What Is Social Media?

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“If Facebook were a country and its users citizens, it would be the third most populous country in the world, behind only China and India” (Griffey, 2010, p. 34). Social Media continues to thrive at astonishing speeds. What is social media? In the words of Safko (2010), “Social Media is the media we use to be social. That’s it” (p. 3). Humans have an urgency to relate, to share, to communicate and to live. Because of the growth of the internet, social media has become one of the most effective forms of two-way communication among people all around the world. Social media provides the opportunity to build relationships, through the variety of tools and technologies that include collaborative projects, blogs, micro blogs, content communities …show more content…
One can easily gain exposure and have a strong, powerful presence on social media by being identifiable, controversial, unique and accessible to others (Safko, 2010 p. 680). Generating traffic on one’s page is a simple way to brand organizations, cultivate relationships and build trust (Safko, 2010, p. 688). Different social mediums allow companies to engage with their audience by running profitable campaigns and cost saving advertisements. Companies can reach their customers to solve problems and collect constructive feedback in a timely manner from their customers. To be successful, companies must develop powerful brand awareness to their potential customers by being cost-effective and social media does just that (Safko, 2010, p. …show more content…
Social net-work sites continue to be used by people all around the world for more than to just surf the web or scroll through pictures. It constantly breaks geographic barriers allowing for collaboration op-portunities and a person to person interaction among customers, employees and suppliers. Using social media platforms, businesses are able to contact the public to inform them of their product and services, while in turn attracting new candidates. Social media is powerful in the way that it can instantaneously transfer information to expand business ventures. In order for companies to gain the full benefits of social media, they must understand that sharing information is not enough, but must also build and maintain bonds among clients, customers and everyone they come across (Golden, 2011, p. 5). Undeniably, the advantages of social media outweigh the threatening risks. Social media should be used cautiously as the benefits are abounding in the way that it affects both individuals and the day to day operations of organizations around the

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