Comprehensive Report: Social Media's Profound Impact on Society

This report examines the multifaceted impact of social media on society, encompassing its advantages for individuals, communities, and organizations. It highlights how social media facilitates connections, information sharing, and business promotion. The report delves into critical social and ethical issues, such as privacy concerns and reputational risks, supported by real-world examples like the impact on a small business. Recommendations include adopting two-factor authentication, using security software, and implementing social media policies within organizations. The conclusion emphasizes the need for responsible social media usage to maximize benefits and mitigate potential harms, offering actionable strategies for individuals and businesses to navigate the digital landscape effectively. The report references several academic sources to support its findings.

Impact of Social Media
on Society

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
Advantages that social media platforms bring to an individual, society and organisation....2
Two key social or ethical issues associated with social media platform................................2
Supporting discussion with one new story from past personal experience............................3
Recommendations..................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................5
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INTRODUCTION
In the present era, there has been drastic advancement taken place which has changed the
life of people and brought great improvement in the method of doing business. Technological
advancement has brought opportunities, but at the same time, it has created various issues which
have led to the high level of concern among people in society. The present report has focus on
analyzing advantages of social media to an individual society and an organization. It will also
highlight the social and ethical issues related with social media platform.
MAIN BODY
Social media is recognized as websites as well as applications which enable users to
develop and share content. It also allows people to participate in social networking. Social media
can also be defined as computer mediated technology which facilitates sharing of ideas or
information.
Advantages that social media platforms bring to an individual, society and organisation
Advantage to an individual:
Social media has enabled people to connect with friends and family members from far. It
has enabled individuals to share their ideas and views with other people.
Advantage to society:
Main advantage of social media is that it assists people in getting themselves updated
with social as well as political issues in the country. It is considered to be the best platform
which provides sharing of information during crisis (Yawar and Seuring, 2017).
Advantage to organisation:
The main advantage of social media to organisation is that it can reach a wide number of
customers easily and promote products or services. By social media platforms, business entities
can facilitate direct communication with customers.
Two key social or ethical issues associated with social media platform
The social as well as ethical issues associated with social media platforms are:
Privacy: This is considered to be the major issue of concern as there are high chances of
hacking or misuse of information. In addition to this, it is important concern for society as an
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individual cannot be sure that they are communicating with the person they want to actually
share information (Bandura, 2017).
Loss of reputation: As things that are posted by people are publically viewed, any
wrong comment or post can have negative impact on the reputation of company or an individual.
In context of organisations, business entities are required to pay attention to different
issues like recruitment and other is data sharing or storage (Etter, Ravasi and Colleoni, 2017).
The ethical issue associated with Use of social media platform by company for recruiting people,
t is that response to participant invitation is interactive, rather than static – And can lead to
unexpected outcomes (Spector and Kitsuse, 2017).
Main issue associated with use of social media platform is that company doesn’t have
control on the flow of information. This is the major issue as business entity might have to face
losses due to disclosure of confidential information.
Supporting discussion with one new story from past personal experience
My friend is a business owner of growing online homemade candle selling business. She
utilizes internet such as social media platform for promoting as well as selling her product. After
few months of starting her business, she started getting negative comments or feedback to her
social media posts. Customers started making complaints about different issues. These ethical
issues have direct as well as significant effect on her profitability, sales and image. When all the
situation has been analyzed, it was found that she has given false information about the product.
It is the ethical responsibility of my friend to provide correct as well as complete information
about products. In addition to this, considering the privacy, she should not post customer details
on social media site.
Recommendations
It has been recommended that people should use two factor authentication as this strategy
will assist them in dealing with privacy issues associated with social networking. Another
strategy which can be utilized for dealing with privacy issue is that an individual can set up a
google alert for their name. In addition to this, various security software can be used. It has
recommended that people should not share security numbers. Setting of unique passwords can be
utilized for dealing with the issue of misuse or unethical muse of confidential information (Keith,
and Steinberg, 2017). In addition to this, an individual should not share zip code when making
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credit card purchases. In context of company, management in an organization can formulate as
well as implement social media policy as this strategy will help in guiding employees about the
way they can post about company (Hajli, 2018). Management in an enterprise can train staff and
educate them about the best practices of social media security.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the report that social media has provided various advantages
to an individual, society and an organisation. The two major ethical as well as social issues
associated with social networking are privacy and loss of reputation. There are various strategies
such as strong password as well as security software’s has been recommended which can be used
for dealing with all the problems associated with use of social media.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Etter, M.A., Ravasi, D. and Colleoni, E., 2017. Social media and the formation of organizational
reputation. Academy of Management Review, (ja).
Hajli, N., 2018. Ethical environment in the online communities by information credibility: a
social media perspective. Journal of Business Ethics. 149(4). pp.799-810.
Bandura, A., 2017. Mechanisms of moral disengagement. In Insurgent terrorism (pp. 85-115).
Routledge.
Yawar, S.A. and Seuring, S., 2017. Management of social issues in supply chains: a literature
review exploring social issues, actions and performance outcomes. Journal of Business
Ethics. 141(3). pp.621-643.
Spector, M. and Kitsuse, J.I., 2017. Constructing social problems. Routledge.
Keith, B.E. and Steinberg, S., 2017. Parental sharing on the internet: Child privacy in the age of
social media and the pediatrician’s role. JAMA pediatrics. 171(5). pp.413-414.
Online:
What is the real impact of social media had on society, 2014. [Online].Available through <
https://www.business2community.com/social-media/impact-social-media-truly-society-
0974685 >.
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