to maximum
number of people, attracting potential buyers.
Effective communication can takes place in
both ways from company to buyers by posting
and informing them about their offerings. Also,
customers can communicate with businesses
through social media regarding any issues they
are facing or for conveying any inconvenience.
Social media possesses many negative aspects
also on businesses out which on is increased
power of customers. Earlier, any negative
comment or low experience of customers are
directly communicated by them to business
owner or sometimes ignored by them. But now
with increasing use of social media and
freedom of customers, stories of bad services
or low quality goods spread very fast. This
directly imposes harm on business and the
brand image of company, hindering the
goodwill made by entity in past years (Khalil
and Osman, 2017).
Social media enables organisation to drive
more customers towards them by influencing
their buying decisions and behaviour.
Businesses post different advertisements and
attractive promotional posters on their social
media accounts by which it becomes easy for
them to gain interest of potential buyers and
put great impacts on their buying decisions
(Bürkner and Lange, 2017)s. This is another
manner by which businesses benefits from
using social media in their operations as it
generates leads for them. Interested customers
and other parties make their decisions in favour
of business just by gaining knowledge about
Social media a very effective tool for
improving engagement and boosting sales of
company, but companies can not depend on it
entirely. Once businesses gets dependent on
certain social media handle for marketing and
promotional activities, after sometimes they
become vulnerable and rigid. Companies stop
adapting future changes and trying new better
cost effective methods of marketing and
operations. At this position negative actions
start flowing towards the entity, they spend
more when better and less expensive mean is
present. Also, their actions and practices are
lacking as compared to their competitors who

their offering through different social media's
and digital technology used by entity to do so.
are changing according to dynamic
environment.
Another, positive impact social media have on
businesses and their activities is it enables
them to collect data from wider sources and
from wider sections of society. Social media
helps entities to take feedbacks from their
customers and from other non related parties
(Walker, Bowkett and Duchaine, 2018). It
enhances the knowledge of businesses about
the market in which they are operating, buying
behaviour of customers and different
motivating factors. All this information enables
businesses to improve their practices and
offering according to the information gathered
by them, satisfying the needs and desires of
people.
Social media is a potential source of data
collection and conducting market research. But
sometimes it imposes negative impact, as
everyone have rights to post anything on social
media this data is may be true until it is
uploaded by any authorised webpage. If wrong
information is gathered by businesses and all
actions and tasks are performed accordingly it
will impact the entity in negative form. This
aspect of social media and will harm
operations of businesses and their practices
(Arnold and Boggs, 2019).
Digitalization is bringing ease in day to day
lives of people and digital technology is
becoming a part of daily lives of individuals
which is why it is known as digital age. This is
another positive aspect as social media is used
by organisations for performing promotional
actions and spreading word about their
operations to maximum number of people.
This action is known as social media
marketing or e-marketing (Amran and
Ananda, 2018).
Social media is a good source of advertising
and marketing of business. On the other hand,
advertising through social media includes
huge costs and large investments.
Advertisements which are developed by
entities by using digital techniques and and
technology are very costly and expensive.
Small business entities can not afford such
expensive advertisements and even if they can,
uncertainty is still there if they can attain more
profits from doing so or not (McDonald,
Boulton and Davis, 2018).

Analysis of challenges and measures of security and privacy individuals can take while using
social media
Privacy and security is a prime and serious point of thinking for every individual and
business entity. With increasing use digitalization more information is being uploaded and
shared online by businesses. Every individual and organisation use their social media handles or
accounts at least once a day and those business which are operating with digital technologies and
entirely dependent on them are the most frequent users. This is the main reason why privacy and
security is such a big concern for them. Companies data and information gets exposed in the
world on regular basis to the whole population present on social media (Blaschke, 2018).
Therefore, security is very important and primary aspect for company, they face great challenges
for keeping their data private and secure and take several measure to mitigate their effects.
Challenges faced by businesses in relation privacy and security while using Social media: Phishing attacks- This is a form of social media attack in which they trick people or
business owners to handover their personal information or data like business information,
bank details and confidential passwords. This is a new and very recent threat or challenge
which is being faced by entities and general public. Phishing mainly performed by
creating a fake social media account which is very similar to that of business and profile
of company. This a very serious threat to any business entity as it imposes high risks such
as losing customers and lot of money and other potential assets or resources (Meissner
and Shmatko, 2019). Hacking- Another challenge which is related to social media and faced by organisations
is hacking. This activity is adopted by individuals for stealing a secured data for their
personal benefits and professional use. This is an unethical and wrongful act which is
undertaken by several individuals and entities and increasing regularly. Different types of
hacking techniques and software are developed and used by hackers for fulfilling their
unhealthy and unethical motives. Some methods of hacking are like clickjacking and
cursor-jacking. Clickjacking is one method of hacking in which individuals just have to
make one click on a link and several viruses and malware enters into the system. In
Cursor-jacking hacking individuals will just make one click and that will lead to several
actions which are not initiate by them and which is very harming (Starkey, 2019).

 Viruses and Malware- This is one of the most frequent challenge which is associated
with the use of social media. Several software's are available in marketplace which are
being developed for taking control over computers and other electronic devices
connected with internet or to damage the system. Social media works as a path for
spreading viruses and malware into systems and servers of business and individuals.
Social media a connecting channel, which is why one social media of an individual will
establish link of that virus into several accounts of different people. Through viruses
overall data can be corrupted which is available on that system and in that social media
account. This imposes huge threat on the security and privacy of data of businesses.
Hence, these are some major challenges which businesses or any individual faces while using
social media accounts for conducting different activities (Jacobs, Amuta and Jeon, 2017). They
face these problems and becomes part of these scams because of their lack of knowledge and
awareness about such malpractices.
Measure of privacy and security businesses should undertake while using social media: Training- One of the most effective and commonly used measure for dealing with
different challenges of social media is providing training to staff associated with social
media accounts and operating them on daily basis. The challenges they face while
working on social media are due to lack of knowledge and understanding of such scams
and problems. Therefore, proper training sessions should be conducted to educate people
and spread awareness about such practices. So that employees be well informed and
skilled to face such malpractice and counter-act on it if they experience such action. Password Protection- Another measure which businesses and their owners can take is
password protection. This is an appropriate tool which is helpful to individuals and
businesses for keeping their systems safe from any kind of hacking. Password protection
makes it very difficult and tedious job for hacker to enter into the system or social media
account and fulfil their wrongful motive (Mihalcea, 2017). Passwords protect the data
and system through several codes and encryptions which is very difficult to break it and
take what is required.
 Anti-Viruses- As, there are various software's which are present in marketplace or virtual
world by which viruses can enter a system. Same types of software's are also developed
for protecting the systems and computer from such viruses and they are known as Anti-

Virus. These enables business owner to secure their data, systems and business
information. In case of social media, anti-virus act as agents which are protecting their
accounts and private information they have stored in those accounts.
Comparison of two social media handles, their unique features and applications along with
discussion of suitability for businesses
LinkedIn
This is an American business and employment oriented service operate which works
through social media. An individual just have to make their profile on LinkedIn application by
following all the steps involved in it and providing all the information required. All the data is
stored on the application enabling them to update it regularly and make best profiles so as to
fulfil their requirements.
Features Provides best talents to employer- One of the best feature of LinkedIn is it provides
employers what they need. Businesses just have to post their requirements on the official
account holding all information about their business. Then interested candidates will
approach them and establish communication with them effectively. Make available all different job opportunities- As it is helpful for businesses, LinkedIn
also provides job opportunities to potential individuals. The professional will just have to
make updates on their account and search for appropriate job role according to their
requirements and expertise (Huda and Teh, 2018).
Applications Promotion- One of the most effective use and feature of LinkedIn is it allows
promotional actions. Both an individual and businesses can put their advertisement
promoting their offerings in public so that potential public can be attracted. Exchanging information- Businesses can use their LinkedIn profile as a platform for
sending different information in marketplace. These information can be based on
anything but have to be related with their company and profession. For instance, business
is hosting an promotional event, all the data related to it can be posted on social media
handle for campaigning it, providing knowledge to number of people and attracting huge
interested crowd towards the event (Gorbunova and Hiner, 2019).
Suitability

LinkedIn is a social networking and social media site which is developed, particularly for
business community and different businesses of any size and nature. The goal and aim of
creating this kind of social media platform is to bring registered members and professionals to
meet and document networks and build professional trustworthy relations. This is the most
suitable application or social media platform where potential employees can meet with potential
employer, negotiate with one another and best skill experts can be appointed and placed to
appropriate organisation.
Facebook
It is an American online social media and social networking service, situated in
California serving to worldwide customer as accessible by anyone having internet near them or
in their electronic device. There are several number of social media handles providing
networking services to people (Baker, 2017). Facebook is one of the best tool amongst all unique
social media platforms. It is one of the biggest and widely used and preferred social media
platform which is unique holding several differentiating features. All these different features and
application are discussed below in context of business practices and actions.
Features Level of connectivity- The most influencing feature of Facebook is the level of
connectivity they provide. By creating ans attractive profile on Facebook company can
actually market their product and offerings to larger population reaching to several
different corners of the world. Updated feature of the application- Every now and then research team of Facebook
identify and add some new feature to their application which enables retailers or
businesses using it for their marketing or any other purposes. All new features makes
different actions very convenient for business owners to conduct their action effectively
and smoothly.
Applications Communication- Social media is used in developing effective communication network
with potential buyers and target market. Facebook provides this feature where executives
of entity can actually communicate with the user and provide them suitable solutions for
their issues, satisfying their needs.

 Aggressive and positive marketing- As known social media is a very effective tool for
performing marketing activities. Facebook also allows the use of various feature of the
application for doing positive marketing of their offerings and products.
Suitability
According to current market conditions it can be analysed and evaluated that different
social media platforms are suitable of conducting business activities and Facebook is one of
those handle. Businesses can very easily and with very low cost use this application to perform
different activities which are beneficial for them (Becker, 2018). Organisations can develop huge
brand image in mind of people, can reach to maximum number of buyers, develop potential
communication channel and earn higher revenue and profits units. Social media makes business
and its operations very easy, increasing the skills of professionals and improving the
performance of company.
Social media as a communication tool:
Communication is basically a mean of transferring correct and required information from
one individual to another or to group of individuals. On the other hand social media is a platform
which provides chances and opportunities to whole population of expressing and sharing what
they desire to share. Therefore, social media can be justified as a tool of communication and
building relations with wider segments of the society. Businesses make effective use of various
social media handles and platforms for conducting their business activities. They undertakes
marketing action through social media (Sousa and Wilks, 2018). Nowadays, with increasing
digitalisation and advanced technology is becoming part of day to day life of people, companies
also, make sale and earn revenue from effective usage of social networking.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it is summarised and evaluated that digital media is very efficient
technique and becoming necessity of people. Digital technology is replacing many things in life
of individuals and becoming a very important and huge part of their lives. Businesses also,
making appropriate use of this opportunity, they are moving their operation into digital world.
Several positive and negative effects are seen by organisations while using social media for their
actions, these are having huge impacts on company. Security and privacy of data is another
concern of entities for which several challenges are faced by them. For reducing the effects of
such challenges and mitigating their threat company takes various measures which are helpful

for businesses. At the end, discussion is made in relation with the using social media as
communication tool, answer for which is yes and proper justification is given with detailed
reasons.

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