The Pros & Cons Of Social Networking Sites for Students/Youth
The recent news of the acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook for a whopping £19 billion may have stumped many but for the millions who are hooked on to software applications that make many day-to-day tasking simpler and faster, that’s just more ‘cool’ news! No doubt Facebook realized the usefulness of the app and the immense potential it offered by way of reach and popularity, especially by the game changers, Gen-Next.
A few decades ago, the Internet was in its infancy and it has completely revolutionized the way the world functions, both personally and professionally. Until a few years ago the concept of social networking was a revolutionary idea that would not have had many takers.
The Internet Revolution
But the scene has been transformed dramatically; almost everyone on the planet has heard of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace besides many others that are in daily use. While the Internet and software packages provided the way for people to communicate with each other, these social networking sites have made it possible for old friends and schoolmates to reconnect, forged new friendships across generations, provided a platform for sharing and arguing views and viewpoints from food to fashion, pets to people, upload photos of almost anything that people wish to share and so much more.
But simply taking everything new at face value does not augur well for humankind. And here’s why.
There are many disadvantages equaling the advantages of the Web, social networking and dependence on technology, but it’s worth the time to examine a few that come up front.
Social networking websites have entirely change the way in which we communicate. However, not each and everything is hunky Dory about the social networking websites.
Due to this very reason, if you’re addicted to social networking websites, you have to 1st look into the pros and cons of the social networking website. Once you’re able to look into these pros and cons, thereafter only you would be able to get a proper picture about the social networking websites.
Today we would discuss both pros and cons in order to provide you with a clear picture about social networking websites.
Pros:
There are a number of social networks and more are being added almost every day. The number of potential clients using this kind of communication is astronomical. A company which uses this as part of their marketing strategy, immediately has access to this large community.
These networks are recognized for their ease of communication. Like-minded people find it easy to meet and socialize on these forums. This culture can be a huge benefit when this platform is used as a marketing tool. The chances are that if one member of a community finds your service or product worthwhile, the rest of his or her associates will have the same feeling.
Any successful business knows of the importance of advertising and marketing. Diversification is an important aspect of such campaigns. When many different media is used, more people are exposed to what you have to offer. Social media will add a new angle and in turn increase your exposure.
Every company which does business online knows that success is related to the number of visitors to the business website. This makes social media such an excellent forum for increasing website traffic. These platforms have various tools which introduce interesting websites to their large audience.
One aspect that fits the bill of social networking pros and cons is the ease with which the word gets spread. Customers who are satisfied with what you have on offer will be able to influence many other potential customers as well. The same degree of influence can also be achieved by a displeased customer, which can damage your reputation.
1. New social connections – More adults have increasingly used social networking sites to connect with family and friends; the other category is the teens, where new friendships across peer groups and seniors are established.
2. More interaction and sharing of information on school work – students use the Internet to gather information, discuss school projects and help each other thus being able to absorb more information on a wider range of subjects.
3. Ensure better quality of life – in earlier days, there was no pool of information that people could have access to and depended on word of mouth to know details. All that has now changed. People are more willing to share information on their experiences, both good and bad on social sites; several health support groups and advocacy groups enlighten people on critical health issues, civic issues, political issues and many others so that people are better informed.
4. Advertising forum – Virtually every opportunity of employment, job sourcing and recruitment besides volumes of sales & marketing, product launches and updates are available making it easier for people to read, review and decide products, brands, companies and many more that they would like to be associated with.
5. Increased awareness and prosecution of criminal activities – World over police and law enforcement officials are using social media and networking sites to track offenders and criminals who commit audacious crimes and use technology to cover their tracks.
6. Easy communication: Earlier, we use to try and get the phone number of your friends who are living away from you and thereafter you use to communicate. However, on social media you can easily send them a friend request online and thereafter you would be able to communicate with them throughout the day.
7. Free connectivity: On social media, you need not spend anything in order to communicate with anyone. That is why, for free you would be able to communicate with your family and friends.
8. Collaborations: Whether it is for a just cause or whether it is for the business, you would be able to collaborate easily with other people on social media. This ensures that you are able to use social media for the causes well.
Cons:
When companies engage on a marketing strategy, they like to have something in place that produces visible benefits immediately. Social networks do work and have great long term benefits if implemented correctly. These benefits, however, very seldom show immediate effects and need to be given time to produce results.
People are aware that in the business world, time is always equated with money. Social networking is something that takes a lot of time and input. New material needs to be introduced on a regular bases. It is easy to spend too much time on networking while neglecting other important components of the business. Time management of social networking activities must be looked at and monitored seriously, or else your business may suffer serious damage.
In many aspects social networks rule the world today. Its presence is even acknowledged by other media such as TV and radio. Irrespective of the social networking pros and cons, it is a platform that all businesses will have to embrace.
1. Social media sites have upstaged print and other publications as news sources over the last few years.
2. As much as a student using the Internet and other sites to gather information is welcomed, the downside is that too much dependence on electronic information gives hardly any mental or intellectual exercise of thinking powers to seek, question and gather information. Recent studies show that students who are practically tuned in to social media sites most of the time lag behind peers who are better informed and more knowledgeable on many issues.
3. The ratio of misinformation on the Web is too much to put a figure to. The spread of news, mostly unverified and unauthentic, is rampant and there is no process to check the growth of websites, blogs and other forums that provide information and supposedly unsolicited advice on a host of topics from careers to personal relationships, lifestyle habits and nutritional health supplements, medical bulletins and many more. People tend to lean on the belief that whatever information is there on the Net, it must be authentic, which is not always the case.
4. The total absence of one-on-one communication between families, friends and colleagues is seen as direct fallout of social media usage. People use technology to convey views and messages and generally anything that they are unable to say face to face from behind the cover of a tech gadget, leading to miscommunication and misunderstanding. What can be simply but effectively said in a few words now takes the guise of shortened, cryptic text messages.
5. Corporate companies lay the blame for less productivity at work on social media platforms and sites that cause a lot of useful time to be wasted. Surveys at many work places show that nearly 40% of workers spend time visiting online stores, shopping, playing games and chatting with friends from their desks.
4. Loss of privacy: One of the main disadvantages of social media or social networking websites is that whenever you’re uploading something on social media, you would no longer be able to keep it private. That is why, there is loss of privacy.
5. Loss of family values: In the United States alone, there are thousands of cases each and every year there are divorces which take place due to an affair which was started online. That is why, when you’re completely engrossed in social media, it can sometimes lead to loss of family values as well.
6. Spread of scams: There are many fake news website as well as scam attempts which are running on social networking websites. That is why, this is another risk of social networking websites. Although in addition to that, social networking websites are pretty addictive as well due to which, they have become time-consuming.
So, whenever you’re looking into the pros and cons of social networking websites, these are the things which you should always keep in mind.
