Social Networking

Social networking sites are a forum for communication with different people in a virtual world. It is used by many people around the world for personal and business purposes. It can be used by individuals to connect with others who share similar interests or ambitions, or for them to build a personal image of themselves. Today, having an online presence is considered to be important and valuable since many companies are recognizing social media has a form of connection between consumers and potential employees. Frank Langfitt’s article emphasizes that social media“sites help job hunters market themselves online by setting up profiles.” Social networking is a way for businesses to engage customers by creating a user-friendly atmosphere and showing the diverse aspects of the company through personal attentive details. Moreover, the world is going social as platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, foster an environment for staying alive or current with up-to-date feeds, and comments. Consequently, social networking is considered to be needed by companies if they want to have a competitive advantage over their rivals. Social networking for companies is mostly about building a brand and getting valuable yet inexpensive information about consumers that can possibly lead to an increase in customers’ satisfaction and retention.

Besides being connected to various people through social networking there are challenges such as privacy, bullying, and other negative behaviors. It can be difficult to distinguish whether someone is genuine or not in an online presence. Other issues such as hurtful comments with intent to cause harm can have emotional impact of users of social media sites through constant harassment and bullying. Being a part of social media sites can also become an addiction and many are wasting time or practicing poor health actions just because they fear they are missing out on updates. Social media technologies are changing the way we communicate with each other and many of the users have grown up with the innovation. It is almost ordinary to be a part of social networking rather than traditional face-to-face meeting. We can now interact with people globally and it is much to say hello or leave any other remarks. The key is to protect yourself while you are on these social media sites and feel comfortable to let loose from them when feel pressured. The article “Leaving ‘Friendprints’: How Online Social Networks Are Redefining Privacy and Personal Security,” asserts that social networking security rests with each user of the service, therefore, it’s okay to shake some hand or give them a hug rather than drive yourself crazy to be a part of everything in the online presence.

1. Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting by Frank Langfitt, NPR, March 16, 2008. Available from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6522523&sc=emaf

2. Knowledge@Wharton, "Leaving 'Friendprints': How Online Social Networks Are Redefining Privacy and Personal Security. Available at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2262