The Social Media

Introduction

The social media a form of media which enables people from different areas, and in different parts of the world to be able to communicate, chat, post images, videos, and audio. Most people in the world are currently using the social media, some of whom use it for business purposes, while others are using it for social purposes. Youths and teenagers have dominated the social media, and they are currently the frequent users of the social media all over the world. Each and every person uses the social media for his or her own interests, whereby there are those who use the social media in order to get social approval. On the other hand, some people may use the social media in order to know how many people may be attracted to them.

Most people have now started to use the social media as a market place, whereby they post their products for people to purchase (Mandiberg, 45). Social media marketing has therefore been positively embraced, hence most people are now selling their products on the social media. Social media promotion is usually backed up by delivery services, whereby the seller offers free delivery after the buyer purchases the product. This concept has therefore enabled most companies to be able to operate virtually, whereby they only sell their products online without having an actual store. In addition, most people have also been able to buy goods at the comfort of their houses, since most of the online businesses tend to deliver goods to the door step (Bodnar & Jeffrey, 34).

Most advertisements are usually done over the social media, particularly by companies which are targeting the youths (Kawasaki & Fitzpatrick, 65). Social media advertisements are very cheap, thus attracting most companies. On the other hand, the social media allows companies to be able to make their products to go viral, and thus being able to create awareness of their products, and to also gain a huge market share. For instance, a company may post its products on Facebook, and ask people to share the product on their Facebook pages, and whoever gets most likes, gets to win a certain prize (Bodnar & Jeffrey, 34). This consequently makes most people to share the product on their Facebook pages, hence attracting very many people to the product.

A product can also be advertised on twitter, whereby a company can sponsor their products, thus generating traffic to the company’s twitter handle (Mandiberg, 47). The product will therefore start trending on twitter, and everybody who is online will be able to see the product, hence buying it. Companies have also used the social media as a means of getting reviews for their products and services. Most customers would either complain or appreciate the performance of a company through commenting on the company’s social media page. This therefore, allows customers to understand the types of services being offered by companies, or if the company sales genuine products (Kawasaki & Fitzpatrick, 65).

On the other hand, the social media also has its drawbacks, which include addiction (Kawasaki & Fitzpatrick, 67). Most youths are addicted to the social media, and so they cannot be able to concentrate on other activities. Students may also find it very hard to concentrate in their studies, due to addiction to the social media. When a person becomes addicted to the social media, he or she cannot be able to do without the social media. Most people are usually addicted to the social media, but they have not realized it yet. This is usually because a person may think that he or she is doing things in the right way, whereas most of his or her time is spent on the social media (Bodnar & Jeffrey, 35).

Posting of photos on the social media has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on the reaction which one receives from the social media (Mandiberg, 49). When a person posts a photo on the social media, particularly ladies, they always believe that they will get a very positive reaction. This is however not the case, since most women have ended up being insulted even though their photos look good. When a young lady is insulted and humiliated on the social media, she might opt to commit suicide in order to avoid the embarrassment. In addition, there are also some people who have decided to change their physical appearance in order to look attractive, thus being able to get positive comments and more likes on the social media. For instance, when a fat lady gets negative comments from the social media about her body size, she may end up taking pills in order to reduce her body size. This type of a move is usually taken due to low self-esteem, which therefore makes a person to decide to change his or her physical appearance in order to be attracted to other people (Bodnar & Jeffrey, 37).

The social media has also been used as a means of passing information by the members of the fourth estate (Kawasaki & Fitzpatrick, 68). One can therefore be able to read news from the social thus being able to understand the current events. On the contrary, terrorists groups are also using the social media in order to pass their message into the world. In addition, different terrorist groups have also used the social media to recruit new members (Mandiberg, 49). The recruits are usually contacted through the social media whereby they are usually enticed with gifts, and are also promised a lot of money once they join the terrorist groups. This makes them to easily join the groups, and after joining the groups, they are never given whatever they were promised.

Conclusion

Social media sites should be regulated, in order to check on the type of content being posted. This move will help in making the social media a place where only materials with positive content can be posted. On the other hand, the social media has really helped in the creation of jobs, whereby most people have been able to start their business over the social media. Furthermore, most people have also been able to communicate with their friends from different parts of the world. The social media has therefore impacted most people positively, even though some evils have also been done through the use of the social media.

Work Cited

Bodnar, Kipp, and Jeffrey L. Cohen. The B2b Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, Linkedln, Twitter, Facebook, E-Mail, and More. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2012. Print.

Mandiberg, Michael. The Social Media Reader. New York: New York University Press, 2012. Print.

Kawasaki, G., & Fitzpatrick, P. (2014). The art of social media: Power tips for power users.

Zarrella, Dan. The Social Media Marketing Book. Beijing: O'Reilly, 2010. Internet resource.

Funk, Tom. Social Media Playbook for Business: Reaching Your Online Community with Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and More. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2011. Print.