University Report: Social Media as a Communication Medium in Business

This report explores the significant role of social media in enhancing business productivity and communication within organizations. It focuses on the strategic utilization of platforms such as Facebook, Skype, Snapchat, and Instagram, analyzing their effectiveness in fostering collaboration, information sharing, and employee engagement. The report delves into the specific applications of each platform, including Facebook groups for internal messaging and recruitment, Skype for global team connectivity and video conferencing, Snapchat for launching new products and employee recognition, and Instagram for attracting millennial talent and brand building. A reliability test is conducted for each social media platform to assess their suitability for business communication, considering factors like user base, design, accessibility to information, and features. The report concludes by emphasizing the increasing necessity of social media for managing both external and internal workplace cultures, and offers insights into the reliable application of these tools for effective communication. The report provides a comprehensive overview of how these platforms can be leveraged to improve communication, employee engagement, and overall business success.

Running head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Using Social media as a communication medium in a workplace of business
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Introduction
The use of social media carries significant importance to make the business productive.
The use of Social media as the means of communication tools is important for the team members
of the organization. There are numerous ways to leverage the use of social media at the
workplace (Adamovic, Potgieter & Mearns, 2012). Whether the manager, team member,
business leader or the HR professionals, they can use the social media to make common
communication platform and share the information and communication specifically in such a
way that would encourage sharing, collaboration and input in the business.
When it is relating social media for the means of distributing collaboration and
information, social media in a greater way engage employees and the brand ambassadors from
all the positions within the organization. Therefore, to emphasize on the importance of the social
media, here, FACEBOOK, SKYPE, SNAPCHAT, INSTAGRAM have been chosen to prove
their reliability as a social media in the working place for waging communication (Anderson,
2015).
The types of Social media
The important social medias that are chosen for initiating proper business communication
are facebook, snapchat, skype and instagram. These social media platforms are taken into
consideration as the way of coordinating the employees in the workplace in the 21st century.
Facebook:
Firms can use facebook groups in terms of messaging to allow their employees to wage
communication within the same interface. The groups that are used in the facebook enhance

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communication within the business, allowing the employees to share their information,
questionnaires and images. After the email, facebook is considered to be the only internal mode
of communication that does not require any particular training. The platform’s familiarity is a
win for the workplace, which made the employees engagement stronger with time. Facebook
understands as a result, the value of good communication in a workplace (Adamovic, Potgieter &
Mearns, 2012). With its huge enterprise, Facebook is showing a stake in the collaboration of the
employees. It has proved that the internal communication is in the radar of diplomatic players as
well as the stakeholders should take this as notice. The messages in facebook allow the business
to send quick information to the employees. The business head might create a facebook group to
send out the updates to the members of the department. Employees in further, can use facebook
for collaboration and communication. The company can use facebook to make its promotion
stronger in order to recruit employees for their business (Ramsaran & Fowdar, 2013).
Skype
Skype is another mode of waging communication in the workplace for the purpose of
business (Heymann, 2012). By using Skype, it is possible to be connected with the team of
employees across the world. As if despite staying abroad, the employee would not feel isolated.
It provides from the provisions of collaborative team sessions to a live streaming of any meetings
or dialing into any conferences by using phone. The Skype for the purpose of business is framed
for all the needs of meeting (Heymann, 2012). Through the usage of Skype, it becomes possible
to make, transfer and receive the calls of business in the office, at home or on the roads using
mobile. Video conferencing in skype enables the team leaders to prepare a communication
framework in order to deliver the messages with the team members. The process of conducting
communication in skype is the way to promote conversation face-to-face. For this reason, Skype

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must be taken into account in the workplace for bringing together the employees to cooperate on
the work done.
Snapchat:
Snapchat is another significant social networking platform, which can be used for the
means of communication in the workplace. There is availability of more than 8 million videos
which are viewed everyday on the Snapchat. Accordingly, the employees give response to the
elements in order to welcome the main nature of the snapchat. In the companies, for the sake of
employees, the company uses geolocated filters. These filters add up graphic elements to the
videos and pictures (Silverman, 2014). If the filter is framed out well, people would look forward
to add them . The companies would achieve their branded messages, which are sent to a larger
section of the audiences where the employers add them to their stories. Snapchat can be utilized
to launch new products or any related live events. Snapchat is also storytelling site. This is for
the people who love stories. The content of the business is for the customers, it also proved to be
helpful for the employees. Snapchat can help to tell a story for a greater employee recognition,
which would inspire the employees in the workplace to continue with their work in a much
greater manner.
Instagram:
Instagram is another important social media, which can be used to engage the employees
and to carry out effective means of communication in workplace. The instagram having over 700
million users have the capacity to prove itself an effective venue to attract millennial talents and
increasing the engagement of the employees (Johnston, 2017). Companies through the mode of
instgram can get to show how the companies are taking care of their people and balancing the

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corporate life. Among the companies, for example, the nail company –culture are regarded as the
tech giants in San Francisco and according to the CEO of Red Panda Gareth Hawkey that it is
important to nurture both the professional and personal sides of the employees, that is what the
nail company teaches (Johnston, 2017). It is significant to build a working environment that
would help the people about the creation of the greater products. This social networking site can
be used as the process of building brands.
Reliability test
The five-reliability test was conducted for each of the social networking sites that are mentioned
above. These tests are done in order to make sure that the chosen social networking sites are
successful in meeting their aims or not.
Facebook
Firstly, Facebook consists of more than 3 billion users across the world and it is regarded
as one of the interesting social media sites to carry out the business. It is a vibrant form of social
website, which is being frequently used by the employees to maintain their communication level.
Secondly, the customary facebook design is an appropriate way to associate the followers
or visitors. The business people in this particular page can come across the new visitors and
influence them to join their business.
Thirdly, getting access to the vital information is another significant reliable opportunity
where the pages of the facebook automatically gets updated (Ramsaran & Fowdar, 2013). As
mentioned before, creating groups in the facebook is another way to engage the employees to

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discuss the objectives of the company. In this way, the businesspersons can gradually rely on the
success of the business through the medium of facebook.
Fourthly, Facebook is reliable because it consists of the provision of share, comment and
like. These are the excellent ways to attract the visitors by stating about the aims and objectives
of the company and the images of the company, in order to attract the frequent visitors or
followers (Ramsaran & Fowdar, 2013; Smith, 2012).
Fifthly, the administrator of the facebook page can link their interest of their business
through the process of audience segmentation based on their status, language work and
education. This would prove to be reliable while targeting the audiences.
Skype
Firstly, it is reliable because the Skype for business is integrated with the office 365
services; the product added a greater experience to the clients with the online updated services.
Secondly, the skype for business uses more than 400 million currently to communicate.
The employees all around the world, in order to make an integrated workplace, chat over skype.
The software and hardware solutions are compatible with the provisions of Office 2013 (Tuten,
2012).
Thirdly, the employees in a workplace can be easily connected with each other as well as
with the external users, this in turn also reducing the administrative efforts for controlling
different calling tools and IM (Tuten, 2012).
Fourthly, the new platform of skype offers the features and delivers compliance, control
to the IT and enterprise based grade security.

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Fifthly, most importantly, the skype for business carries the features of the cheapest
services of VoIP.
Snapchat:
Firstly, Snapchat shows to the audiences about the live service of any trade fairs, this act
as an easier way to communicate with the employees of the business and making them
participate in the trade shows (Silverman, 2014).
Secondly, the content, which is provided by the snapchat, is reliable as it shows the
present moments of any situations (Silverman, 2014).
Thirdly, Snapchat unlike other websites is relayed through the mode of photos and
videos.
Fourthly, the utilization of the 16 handles of snapchat for giveaways, compete to practice
snapchat as a tool of marketing.
Fifthly, Snapchat shared behind the scenes, which reflect on the internal workings of the
company and giving them idea about the authenticity of company’s brand.
Instagram
Firstly, the rate of engagement is higher in Instagram than in other sites. Instagram posts
visual marketing for the targeted audiences.
Secondly, with the expansion of Instagram, the start up business is posting about their
company’s profile to further communicate with the recruitment process.

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Thirdly, the posts in the instagram bear enough clarity. The use of strategic hashtags is
importantly encouraging the exposure of the posts to the new users such as using hashtags.
Fourthly, there are smaller numbers of customers who are following instagram, business
can target them, and later that small group of customers can grow to a community to important
levels.
Fifthly, Instagram is reliable as it signals user to change their password of their account
after every six months (Tuten, 2012). Accordingly, it is possible for the business to maintain
their privacy while waging further communication.
Therefore, it can be concluded that, social media communication is necessary for
controlling the culture of both external and internal workplaces. The need of social media is
increasing and it should be used properly by the business to communicate with the employees
properly and it is important to see whether the social media is reliable or not. The topic discusses
about four important social medias and their functions within the realm of business. The
reliability test has been conducted to prove that business firms can depend upon these social
medias for making communication better.

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References
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Investigating trends and technologies in a global marketing and advertising research
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Anderson, K.E.,( 2015). Getting acquainted with social networks and apps: Snapchat and the rise
of ephemeral communication. Library Hi Tech News, 32(10), pp.6-10.
Heymann-Reder, D., (2012). Social Media Marketing. Addison-Wesley Verlag.
Johnston, A. (2017). How to Create an Instagram Marketing Strategy. Sprout Social. Retrieved
May 2nd.
Ramsaran-Fowdar, R.R. & Fowdar, S., (2013). The implications of Facebook marketing for
organizations. Contemporary Management Research, 9(1), p.73.
Silverman, A. (2014). NFL teams adopt Snapchat as marketing tool with hope of reaching
younger fans. Sports Business Daily.
Smith, M. (2012). Facebook Marketing. Wiley.
Tuten, T. L., & Solomon, M. R. (2014). Social media marketing. Sage.