Social Media: Bane or Boon?

SOCIAL MEDIA BOON OR bane? Roberto M. Macatuggal, Ph. D. weather vane 2. 0 has alterd blade-based work, much(prenominal)(prenominal) as amicable lucreing sites, wikis, communication tools, etc. , that strain collaboration and sh ar among l give up superstarselfrs. This plat get (Davis, 2012), set forth but as the read/ salvage web, entirelyows callrs to be two consumers and producers of online centre. It is an active bipartisan web a flummox where chance(a) folks with earnings access broadcasterior create and edit stuff. Davis compargons Web 1. 0 and Web 2. 0 Web 1. 0 was a place to go and get, era Web 2. 0 is a place to be and do.Gregory (2011) clarifies further that Web 2. 0 allows for participating and sharing in the take of resources. It is ab place communities, participation, and peering. A hearty network (Wikipedia) is a theoretical construct that is utilise to involve the transactionhips between and among individuals, mixer units, or even whol e societies. Georg Simmel pi whizered in aboriginal structural theories in Sociology and Jacob Moreno is cr redact for having substantial the low gear sociograms in the 1930s to subject field inter psycheal races. Web 2. 0 fond networking working capabilities withstand spawned the development of mixer media tools.What is fond media? According to Parker (2011) fond media atomic number 18 the uses of Web technology to rotate subjects through tender interaction that happens online. Rean John Uehara (Webdesigner. com) defines kind media as a combination of gay interaction through web applications where multitude produce their admit pith, mold their testify experience, and define their online charge. A loose commentary of genial media is that its like a country, mass gather and interact with ample amounts of heap from their bea and abroad. Its in reality a broad place, both wonderful and terrible depending on its use.Two of the most general complaisant me dia are Facebook (visited at http// blog. facebook. com/blog. php? post =287542130) which claims to have more than 400 zillion drug users and chitter (http//blog. twitter. com/2010/02/measuring-tweets. html) receiving around 50 one thousand million modifys a day from users, which is an average of 600 tweets per second. Parker (2011) differentiates the quest affable media tools 1. Blogging an informal conversational strong suit for writing and publishing message online on lawful basis. (e. g. , Blogger, Typepad, WordPress). 2. Microblogging a short form of blogging where posts are usually limited in length and format. e. g. , chirrup, Friendfeed) 3. br differently Networking a agency to engage and interact with a specialised online community by way of a fan or profile page. 4. brformer(a)ly Bookmarking a rudimentary location for handbill links to useful resources which do- nonhing be seen and allocated by other users. (e. g. , Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicious). 5. m ultimedia Sharing rich media such as video, images, and presentation online. (e. g. , YouTube, SlideShare, Flickr). 6. Reviews and Opinions a way for customers to partake opinions and reviews of products and services online. (e. g. , yokel Answers, Epinions, eHow). 7.Wikis a central repository designed to be edited by a group earlier than one person. (e. g. , Wikipedia, Wikia, Wikitravel, Dealipedia, Wikimapia). What are the benefits of complaisant media? Nakul Arora wrote in his blog that in todays fast growing world, social media is the in vogue(p) thing which has made its presence mat virtually crossways all the sectors. Facebook and Twitter are two big players having volume control within social media. and so, it becomes precise of import for whatever organization today to be present in some form or the other on these networks so as to associate with the wide-eyed following these networks have.These networks have to a fault interpreted individualism to a nonh er level all told with each person having a considerable say over his friend group. Thus if any program lineal psychiatric hospital at all succeeds in winning over a student to avail of its educational services, the chance of influencing his friends in like humans beingner increases. According to Arora, at that place are 5 things that educational understructures heap do to tap into the students on Facebook and Twitter 1. Forming a devote group. This aspect involves excogitation of a dedicated team for the sole purpose of managing the social media setup for the entry.This is rattling important in the present milieu there beingness more than one department in an institution. It is also important to assure the smooth functioning of the online groups with the social media team managing and ensuring a straight-laced adjust between all the different aspects of the institution. An sample here to show the need of such a team would be to simply take a case wherein an ex -student of the university sends step up a job fortune to a group of present students online. Now, the social team would keep track of this and forward it to the individual department which an then ensure that the opportunity is properly utilized by the students. This dedicated team would also ensure that the institutions updates are well aforethought(ip) and organized instead of doing them at random. This would thus, allow well to the different groups of ex, current and potential students. 2. Giving before receiving. A mutual rule of the internet is that you have to inaugural give before you receive. Any person would only follow a particular(prenominal) group or institution if they are sharing things that are queer and advantageous in some way for the person.This is non a tough thing to achieve, for either institution is unique in its cause aspect and thus, creation and sharing of unique things wouldnt offer such a big problem. Also, the university cease utilize its antecedently existing case-studies, problems, etc. for the purpose of engage the prospecting and other interested students. It pot also persona impudentlysletter articles about happenings in the institution with the people who are interested in keeping updated with the affairs of the school. 3. Forming and organize student online groups.Students are any institutions biggest asset and send away be the best people to spread the depicted object of the happenings and current carriage of the institution. Thus, any institution should maintain an online students group where it should form a dedicated team of student volunteers to share the latest things from the campus. This would give the prospective students a real glimpse of the actual life in the campus and also help them connect with the current students. The ex-students earth-closet also use this group to remain connected with their Alma Mater.Such groups can also be formed for circumstantial purposes a group can be formed solely for the purpose of sharing internship opportunities by the alumni with the current students. Another such group can be totally for the alumni and staff members to reconnect and be in touch. Also, small groups can be formed to bewitch students who have negative attitudes and perceptions about the school. 4. movement of influential personalities on the networks. Every college has its heroes professors or teachers who are famous for their service in a particular field of study.These are people who have a abundant fan following and thus, any update that they make will be followed by a large number of people. The university has to ensure that professors of such repute have their presence in the social world as well and they also communicate on a regular basis with their followers. more a(prenominal) institutions have already initiated this with their chancellors and heads having an active Facebook or Twitter account. They can actually hold open open forums, discussions or simply dissolving agent some queries occasionally on the social media. 5. Trying to create a reform world.The institutions can also use the social media for their aims towards providing a good education to all. This can be done with the creation of spare online courses which can be taken by anyone and bothone. The world has been propel guide in that direction with the macrocosm of Apples iUniversity which gives the universities an opportunity to bid a host of courses, either throw in the towel or paid. This will go a long way in ontogenesis the reputation of the university while benefiting in the outgrowth due to development of good content and new courses.This will help towards creating a better world where quality education will be free and easy to all. As the prevalence of social media continues to rise, organizations of all eccentric persons and sizes are recognizing the ways in which social media can help them better understand, serve to, and attract the attention of their scrape auditory sense. As a result, product linees are now start on the social media bandwagon at a rapid pace, embracing blogs, social networks, wikis, and other vehicles to achieve their marketing and public relations goals.The types of benefits that corporations achieve with an effectual social media system (http//shiftcomm. com/social_media_benefits. html) are the following 1. Get the message out faster and to more people. companionable media enables more rapid sharing of teaching. It whitethorn take hours, or even days, for a new announcement to reach the end consumer through traditional channels. Why? Because when a press release is issued, a diarist or writer must first wade through all the gross revenue and marketing lingo to find the divulge points.Then, the content must be re-purposed in article format, and sent to an editor or proofreader before it is published. Social media vehicles, on the other hand, allow for instantaneous dissemination of not just news, but images, audio, video, and other multimedia content as well. And because releases accommodate toward social media outlets intercept only anchor highlights, pertinent facts, and hyperlinks to related statistics and quotes, the information they contain can be immediately picked up and posted by bloggers and other online journalists.Social media also provides more widespread coverage, enabling gap news to reach a overmuch larger and broader reader base than step media outlets alone. While magazine readership and the number of on tap(predicate) print publications continue to decline, the number of consumers development the internet to access and share information continues to rise sharply. For example, one upstart study showed that almost one out of every quaternary Internet users over 41 million people total in 2006 visits MySpace on a regular basis. 2. remediate discolorationing.Social media, and blogs in particular, can be a highly useful tool for enhancing bo th awareness and image. Blogging can help spread the word about a company, its products, and its services to more people, dramatically increasing brand recognition and awareness. Additionally, social media can enable executives to gather input and feedback directly from their target audience, and use that intelligence for more strong reputation management. Insight into why people like or hate a brand is needed to help castrate and control audience perceptions and preferences. 3. advertize the partake of direct marketing.Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a key component of todays direct marketing and lead extension strategies, and social media has proven its ability to significantly complement SEO initiatives. many social media techniques such as frequent use of car park jargon and key phrases, title tags, heart and soul symbols, and links to blogs and other relevant Web content can dramatically make better look to engine rankings. Additionally, while SEO relies on ju st a handful of prevalent search engines such as Google and Yahoo to drive target prospects to a site, social media expands the potential audience by creating jumpstart channels.For example, when content is published to a site, and that content is then linked to delicious or reddit, it can let a awesome boost in Web traffic. Many companies also find it much easier to generate compelling content that is likely to be picked up by bloggers, than it is to keep up with the rules required to rank high in todays popular search engines Parker (2011) suggests five (5) steps in the effective use of social media in business 1. Think of the bigger picture. Be self-consistent with the message you wish to convey across various tools. 2. Use less rather than more media tools.It is important to consider your objectives as a basis for selecting the appropriate media tool. 3. cite a social media champion. The person would be trusty in engaging the clients / customers regularly develops strate gies to promote the business through social media. He/she would also be responsible in coordinating employees personal and social media activities. 4. Tracking the effect. Track the impact of social media efforts on the business such as increased traffic to the website of your business. 5. Take action. keep on the social media tool that gives you more business.Schools have likewise taken advantage of social media to reach out to as many students as possible. For universities competing to attract top students, its no longer enough to have a glossy brochure and a cunning website. Schools like Johns Hopkins are reaching out to engage with applicants on Facebook and Twitter. Theyre also conclusion that a robust social media campaign, along with such creative features as student-run blogs, can lure prospective students while a stale online presence can flex them off. College admissions officers are indeed learning to interact with students where they hang out online.According to a rec ent study by the Center for merchandising Research at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, 100% of universities surveyed use social media to communicate with students, up from 61% in 2007-08. The study found that 98% of the responding colleges have a Facebook page and 84% have a Twitter account. What are some of the misuses of social media? Social media, fit to Prateek Shah, is as prone to misuse as your computer is to virus. One of the misuses of social media is defaming people/groups/religions/communities. This is possible because of the anonymity of the person menu the derogatory statements.Celebrity fake accounts are being made and untrue stories about them are being spread. Hacking at home has led to stealing of passwords and accessing the private lives of others, leading to relationship woes and even divorces. A survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) revealed that four out of five lawyers reported a growing number of divorce cases that cited narr ate derived from networking sites. What is at stake when social media is misuse and abused? Because of social media misuse and abuse, Uehara (posted at Webdesigner. om) says that you as a social media user may lose 1. Your soul. If you have a huge audience and you make one little blunder, people will spank you with their pitchforks. 2. Your integrity. Huge claims, especially in public, can easily be cross-examined. 4. Your privacy. Often, people would share snippets of their personal lives on social media sites which is equal to loss of privacy. 3. Your job. community have disjointed their jobs because of a single tweet 4. Your proximo. People remember. What you share now with people can haunt you several years from now.The future of social media Gregory argues that social networking through the web with sites such as Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, Second Life, YouTube, and sparkle is becoming a widespread if not dominant form of communication among Internet users, and most popu lar phenomena prognosticators forecast that this type of collaborating will continue and grow exponentially. Prateek Shah warns that regular attempts at curbing the freedom of social media will be made, but the justness is that it is leading us towards a new world where the lies will be trashed and the red-handed will be charged.He says that It will not happen overnight but heighten has begun and it is for the common good. In the Philippines, our legislators have crafted star sign Bill 3732, otherwise known as the Freedom of learning Bill. Social Media and the Internet will be among the enablers of the Freedom of Information Bill, which will boost transparency and background graft and corruption in the government. Maintaining respectable motive in the hyper-networked world of social media Tyler Pennock, coach of Social Media, Rude Finn Creative limit formulated the following ethical guidelines in the use of social media 1. Honesty tell nly what you know to be true and be clear about opinion or conjecture vs. fact. 2. Transparency Be frank about who you are and who youre representing online. 3. lever Respect for yourself, your peers, and even your adversaries. 4. Privacy accomplish the intimate details of others as you would your own personal information. 5. Relevance Ensure that the content youre posting is relevant to the audience and the venue where its being posted. 6. debt instrument Take ownership of your online activities, the content youve created, and any missteps youve made along the way.Conclusion Social media is mans creation to respond to a need for expanding the network of social relationships, towards the identification of a real global village. However, the effectivity of such social media depends on the survival of the tools that suit ones purposes and objectives, including their proper use through the observance of ethical practices that respect the rights and uphold the dignity of the human person. References Arora, Nakul. 5 Ways Educational Institutions hobo Use Facebook and Twitter For Studies And Coordination.Davis, Cheryl Ann Peltier. (2012). The Cybrarians Web. capital of the United Kingdom Facet Publishing. Gregory, Vicki L. (2011). Collection Development and focussing for 21st Century Library Collections An Introduction. unsanded York Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. Parker, Catherine . (2011). 301 Ways to Use Social Media to Boost Your Marketing. New York McGraw-Hill. Prateek, Shah. Use, pervert and Abuse of Social Media. Posted at http//greensmyles. com/2012/06/the-use-and-misuse-of-social-media/ Uehara, Rean John. Social Media Misuse That Could Cost You Big Time. Webdesigner. com.