CatoMedia >> Exploring the power of Social Media

Social Media can be described as the future of communication. It contains a wide range of internet based tools and platforms that improve and enhance the process of sharing information and you will be able to transfer of text, audio, photos, information and video in a hassle free and fast manner among internet users. Regular internet users as well as business people can enjoy a lot of benefits when they become active members of various social networking websites.

How does it function?

Leading social media sites like Google+, twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook have created strong online communities and people can share their personal opinions, comments, send happy birthday gifts, business information, sales promotional activities and many more among the members of these social communities.

Social media applications

Endless number of applications has been built around the social media platforms and websites and, the functionality of these applications can be described as truly outstanding as well. All these applications make online sharing and searching uncomplicated irrespective of their niche. Internet offers a wide range of niche social communities where members can gather around to have a discussion about a common topic.

What are the major uses of social media?

Social media experts always focus on effectively utilizing the unlimited amount of information available on social networking sites for social good, business advertising and many more. Take a look at the major uses of social media:

1) Can be used for purely personal reasons

Social media sites can be used to keep in touch with friends and it is a great platform to find out people with similar interests. You can connect with people who are sitting in another continent or other parts of the world with great amount of ease and comfort.

2) Can be utilized to connect with customers

Businesses cannot undermine the importance of social media marketing in these days. When you become an active member of these networking sites, the reputation of your business will undergo tremendous transformation and you will get a lot of positive reviews about your product/service. Since these sites have several million registered users, your brand visibility will definitely reach greater heights.

3) Can be used to promote business networking

Social networking platforms also offer highly beneficial business networking opportunities for business people and past experiences clearly show that some of these opportunities have redefined the destiny of a good number of businesses.

4) Can be utilized to generate sales

When you become a regular member of various social media websites, you will become an authority in your niche. Such an approach will help you redirect the visitors into your website regularly and as a resultant factor; sales conversions will take place at a faster pace.

5) Can be used for entertainment purposes

Some people rely on these sites for pure entertainment purposes and leading platforms have started launching game applications and music videos to keep people entertained all the time.

Conclusion

All these different uses of social media make it hugely popular and the recent trends show that the popularity of various networking sites is going to reach greater heights in the years to come.

Social media has a huge impact on the lives of the people, especially on the young generation. Today’s kids and young people are growing up with social media as an inevitable part of their life and it has redefined the way in which they interact with friends, parents and other people. The way in which they use technology has also undergone tremendous transformation with the emergence of social media.

The power of social media

Social networking sites fulfill the immediate social needs of the young generation and the pace at which communication takes place is truly commendable as well. If you make use of social media for communication, place and time do not matter and the communication has become really global in nature as well. You cannot find a teenager who does not have a Google+, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account in these days and they make use of these accounts to keep in touch with friends all around the world. They can openly share what they have in mind with their peers and some young people also use social media for school-related purposes as well. It can be said without an iota of doubt social networking sites offer a lot of advantages for the youth and the young generation has been grabbing all these wonderful opportunities with both hands.

Constructive use of social media

Today, young people have been making use of social media to express all their ideas and emotions and, they can immediately post or tweet anything that they have in mind within seconds. All these activities give young people great exposure and it can also be described as a way of releasing stress. Smart people also use these platforms to share knowledge which is not taught in school and they also discuss about topics that has been overlooked in classroom discussions. Other activities that teenagers and young generation normally do include cheering up friends, voicing their opinions about various political developments, entertainment and so on. Social networking sites offer the right platform for the youth to share what’s in their mind in a public area and this aspect certainly prevents young people from becoming timid and reserved.

Social media is a cost effective and faster option for communication

Meeting different friends in-person certainly demands a lot of time, effort and money as well. With the advent of cell phones, they have become the main mode of communication and the arrival of social media has made the communication even cheaper. The number of teenagers and youth, who have been using their mobile devices to enjoy the benefits associated with social media, has increased manifold and they do not need to make any calls to sign up with various networking sites. The cost of using internet has become really cheap and the speed at which you can communicate is pretty amazing. Geographic boundaries do not apply while selecting friends and social media helps teenagers to have thousands of friends from all across the world. The caste, creed and color never act as barriers for young people when they select friends and it can be described as a very positive sign.

Everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. The most important thing is that young generation should utilize the positive aspects of social media to become responsible and committed citizens and, by doing so; they will be able to make creative contributions to the society in the future.

Besides friends and acquaintances, many other people are interested in collecting the information about you on social media websites. Business organizations are always looking for information about customers to gain market advantage and other people like scam artists, stalkers, identity thieves and debt collectors are also on the lookout for personal information. Even, social networking sites are also interested in gathering a variety of data about their users and it is being done to personalize their services for the users and handing over to advertisers as well. That is exactly where the importance controlling privacy while social sharing comes in.

How does information go public?

There are two types of information that can be collected about a user from a social networking site and they include shared information and information collected through electronic tracking. The most common user shared information are age and gender, photos and other media, biographical information, status updates, interests, contacts and geographical location as well. As a user, you can post information as public without controlling access via privacy settings and some information may become publicly visible by default as well. Some social networks can change its privacy policy at any time without seeking the permission of the users and this sudden change can make some of your confidential information visible to the public. Your personal information can be tracked electronically by using cookies as well.

How to control privacy?

Many people skip over the privacy policy when they decide to register with a social network and you should never sign up with a network before reading the privacy policy. The privacy policy section clearly explains how the network collects and uses your personal information and you should also go through the terms and condition section as well. It is always advisable to use a strong password completely different from the passwords that you use for other sites and when you are asked to provide security questions, you need to use information that others are not aware of. Providing a work-related email to a social media site is not at all appreciable and you can create a new email for your social media accounts. It is absolutely essential to keep a strong antivirus and spyware protection on your computer and you should provide the information that you feel comfortable providing because once posted information cannot be taken back. You should always be alert towards the changes in the policies of a social networking site and clicking on shortened links needs to be done with great care. You can use a URL expander before clicking on these types of links and a cautious approach should be taken towards pop-up windows as well. When you leave a social media site, you should delete all cookies and friends request should only be accepted after having done proper verification and research.

You need to remember the fact that whatever you post on social networking sites is not temporary and everything that you post can be cached, copied and stored to follow you forever. That is exactly where the importance of all these guidelines comes in and you should follow them in strictly to protect your privacy while social sharing.