Social networking is a new media that's relatively young compared to old media. In recent years, social networking is used as a major marketing platform that surpasses traditional marketing. Consumers are reached directly and instantaneously if done properly. Celebrities such as Beyonce declared her pregnancy on Instagram rather than through a magazine, and they can market their day-to-day life better through social media. Through these methods, the advertising is more intimate to the user, which is beneficial for marketers trying to persuade consumers to purchase a product or service. In addition, with social networks such as LinkedIn, users can post their resume for all to see and get recruited by recruiters.
Though, there are always pros and cons to everything, including social media. Social media posts can lead to bots stealing your information for malicious use, user data can be stolen, and the platform users aren't always the most brilliant. As we saw in the past, Uber disabled price surge charge during an immigration protest. But due to misunderstanding with the wording, users thought Uber was against the protest and started the #DeleteUber movement. The negative publicity impacted Uber. Still, people continue to use social media as it grows. In China, everything is connected to their social media platform, WeChat. It's how people pay, obtain a loan, get a job, etc. As social media evolve, it may become a crucial source of living for people, for the better or worse. People's worth may be decided on their social media, setting the stage for a dark dystopian future described in Black Mirror's Nosedive episode...
Citations: Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting by Frank Langfitt, NPR, March 16, 2008. available from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6522523&sc=emaf
Can you trust crowd wisdom? by Kristina Grifantini, MIT Technology Review, Sept 16, 2009. Available at: http://www.technologyreview.com/web/23477/?a=f
I think you posted a very interesting point of how text can be misinterpreted or worded incorrectly, leading to backlash. It is very hard to understand the tone of a message sometimes and can lead to many misunderstandings, which is very dangerous with social media as everything is permanent online.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the dangers of personal information using social media is another great point. Breaches and leaks in data can comprise millions of personal information that social media sites hold which is a very controversial topic in today's society.
All the dangers of social media are very real and I'm curious to see how and if it'll evolve to combat it.
I like how you analyzed the marketing aspects of social media and provided many interesting examples of real life events. I did not think deeply about Beyonce's announcement but you have a good point! I also agree with your statement that the downside in social media is data breaching.
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