Disadvantages Of Social Networking Sites Lack of Anonymity You are putting out information about your name, location, age, gender, and many other types of information that you may not want to let others know. Most people would say be careful, but no one can be certain at any given time. As long as people can know who you exactly are, then some can find ways to do you in. Scams and Harassment There is a potential for failure of security in both personal and business context. While many sites apply certain measures to keep any of these cases of harassment, cyber-stalking, online scams, and identity theft to an absolute minimum, you still may never know. Time Consuming If this is not your kind of thing, that it would just be a waste of time for you. The key to social networking is that it is supposed to be fun, whether you are just doing it for kicks or clicking around for business purposes. That should be reasonable enough for anyone, but there are those people who don't see the point. For them, it can be a disadvantage. Now thereis something to really think about. Nothing is without a blemish, but those of this type of networking shouldn't really be that much of a concern regarding your safety. As long as you go along without making big mistakes, then it is all good. You can take advantage of the Internet phenomenon that continues up to this day. Once you understand the advantages and disadvantages of social networking, then you can cruise through without fail. http://www.everyday-wisdom.com/social-networking.html Nothing has changed the Web more than the rise of social networking sites. Before social networking, the World Wide Web was full of interesting information, but there was little opportunity to contribute or participate. Today, social networking sites are fulfilling the potential of the Web: connecting people across the globe. But why do they matter so much? "With social networks, we're able to visualize the connections between individuals, says Fred Stutzman, Ph.D. student and... Subject : Computers Month-Year : Apr 2010 Author/s : Samir Kapadia Chartered Accountant Topic : Social Networking: Boon or Bane Article Details :
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Disadvantages Of Social Networking Sites
Lack of Anonymity
You are putting out information about your name, location, age, gender, and many other types of
information that you may not want to let others know. Most people would say be careful, but no
one can be certain at any given time. As long as people can know who you exactly are, then
some can find ways to do you in.
Scams and Harassment
There is a potential for failure of security in both personal and business context. While many
sites apply certain measures to keep any of these cases of harassment, cyber-stalking, online
scams, and identity theft to an absolute minimum, you still may never know.
Time Consuming
If this is not your kind of thing, that it would just be a waste of time for you. The key to social
networking is that it is supposed to be fun, whether you are just doing it for kicks or clicking
around for business purposes. That should be reasonable enough for anyone, but there are those
people who don't see the point. For them, it can be a disadvantage.
Now thereis something to really think about. Nothing is without a blemish, but those of this type of
networking shouldn't really be that much of a concern regarding your safety. As long as you go along
without making big mistakes, then it is all good. You can take advantage of the Internet phenomenon
that continues up to this day.
Once you understand the advantages and disadvantages of social networking, then you can cruise
Nothing has changed the Web more than the rise of social networking sites. Before social networking,
the World Wide Web was full of interesting information, but there was little opportunity to contribute
or participate.
Today, social networking sites are fulfilling the potential of the Web: connecting people across the
globe. But why do they matter so much?
"With social networks, we're able to visualize the connections between individuals, says Fred Stutzman,
Ph.D. student and...
Subject : Computers
Month-Year : Apr 2010
Author/s : Samir Kapadia
Chartered Accountant
Topic : Social Networking: Boon or Bane
Article Details :
For the uninitiated, initially, social networks were networks or meeting places set up by people who wanted to „keep in touch‟ or team up after starting their career. Facebook as we know it today, was akin
to a school/college yearbook — a photo album, the only difference being that it was in the form of an electronic billboard, where one could look up old colleagues and exchange information. With added
impetus from technological advancement, developments in networking technology and mobile phones, over time this electronic billboard evolved to social networks as we know them today. Presently, social
networks, among other things, are :
Forums for sharing materials;
Virtual market places — to meet like-minded people, share videos, pictures, thoughts, etc.
Social networks are unique in the sense that, while they serve ones personal needs, they are equally useful in meeting one‟s business or professional needs. The following examples would illustrate this :
Social networks allow you to keep in touch with family members staying in a different city (Yes, I am aware that we have the old & faithful postcard, telegram, and yes the telephone rentals have dropped drastically so we can always call our friends or send an sms or chat with them on the net, but imagine reaching out to all your friends and relatives at one go with added interactivity);
Social networks give you an impression of being in a space of your own. They allow you to
mingle with like-minded communities (discussing ideas or experiences on your latest trek, purchase of new camera, car, etc.);
Enhance social and political communications (Apparently social networking contributed significantly to President Obama‟s campaign);
B- Schools using it to send out information to its students
(IIM Calcutta took its first step in Dec. 2008, from breaking news, blog links to CAT and campus-placement updates, the tweets on „IIMC‟ reflect a broader use of Twitter than most celebrity users seem able to comprehend). Having understood this background, lets get on with the basics.
There are various types of online social media — from social networks of friends and professionals, to
microblogging services, to video sharing sites. To name a few :
Online friends networks :
Facebook :
The world‟s largest social network, with hundreds of million users, began when a small group of Harvard
students, led by Mark Zuckerberg, decided to keep in touch with each other. It soon opened out to other
US campuses and eventually in 2006, to everyone.
Orkut :
At one time Orkut India‟s most popular social network, this Google-owned service was set up by former Google engineer Orkut Büyükkökten in his spare time. Once a hit with users, it is far behind in the global
popularity stakes. Orkut has faced some issues because of its previously open nature. After legal problems in 2007, Orkut substantially cleaned up the network, but by then, the damage was done —
„high-end‟ users had begun switching over to Facebook. (Incidentally have you tried google buzz ?)
MySpace :
Quite popular with musicians and actors, who use the site to host music and movie clips, this site was
picked up by Rupert Murdoch‟s NewsCorp a few years ago and its immense popularity made Google give it a lucrative advertising deal.
Video sharing :
YouTube :
YouTube has started a video revolution — it‟s as simple as that. The service — which allows anyone to upload video clips on to the net — from your baby‟s first steps to a music video that you recently shot —
commands a big chunk of Internet traffic today. According to estimates, every minute of the day, over 10 minutes of content is being uploaded on to the service. (In fact, you can watch IPL3 matches on this network).
Other video sharing services :
Hulu is a video service promoted by US TV network NBC and has high-quality online broadcasts of their
shows. Apparently, users from India cannot access Hulu. Other sites include Vimeo and DailyMotion.
Online professional networks :
LinkedIn :
According to last year‟s statistics (current number would be higher), there are 41 million users on
LinkedIn, of which two million are from India (the secondlargest user base after the US). Virtually every
large company and executive has a LinkedIn account and there are examples galore of how India Inc. is using LinkedIn to find talent and do more. Extremely popular among India Inc. and growing by the day.
This site is possibly unique among social networks, in the sense that it claims to be profitable (i.e., Linkedin is showing profits) through advertising and „premium‟ membership.
Blogging :
Most blogging sites are also „social media‟ by definition
— they allow anyone and everyone to create a blog. Also, if the blogger allows it, anyone with net access
can post a comment on the blog, which can be moderated. Blogging is the oldest form of „read-write‟ online social media, but has now reached a stable phase. The most popular free blogging services online
where anyone can set up a blog are :
Blogger/Blogspot
WordPress
LiveJournal
Microblogging :
Twitter :
This is a blazingly fast-growing service : one estimate put Twitter‟s growth at a staggering 1,382% a month with an estimated 100 million users. (A Harvard study estimated that 10% of these users, by and large, created 90% of the content.) Twitter essentially allows users to send out their thoughts in 140 characters or less. Only a third of Twitter users are active, though, and India has an active „Twitterati‟ of
an estimated 10,000 people. Several Indian companies are now embracing the service. Immensely popular and highly useful during breaking news events such as 26/11. Some of the users who have left
their indelible mark using this tool — Sashi Tharoor and of course Apro SRK.
While some dismiss them as a waste of time, Internet sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have exploded in popularity, giving easy access to a potentially huge amount of new business.
Business and social media :
The ultimate transformation that is taking place today is within the business landscape, worldwide — and
increasingly so in India — where companies are beginning to leverage informal social networks to engage
customers, soothe ruffled feathers, strengthen their brands and even hire people. For companies in India, the reasoning is simple : While Indian PC and Internet penetration rates are relatively lower than the
West, India has one of the largest Internet population in the world — some 60 million regular users (not including mobile access). Moreover, these users are the most sought-after customers with high
disposable incomes, and companies with clear online media plans are waking up to the fact that they can
reap the benefits of engaging with this audience. Those that don‟t, risk losing the customers that they already have or slipping behind their more savvy competitors.
Here is a real life instance of how social media can influence change :
Take a look at the interactive digital marketing site that Tata Motors built when the Nano was launched.
This site had games built into it, where people could customise colours and pick their favourite ones —thereby (ahem) sneakily helping the car company figure out which ones to use on the Nano. (A clever idea, but far removed from a social media forum.) However, when Tata Motors did launch the Nano,
there was no mistaking its intention to use a full-fledged social media strategy. The company set up groups on Facebook and Orkut hoping to target the numerous official „Nano‟-centric groups that had
parked themselves on the site. To its complete surprise, it found that one unofficial group on Orkut dwarfed the official ones — and it would have been a fatal mistake to ignore members not under the
official Nano fold. A spokeperson for the company said “We engage with people on these sites, too. We
react to criticism of our car and try to explain our position. Also, we often find that before we can react to the criticism, there are other members who come up to defend the car.” As a matter of fact even
presently, the official groups on these two sites, at around 17,000 members, are much smaller than the largest un-official group on Orkut with around 52,000 members.
Here‟s another example :
Maruti Suzuki India is, strangely enough, a pioneer in online social marketing. Realising that there are
several online communities for the highly popular Swift, it has created an online platform to bring
together the 2,500 disparate online Swift users‟ clubs in India. Earlier this year, the company actively enlisted bloggers and talked to the community during pre-launch activities for its latest Ritz.
There are others — Herseys, Dominos, Apollo Hospitals, Nokia — to name a few.
Avoiding traps :
Its important to understand that social media isn‟t for everyone and should not be used for everything.
For instance, the Chief Marketing Officer of a large corporate group shared his experience saying online social media is not an ideal platform for business to business (B2B) interactions. “It is a great way of getting messages about your company across, but I would neither buy nor I would sell anything using social media,” she says. Also, having a presence in online social media or running ads there doesn‟t mean that the company will emerge an overnight success. In fact, far from it. “It is a misconception among many that this is a procedural thing, which it‟s clearly not. It is a highly creative space that requires that marketers identify the space, the nature of stakeholders involved, what makes people tick within that space and, importantly, to listen to people—and not try and sell things to them.” According to experts, the biggest mistake that anyone can make is to use the medium to push their products.
Another problem is that of measuring success. Even though there are advanced analytical tools available on the Internet, classifying a „successful campaign‟ in social media is extremely difficult and can also be
manipulated using something called „click fraud‟. There are few benchmarks to measure success online
unlike television adverts. A company can claim any number of sign-ups for a digital campaign, but never release how many were translated into sales. Also, beware of social media experts. The landscape is
littered with them, many of whom have no legitimate professional experience in the field. Much like the Internet company era, social media is the new in-thing and these hucksters are simply surfing the next
big wave, hoping to get rich.
The second part of this article will be printed in the next issue of the BCAJ. Watch this space for the pitfalls and the dark side of social marketing.
929 A
One of the most commonly asked questions today is “are you on Facebook?” or “did you check
out the latest pics on my profile?” It is amazing how social networks have completely changed
people‟s habits, becoming a must-visit Web destination for all. In fact, if you find a friend not
using any of the popular social networking services, it seems strange. Thoughts like “is he/she
living in today‟s world” and “how can he/she afford to miss such a great thing when the entire
world is buzzing around it” start coming to your mind the moment you realize your friend‟s
absence on the site.
Such is the power of social networking today. And it only seems to grow stronger and stronger in
the future. Just recently, Facebook achieved another milestone by completing five successful
years over the Web. Started in 2004, Facebook had only a handful of users in its network
initially, mostly comprising of Harvard students. However, with time it grew rapidly to become
the leading social network throughout the world. So, what led to its success? One of the biggest
reasons is word-of-mouth or rather word-of-mouse publicity.
People today can‟t imagine living without social networking. It has become a daily routine no
matter where you are. Also, it is interesting to know how mobile phones are shaping the use of
social networks today. Those who do not get enough time to access their desktops often use a
mobile device to stay connected with their friends. What‟s even more interesting is that adults
are using social networks more than the younger demographic today, something which has never
happened before the last year or so.
But there are also people who do not support this growing trend mainly because of its negative
impact on the society. The argument is that social networking is slowly taking over face-to-face
communication, as people prefer expressing themselves online. Communication has become
rapid, but at the cost of personal interaction.
If you observe carefully, the extent of outdoor physical activity has also declined in case of
school going children. As social networking becomes a topic of discussion for youngsters, most
of them want to be alive and kicking on the network and share their likes and dislikes with
people. This has given software developers another reason to come up with innovative
applications in tune with the contemporary lifestyle, which is indeed worth appreciating.
However, problem arises when youngsters overuse these applications and compromise their
social life by constantly updating their profile to let people know how „cool‟ they are. This is
also one of the main reasons why personal interaction has been affected to a great extent.
The whole discussion here is not to demean social networking. It is doing what it has to do –
connect people with their loved ones. But whether to overuse it and affect our social life or not is
in our hands. Let technology not master you. Talk to people personally or over phone, get
engaged in face-to-face communication and use social networking within limits to balance your
life. Social networks are definitely a boon to the society, but too much of it can affect our social