Social Media's Impact: Positive, Negative, and Business Suitability

This report delves into the multifaceted impact of social media in the digital age. It begins by comparing and contrasting the positive and negative aspects of social media platforms, highlighting their influence on individuals and society. The report then explores the critical aspects of security and privacy, discussing the challenges and measures needed to protect users online. Furthermore, it examines two popular social media platforms, Instagram and LinkedIn, comparing their features, applications, and suitability for business purposes. The analysis includes a discussion of their respective strengths and weaknesses, providing insights into how businesses can leverage these platforms effectively. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of responsible social media usage and security practices.

Integrated Professional
Skills in the Digital
Age

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Compare and contrast the positive and negative aspect of social media on Internet..................4
Discuss various measures and challenges of security & privacy which can be taken while
using social media services online..............................................................................................7
Two Examples of Social media & its comparison and contrast according to their applications,
features, discussing their suitability for businesses...................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCE.................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Professional skills are related to development of understanding which further helps in
career building and growth. This concept is related to growth and career development. Effective
technology can be applied in a organisation so that work can be done in the required manner.
Present report is based on role played by social media and negative & positive impact on its
users (Bridgstock, 2016). Many challenges are faced by people who are using such applications.
There are examples of two most popular social networking sites and their comparison is done so
that effective sustainability is maintained.
MAIN BODY
Comparison & contrast of positive and negative aspects of social media sites on Internet
Social media can be used as a technology by large number of people. They are making
use of this platform to share information, pictures, videos and many such type of aspects. This is
leading to development of society & individual (Flewitt, Messer and Kucirkova, 2015). In
present context, social media plays a very important role as there has been increase in interaction
and its has been more quicker medium of enhancing communication channels between people.
There has been quick & easy communication which is encouraged because of social media
platforms.
Positive impact of Social media platforms:
There are many positive benefits of social media platforms on internet as discussed below:
 Increasing of connectivity: Social networking sites play a very important role in
increasing the connection among people. These type of platforms have encouraged
networking among people and helped in promotion of connection between people. These
can be in form of personal or professional relations. Many options have increased
because of such social networking sites. This has lead to increase in use of internet and
lead to its widespread usage. Which has increased earnings of network providers.
 Reduction of communication barriers: Social networks are every helpful in promotion of
communication on different tropics spread over large number of audience (Foroughi,

2015). This is sharing feature which is helpful in making of groups with similar interest
and like mind. This is also related with communication on such social media platform
there is more ease and flexible form of communication which takes place.
 New business opportunities: social networking site are very useful for promotion of
business. Many business organisation are using customized application and sites,
customized accounts which are made on such social media applications. Large number of
promotional activities can be done on such social media platforms . Two major benefits
can be realized because of these social media tools such as reaching to a large number of
audience and also cost effective method as compared to other marketing tools.
Above discussed are some of main benefits of social networking sites on Internet. With
advent of social media application there has been increase in users of internet.
Negative impact of Social media platforms:
Along with positive benefits there are some negative impact on internet also which are explained
below:
 Reduction of reliability: There are many disadvantage related to long term usage of
social media it leads to lot of scams, loss to people in terms of money as there have been
many instances in which people have lost their bank details and this has lead to people
loosing trust on such social media sites (Greenwood, Perrin and Duggan, 2016). Such
examples lead to people loosing reliability on internet.
 Physical disease: When people are getting addicted to any social media platform than it
may lead to having effect on their eyesight, many children are just sitting inside their
houses which is leading to no physical development plus at same time this has a negative
impact on their mental health. In UK many school going children are suffering from
problem of writing as they are using regular touch to gadgets. All such instances lead to
people suffering from diseases both mentally & physically. Such examples lead to
widespread negativity of Internet usage (Hracs, 2015).
 Criminal activities: social media sites also lead to encouragement of criminal activities as
people having similar interest can meet at this platform and then this can promote their
wrongful acts. This leads to harmful effect on society and people. Which leads to
widespread negative Also, many times there are fake rumours which spread because of

such social media sites and this is reason government is forced to stop the internet
connectivity for a particular period of time (Huda, and Teh, 2018).
There are many positive and negative impacts of social media. This is a platform which is
between. It depends up on every individual how they are making its use.

Measures & challenges related to security & privacy which have to be taken while using social
media services online
Social media platforms are helpful in sharing of information, data and ideas from one
individual to another. Challenges are common to take place on such social media platforms
which can lead to negative impact on society(Keengwe, 2015). In present context, social media
platforms are playing a very crucial role in promotion of networking amongst people. Some of
the challenges of how security can be mentioned on social media ate discussed below:
Challenges of privacy and Security:
 Public Humiliation: This is a possible consequence which can occur because of a
opinion or a joke on such social media platforms. There are many cases which have
happened as a result of such social media activities (Kuss and Griffiths, 2017). these
have been inappropriate and also controversial. Such instances must be avoided and
adequate measures should be taken so that they are not occurring in future. Such
humiliation activities can lead to serious mental implication on people and they can suffer
from mental illness.
 Damage on reputation: social media platforms are easily accessible by anybody at any
point of time (Murawski and Bick, 2017). These sites can be used by many competitors
to attack on reputation of another business such as one post on social media can lead to
spreading of rumours very fast and this can have a very serious negative impact on
established goodwill of a brand. Hence, there is a big challenge for all business
organisations that they can use social media as a great tool for promotion of their
activities but in many situations can pose a negative impact on company's image.
 Violation of Compliance: On social media platforms there are many risks associated
with communication of data & information which leads to violation of laws, regulations,
infringement of copyrights, trademarks, issues of data security, violation of privacy
rights, employment issues and mismanagement of communications. This is a big
challenge for organisations who are using social media as their marketing tool.
 Financial Disclosure: Employees who are involved in business enhancements must have
be very careful in avoiding active involvement on social media platforms it can posses a
impact on stock prices.

 Addiction: There are many studies and research conducted which have shown that
continuous usage of social media can lead to addiction. This becomes part of daily
routine and leads to lot of wastage of time (Perrin, 2015). Especially for students and
working people such addiction can affect their productivity.
 Isolation: when there will be extreme usage of social media than it may lead to reduction
in normal face to face interaction of people. As there will be social network interaction so
encouraged and promoted. This leads to a situation of isolation for many people ho are
suing only social media as a medium to interact with people and their known ones. There
are many friends on such platforms by in real life there is nobody to talk with. Hence,
many instances have shown that people suffer from various mental problems such as
chronic depression on account of social media usage.
 Affecting Productivity: Many business are using social media to make effective
communication with their clients. There can be shift of interest as people might focus
more on post which are made by their friends instead of business connections. Many
British Companies have recently made claims that they heavy lost around 2.2 billion of
business because of social phenomenon.
Measures of security and privacy:
To deal with various challenges it is very important that there are some security measures
which must be taken by people and organisation who are using such social media platforms as
discussed below:
 Private Account: This is a measure which can be taken by people who are using social
media. In this no unknown person can access your account or information which you
have shared on your account until a person is allowing it (Rogers, 2016). This means that
only known person can be added in your list and without approval no misuse of
information can take place.
 Security technology: For avoiding various issues and overcoming challenges it is
necessary to take some measures, these are developed which can help in sharing of
information.
 Strong passwords: while using a social media platform it is very necessary to use strong
password which are a combination of both numbers and alphabets. This can help in

prevention of hacking of accounts. Also, passwords must be changed very frequently so
that account cannot be hacked.
 Take responsibility of your own security: For every user of social media it is very
important to make suer that they are taking all the measures for keeping themselves
protected (Sampasa-Kanyinga and Lewis, , 2015). If all the measures are taken before
hand by all social media users then it will automatically lead to reduction in negative
impact of such challenges which occur on account of social media use.
It is very crucial for every social media user to take care of above mentioned measures
and can help in their own security & privacy. If all such timely measures will be taken then
negative effects of social media will be reduced.

Examples of Social media applications & its comparison and contrast according to their
applications, features, discussing their suitability for businesses.
There are some social media application which has been developed and gained a lot of
popularity amongst their users some of the most popular social media application are discussed
below:
Instagram: Instagram is a also a very popular social media platform. This site was
launched in October 2010. there are approximately 400 million users who are actively using this
site. It is owned by Facebook and its many users are posting information related to fashion, art,
travel, food and other subjects (Tong, 2018). Platform is distinguished by some features such as
photo editing features, video etc. there was a survey according to which 95 percent Instagram
users are registered as active users of Facebook users also.
LinkedIn: This was a application which has founded in December 2002, and launched in
may 2003. this is a very popular social media site in UK which is mainly used for professional
networking. This website is available in 24 languages and has approx 400 million users who are
registered. This is a great application for people who are willing to connect to people of similar
industries and network with local professionals and is used very commonly for displaying of
statistics and information.
Comparison and contrast of applicants, features ad suitability for business
Comparison:
 Instagram is a breathing for the present generation. This is a photo sharing application
which has increasing number of users on a daily basis. Around 200 million active users of
Instagram are between the age group of 18 to 29 years. These are mostly visiting this
site daily and browsing it. LinkedIn is a site mainly used for business purpose so that
businesses can be shared. Instagram is mainly designed for the purpose of customer engagement and for developing
of visual appeal. Mainly it is all about sharing your images and using of hashtags. This is
useful for building of brand communities. LinkedIn is used as a platform for for
targetting of sales prospects or reaching to ideal audience. This is mostly as an expert on
a particular topic for sharing of business knowledge and then helping others in
developing of solutions for various problems with usage of linked in answers.

Contrast :
 Instagram is allowing to sharing of information for increasing connection between
people. Where as LinkedIn is used mainly by professionals and it has no persona
significance. It is majorly used for networking of partners or clients and this is important
for creation of options for various business and job seekers. Companies use it as a
medium for establishment if their company with a goodwill so that top talent can be
attracted through this channel.
 Instagram is basically a social network site and in which people are making efforts for
developing connection with each other. On other hand, LinkedIn is a perfect place which
is becoming popular for driving of business results, creation of brand awareness,
promotion of career opportunities and education their potential customers.

Applications and suitability of different social media for businesses
Digital media platforms are becoming very popular as they are used as a marketing and
promotional tool. These are very cost effective and at same time can reach to wide audience at a
particular point of time. There are two social media platforms which are discussed below:
 Application of Instagram for business context
In the present scenario, It is said that Instagram is a application which is focussed on
original content and is based on engagement of people who are willing to see original content
and not curation. Social media is all about building of networks and Instagram is a great platform
for building of connection between like minded people who are sharing similar interest. This can
help in expansion of social network and also collaborating with brands (Flewitt, Messer and
Kucirkova, 2015). For instance, Zara is willing to approach their target customers with help of
Instagram a page can be crated which can be used for attracting customers who are following
latest fashion trends, and at same time can afford Zara. This can be easily judged and can help
Zara in contacting to this target segment of customers.
 Application of LinkedIn for business context
LinkedIn is used for creation of a profile page which is having a emphasis on
employment history, skills and education. It is related with professional network of news feed
and having limited customizable modules. In this people are willing to establish connections with
people whom they have worked with to have professional relations. These are very popularly
used by companies in searching for competent employees. For instance, human resource
manager of Tesco is willing to recruit individuals according to vacant position in their company
they can do so by using LinkedIn for searching of individuals who are able to fulfil all the
requirements of a job.

CONCLUSION
From above mentioned report, it is conclude that social media is playing a very important
role for overall growth and rising of livings standard of society. It is said that there are many
social media sites which have become popular and has affected internet in its growth and
expansion of number of users. positive and negative effects have been peoipel of society because
of such social media platforms. There have been rise in many challenges also which have to be
taken carte by using a particular application. Tow most popular social media sites and their use
in business is discussed.