Argument on Social Media Use in Business Organisations: MGT502

This report provides an argument on the use of social media for communication within business organizations. It highlights the increasing reliance on technology and the internet in globalized business practices, emphasizing social media platforms as crucial communication channels for both internal and external stakeholders. The report acknowledges the enduring value of email while emphasizing the preference for social media due to time and cost efficiencies. It discusses the benefits of social media, such as enhanced team collaboration and ease of use, particularly in marketing and advertising. The report also addresses key considerations like security and privacy issues, as well as the importance of adhering to regional and national laws. It concludes that while social media has become an essential part of modern business, legal and security aspects must be carefully managed to maximize its productivity. The report includes references to relevant academic sources supporting the arguments.

ARGUMENT
Using social media for communication in business organisations

There is an increased interdependency on the technology use and the internet tools
with the increment in the globalised business practices and multinational organisations. The
communication is one of the most important functions of the organisation. One of the
communication channels that have emerged drastically over the years as a means of both
internal and external communications is the social media platforms such as social sites, blogs,
wikis, online pages and group chats. Nevertheless, the value of the use of the email cannot be
substituted (Cardon & Marshall, 2015), but the modern managers prefer social media
channels for communication because of the benefits of time and cost reduction. According to
Treem & Leonardi, (2013), by the virtue of the affordances like edit ability, visibility,
persistence, and association, the social media enhances the team collaboration and is easy to
use for quick communications. The social media is not only useful for the internal
communications but external communications as well with that of the external stakeholders
like consumers. Thus, as seen today the advertising and marketing department have
completely been renovated, hence benefitting the marketing department of the global
organisations (Parveen, Jaafar & Ainin, 2015). In addition, it must be noted that the social
media use for communication is not only beneficial for the private organisations, but also for
the public entities. This is because the social media aids in the increment of the transparency
and accountability in the functions of the public entities (Stamati, Papadopoulos &
Anagnostopoulos, 2015).
However, one of the key considerations in the social media use for communications is
the existence of the security and privacy issues. The increasing number of users and the
hackers of information pose the threats of security for the risk of leakage of the content that
has been posted on the social media by the members of the organisation (Leonardi, 2017).
Yet another key consideration while using the social media for the communication with the
external stakeholders is the framework of the regional and national laws (Parveen, Jaafar, &

Ainin, 2015). The entities must be aware of the data and privacy laws applicable as per the
area of operations and must follow the regulations stated therein to avoid the legal
implications. Another measure that can be taken by the entities is to develop a code of
conduct for the members of the organisation when indulging into the external
communications as the organisational image is associated with the same.
Hence, from the aid of the discussions in the previous parts, it can be concluded that
the social media has become an inseparable part of the modern lives, including the modern
business environment. The organisations can use it for external functions such as branding of
products as well as the internal collaborations irrespective of time and geographical
dispersion. However, legal issues and security issues must be considered to yield the
maximum productivity.

References
Cardon, P., & Marshall, B. (2015). The Hype and Reality of Social Media Use for Work
Collaboration and Team Communication. International Journal of Business
Communication, 52(3), 273-293.
Leonardi, P. M. (2017). The social media revolution: Sharing and learning in the age of leaky
knowledge. Information and Organization, 27(1), 47-59.
Parveen, F., Jaafar, N. I., & Ainin, S. (2015). Social media usage and organizational
performance: Reflections of Malaysian social media managers. Telematics and
Informatics, 32(1), 67-78.
Treem, J. & Leonardi, P. (2013). Social Media Use in Organizations: Exploring the
Affordances of Visibility, Editability, Persistence, and Association. Annals Of The
International Communication Association, 36(1), 143-189. doi:
10.1080/23808985.2013.11679130