“The social and economic impacts of social media”

Nowadays, social networks have changed the words that define our reality,
it can do anything through a wired global platform that provides instant
communication. Social media has become almost a necessity for us and it is
become so important and evolved so much. Social media's power to control the
populace has positive as well as negative effects. This essay will discuss social
media's impact on social and economic life around the world.
Companies find new customers through advertising on social networks and thereby
increase the awareness of their brand. Social networking helps push the market
cycle by advertisement usability, where vast quantities of consumers are easily met
in a short period. This ability to communicate quickly and easily with people
overseas is also very convenient for those who do business, in foreign lands.
According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010)“ Social Media allows firms to engage in
timely and direct end-consumer contact at relatively low cost and higher levels of
efficiency than can be achieved with more traditional communication tools."(para.
30)[1]. In addition, Social media platforms provide a cheap, easy way to quickly
communicate your point to your customers or clients, who are across the world. It
can send a private message, publicly share something, or video chat, for free.
Using social media for a company is very cost-effective and time-efficient. Staying
connected to these people is important to improve your business relationship, and
keep your company running properly.
Social networking can have certain adverse risks, such as cyber theft, information
that can be obtained by anyone, and impersonation or bad reputation of the
company. According to Wilson " there are five principal risks that organization has
in regard to social networking: perceived loss in staff productivity, data leakage
from staff gossiping freely in an open environment, damage to a business’s
reputation, scam practiced by cyber crooks, and the open access to organization
information due to outdated passwords" (as cited in Aguenza, 2012, page. 49) [2].
By having access to economic information from companies or personal
impersonation, anyone who steals these can use the money for any purpose. An
example is the use of payment cards with a personal identification number to buy
goods anywhere.
Social media sites allow accomplishing online many of the tasks that are important
for us such a staying connected with friends and family, gain knowledge, and
sharing our life. According to Abbas & Aman & Nurunnabi & Bano (2019) “Digital
media and social networking are revolutionizing methods of everyday
communication, collaboration, information sharing, and information consumption”
(para, 5) [3]. Social media will enhance your life. It will provide you the chance to
communicate, connect, and be involved like never before. You’ll stay connected
with news outlets, family, friends, and virtually whatever else you’d like to connect
with. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2011) “Engaging in
various forms of social media is a routine activity that research has shown to
benefit children and adolescents by enhancing communication, social connection,
and even technical skills.”(page. 1) [4]. Being an active participant in social media is
a great way to learn new things. News outlets are constantly using social media, to
help keep people in the loop. Social media is the way that news is heard, and it’s
the way that news is spread. You can make the argument that staying connected
to social media is, in fact, staying connected to life.
The overuse of social networks has consequences for mental health such as
depression or anxiety. According to Dr. Davilla, "Texting, instant messaging, and
social networking make it very easy for adolescents to become even more anxious,
which can lead to depression."(as cited in Amedie, 2015, page. 7) [5]. Increased
time spent online is related to a decline in communication with family members, as
well as the reduction of the Internet user's social circle, which may further lead to
increased feelings of depression and loneliness. “According to Amedie (2015)
“The second way social media causes depression anxiety is from the stress
produced from constantly trying to project an unrealistic and unachievable
perception of perfection within your social network.”(page. 8) [5].. Although social
networks enable an individual to interact with a large number of people, these
interactions are shallow and cannot adequately replace everyday face-to-face
communication.
In conclusion, the positive effects of social media on social and economic issues
can be inferred as more than the negative effects. It is true that they include
enhanced socialization and economic progress with networking helping to increase
the number of one’s clients and interaction with friends. Nevertheless, if they do not
use it in a proper way, they can cause collateral problems, damaging our health or
even our business.

References:
1) Kaplan, A. and Haenlein, M. (2010, February 1). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and
opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

2) Aguenza, B. and Mat, A. (2012, June). A Conceptual Analysis of Social Networking and its
Impact on Employee Productivity
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8f11/b3fc370b629f815bc2636b5d78189ff0ee8b.pdf

3) Abbas, J. & Aman, J. & Nurunnabi, M. & Bano, S. (2019, March 20). The Impact of Social Media
on Learning Behavior for Sustainable Education: Evidence of Students from Selected Universities in
Pakistan https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061683

4) American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011, April 1). The Impact of Social Media on Children,
Adolescents, and Families https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800/tab-article-info
5) Amedie, J. (2015, September 3). The Impact of Social Media on Society. Advanced Writing: Pop
Culture Intersections. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/engl_176/2