Social Media Report: Challenges, Security, Comparison and Business

This report provides a comprehensive overview of social media's impact in the current business environment. It begins by discussing the positive and negative aspects of social media, such as its role as a source of information and a communication tool. The report then delves into the various challenges associated with social media use, including spam attacks, information leakage, and clickjacking, while also exploring potential solutions like ad-blocking plugins and data storage strategies. Furthermore, the report analyzes the security and privacy measures necessary to mitigate these challenges. Finally, the report concludes with a comparison of Facebook and Twitter, highlighting their respective suitability as business tools.

INDIVIDUAL REPORT

ABSTRACT
In the present report the discussion was done on the use of social media over the internet.
This was done because of the reason that this is currently very prevalent in the current business
environment. Thus, the report discussed about the positive and negative aspect relating to the use
of social media like the source of information, way of communicating with others from
anywhere at any point of time. Further the discussion was done over the different challenges and
the measures for overcoming those challenges. There it was discussed that there are many
challenges like spam attacks, leakage of information and other was discussed. For the measures
of eradication of these challenges were like getting updated with the latest changes, ad blocking
plugin and many others. In the end the comparison of different social media site that is Facebook
and Twitter was done and the reason for them to be effective tool was discussed.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................4
LO1. Understanding key aspects associated with internet along with the comparison of
positive versus negative impact of social media on Internet.......................................................4
LO2. Discussing the challenges and measures of security and privacy at time of use of social
media............................................................................................................................................6
LO3. Comparison and contrast of different social media and their suitability for business.......8
LO4. Social media as a communication tool for business.........................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
In the current modern and technologically advanced era the popularity of use of social
media is at peak. The social media are combination of different applications and websites which
facilitate the sharing of ideas, thoughts, feelings and information from one person to others and
many other people with help of network (Greenwood, Perrin and Duggan, 2016). This is the
latest technology which is being used by business and other people in order to communicate with
one another. The present report will outline the positive and negative aspect of the use of social
media on the internet. Furthermore, this will discuss about the carious challenges and measures
for security and privacy of social media. In the end comparison of two different social media
websites and their suitability for the business will be highlighted. Also, the discussion will take
place on the fact that is social media can be used as communication tool or not.
MAIN BODY
LO1. Understanding key aspects associated with internet along with the comparison of positive
versus negative impact of social media on Internet.
In the current times, use of social media has become unavoidable with the rise in quality
internet services. As, it enables users to utilize these platforms not just for social interactions but
in so many other fields and for a variety of different purposes. With the advent of social media, it
has inevitably left positive and negative impacts on the users of such social media platforms and
tools.
Positive aspect of social media
Applications like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp etc. no longer remain constrained to
their original purpose of connecting people; it has ventured much farther where the brands are
using it to mechanize their product, different social organizations are using it as a platform to
inform other people about their activities. Siddiqui and Singh (2016), have illustrated that the
social networking sites have brought people from remote and distant location on a single
platform to connect and interact together. The geographical distance has been bridged with the
increased number of users of such social media tools where they can express what they are
feeling and even find their own groups.
It can be further illustrated that not only is it being used for the purpose of interaction, but
the connectivity has also helped people in gaining knowledge about the activities that are
happening all around the world. Whether it is the recent issue of bush fires in Australia or it is

the news of the royal couple, Prince Harry and Meghan, quitting the royal family and giving up
their royal titles; there is news about all the aspects (Anderson and Jiang, 2018). Additionally, it
can be argued that these platforms not only give the information but also helps in ascertaining
what the views of different readers of the news are or what reviews of the users of the products
that an individual intends to buy. The amount of exposure that these platforms have given to its
users has helped in increasing the transparency between the users of the products and the
manufacturers where they are trying to lure the consumers with regularly increasing innovative
advertisements.
Apart from the businesses and individuals, another major benefit is that the social
organization, schools, universities, NGO's etc. have also become increasingly active on these
social media platforms where they are more enthusiastic in informing the users of social media
about their charity work or their educational achievements etc. There are many schools that have
developed private groups or interacting platform where the students, their parents and the
teachers all are connected on the single platform and therefore the awareness amongst the parents
regarding the performance of their child has become more simplified and direct (Prestridge,
2019).
Therefore, the benefits that have been highlighted can be used to state that the use of
social media has tremendously contributed in the development and shaping up of the society in a
more aware, interconnected and intelligent people. However, there are certain negative impacts
as well that the advent of social media has brought along with it for its users.
Negative aspect of social media
With respect to the positive aspect there are also many of the negative points related to
the use of social media. One of the major negative aspect of the use of social media is that this
causes addiction for the use of the phone at any time. This is majorly because of the reason that
once a person starts using the different social media websites then they have to use these sites at
any time. This is due to the fact that if the social media is used then the person cannot live
without the use of these sites (Lacka and Chong, 2016). It is very tough and hard for them to
control the use of these media for any purpose whether be it for entertainment, knowledge or any
of the purpose.
Another negative impact of use of social media is that because of this practice the person
becomes less social within the society. The underlying reason behind this is that the people are

busy over the internet and the use of social media and this cut them form the society. It is so
majorly because of the reason that they are busy in surfing over the internet and using the social
media websites for their entertainment (Clark, Black and Judson, 2017).
Further the one more negative impact of the use of social media websites is that the
person needs to have many technical knowledges relating to the use of social media. This is
majorly pertaining to the fact that this technology involves many different types of options
available to the use of these media. Thus, for a person it is very important to have complete
knowledge relating to the use of social media. This is necessary as if proper knowledge will not
be there then this can be misused. Also, another negative aspect is that many personal
information is being asked and stored in these websites so there is threat of theft of data. This is
a negative aspect as this data can be accessed by many of the person and they can misuse the
data according to their choice.
LO2. Discussing the challenges and measures of security and privacy at time of use of social
media
Every new concept has some of the challenges attached to the changes. In the same way
the use of social media also has many of the challenges attached to the use of social media. The
major challenges which are faced by the person at time of use of social media websites is
discussed in the following points connected below-
Too many choice- this is one of the most common challenge which the user of social
media website may face at time of operating social media (Benson, Hand and Hartshorne, 2019).
This is an important challenge because of the reason that there are many different social media
websites which have their own specific purpose. Thus, it is very confusing for the user to select
which is more suitable for the person.
Clickjacking- this is another type of challenge which the user of social media sites faces
at time of operation of these sites. This clickjacking is also known as user interface wherein with
help of malicious technique make the user click on something which is not appropriate or which
they not wanted to click. Here the attacker can manipulate the user by posting ads on their
timeline and asking for likes and attacking their hardware and stealing the information.
Spam attacks- this is another type of challenge which the user of social media website
may face while operating these websites (Rettberg, 2019). The spam are the unwanted messages
which appears as wall post or instant messages and are dangerous. These spam messages

generally contain advertisement or links which if clicked by the user may lead to phishing or
inappropriate sites. These spam messages come from either spamming bots or form
compromised accounts and leads to passing of wrong information.
Information leakage- this is the most crucial challenge which can be faced by the user at
time of use of social media websites (McDaniel, Drouin and Cravens, 2017). This is major
challenge because of the fact that at time of operating of the social media some of the
information are logged in by the user. Thus, there are chances of leakage of this information to
another person. Also, many of the information is shared over these social media platforms and
there are chances that all this information can be misused by the person who are not interested in
this information. Further with help of the use of social media also the location of the user can
also be leaked. Here the location leakage means the leakage of the data. This is possible majorly
because of the reason that many a time the user operates the social media with help of their
mobile devices and because of this the hackers can access the data stored within the mobile and
can misuse this information in any way.
Measures for maintaining security and privacy of use of social media
Though there are many of the different challenges attached with the use of different
social media websites (Vannucci, Flannery and Ohannessian, 2017). But there are also some
solutions or some measures which can be undertaken by the user in order to overcome those
challenges. Some of the important measures which the user of social media websites can sue are
discussed in the following points connected below-
Decision relating to storage of data- this is the most important measure which can help
the user in overcoming the problem relating to the use of social media. This is majorly because
of the reason that if the data is stored at the correct and safe place then there will not be any of
the threat of information leakage or location leakage. Also, another measure form saving the
threat of data leakage is the use of less popular software and websites so that the hackers cannot
steal the data form these websites or browsers.
Ad- blocking plugins- this is another solution to the problems and challenges attached to
the use of social media website (Setiawan, Rifqi and Andari, 2019). Under this method there are
many browsers which allows the user to add an ad blocking plugin which will restrict all the
third- party cookies to enter at time of operating the social media websites. This measure will

restrict all the messages and advertisement which are spam and will not show all these
advertisement at time of operating of the social media websites.
Use of VPN at time of browsing over the internet- this is yet another solution to
overcome he challenges associated with the use of the social media websites (Morioka, Ellison
and Brown, 2016). The use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) will secure the browsing history
with help of encryption and this ensures that the browsing history, download history and the IP
address is not being shared with any of the other party.
Strong password- this is yet another measure which can be used in order to overcome the
challenges of social media website and their security and privacy. Many a time there are cases
when the user reuses its password for several different sites and for mail ids. Thus, there are
chances of tracking the password easily (Siddiqui and Singh, 2016). Thus, to overcome this
major issue the step is to set a new password every time a new id or website is created. Also, for
this a software named Dashlane can be used. Under this software all the password is organized at
one place and then this software generates a secure password which has not been used earlier.
Be updated- this is another solution which the user can use to meet and remove the
challenges attached to the use of social media sites. This is very necessary because of the reason
that there are many changes taking place within the technical environment. Thus, it is very
necessary for the user to be updated with the latest changes going on in the competitive market
(Nesi, Wolff and Hunt, 2019). This will help the person to have and possess latest technical
knowledge relating to the latest technical knowledge and relating changes within the market.
LO3. Comparison and contrast of different social media and their suitability for business
There are many different types of social media websites which are being used by the
person in both their personal life as well as professional life. There are so many different
websites which are being used for different purposes both for entertainment purpose and for
business. The two social media sites selected for this purpose are Facebook and Twitter. These
are the most popular social media sites which are popular in current use.
Facebook- this is the world largest used social media site and has more than 1 billion users. This
is a site which connects the person with other friends and families and business. Also, this is a
site which help the person in sharing their views and information with one another. Also, this is a
place where even the business can be done of buying and selling of things and the promotion of

business can also take place over Facebook (65+ social networking sites you need to know about,
2020).
 Features- the major feature of Facebook is that it provides a timeline of all the activities
which have been posted on Facebook. This provides a chronological order of all the
activities which have been posted on Facebook since its use by the user. Another feature
is of message option which is provided to the user of Facebook. With this option the user
can message to any of the person within their friend list and can chat and talk over
messages.
 Application- the application of Facebook is majorly for communicating with the people
added in the friend list of Facebook and to share photos, videos, events over the
Facebook page so that it is visible to every person who sees it (Shearer and Grieco,
2019).
 Suitability- the use Facebook is much suitable for the people as theuy are able to
communicate with other people with minimum time. Also, the cost of using this site is
very low.
Twitter- this is a social media networking site where the person can post and share short
messages containing their views and feelings related to any of the topic or any event or any
company or for any of the product or services. In the current world of online addiction this is
very popular in sharing the views with one another in short span of time (Economides, Fan and
Pittman, 2019).
 Features- the major feature of using Twitter is that it has certain keyboard shortcut which
makes the use of twitter easier. Another major feature of this site is that this allows the
user to attach 4 images in a single tweet and these images engages the viewer to a great
extent.
 Application- the twitter is applied in order to share the views and thinking of a person
relating to any topic in form of short tweets and blogs with the general public. Also, here
any person can make a tweet and it can be read by any of the person all over the globe.
 Suitability- this is more suitable for the people in sharing views relating to some social
issue or in relation to the any of the product or the service of any of the company. Also,
this is suitable for the business to share the reviews of the product in form of tweets
(Prestridge, 2019).

Comparison of both
In comparison of both Facebook and twitter Facebook is much better. This is majorly
because of the reason that Facebook covers a large range of people at a single time. Also, the
different business can make a page over Facebook and can share and advertise its products and
services over the page (Akram and Kumar, 2017). Also, this will help the company in
maintaining the timeline that which advertisement is posted at which time and how many people
has viewed it, can also be checked. Thus, Facebook is a much better option for the company to
use as a social media website.
LO4. Social media as a communication tool for business
In the end it can be said that yes social media network and websites can be used as a
communication tool by the business. This is majorly because of the reason that all the social
media tools other than Facebook and twitter help in communication with the consumers
(Weinstein, 2018). This is majorly because of the reason that with help of these websites all this
information relating to the products and services of the company can be communicated with the
consumers over these social media websites. With help of Facebook the companies can create a
Facebook page and then can share all the details of the products and services and their images
over the page so that it is visible to all the people.
Also, the use of other social media website that is Twitter is also a good communication
tool because of the reason that this help the consumers in sharing their experience of using the
product and services of the companies over the internet. Also, the twitter is the source with
which the critics and companies can share the reviews of the product and services over the
internet. In the similar way other social media websites such as Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube
and many other sites are also used as a communication tool to communicate with the consumers
and other business entities (Hawi and Samaha, 2017).
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be summarised that use of social media websites is very
popular and common in this technologically advanced era. This is pertaining to the fact that all
these social media websites are a source of communication and sharing information with one
another and among the different business. The present report discussed the fact that social media
is having both aspect that is positive and negative. The positive contains the fact like it provides
information, facility to communicate and other. The negative aspect contains that it can cause

addiction people become less social and other. Further many challenges of social media were
discussed like information leakage, clickjacking and many other. Along with this some measures
were also outlined like secured password, use of VPN and other. In the end two social media
sites that is Facebook and Twitter were compared and their features and suitability was
discussed.

REFERENCES
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