Effect on Social Media

Topic
The popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, and Skype has grown phenomenally in the last five years. Social networking is a feature of life in the 21st century and is phenomenally reshaping how people connect and interact with others. But, are social networking sites good for our society? Justify your argument.
Academic Writing Assignment 3 Written Essay DRAFT
I strongly believe that Social Networking has had a positive impact on society and will continue to do so as we discover the endless possibilities deeper into the 21st century. In the past 5 years Social Networking become a global phenomenon as there are now over 1.1 billion users worldwide (“Mobile social networking”, 2011), it has changed the way the world communicate with friends, family and complete straingers.

Social networking sites are designed for the purpose of communal connections large or small (Musibau et al., 2011), this communication can be a privet personal conversation with a friend or family member, organizing functions and meetings for groups or even letting the world know your personal thoughts and opinion on a particular topic. All of these aspects of communication are positive each having a beneficial impact on society. Social networking In the case of disaster and emergencies can be a very influential tool as it was during the Haiti Earth quakes in 2010. It was reported emergency workers and survivors used networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to post pictures of themself to alert concerned relatives that they were safe and where they could be located (“A survivor 's amazing story”, 2010). Social networking sites can also be used to report on traffic delays, fuel price rises and importantly in the situation of an emergency evacuation such as, fire, tsunami waning or earth quakes. Using social networking sites to connect groups is convenient especially in large business or corporate companies. Companies can employ thousands of staff which can make communication difficult although with the help of social networking sites large groups can be connected at once to be informed about meetings, specific dates, times and also locations. This is a much more efficient way to connect an entire business and also creates interaction between staff members with a clear understanding of communication.

The use of marketing is an area that society has adopted in social networking and it has made it much easier as a marketer to be able to connect with a large group of people improve marketing stratagies and company profits. As we know the use of social networking allows connection, marketing with social networking not only allows connection with local buyers but also on a larger international scale, with Facebook alone having over 955million users worldwide (Kumar & Mirchandani, 2012). Social networking as a marketing tool can allow businesses to grow at a rate faster than ever witness before. Using marketing via social networking can help identify target buyers, producing a strong influential messages to market a product can turn viral with the help of social networking, this can be seen by billions of potential customers in a matter of minutes. A company called Dell, who are the 3rd biggest suppliers of PCs in the world, along with eBay and many other major companies are using social networking as a stepping stone to have connections with potential customers (Kumar & Mirchandani, 2012). There are many marketing strategies that can be adopted via the use of social networking. Some key rolls in which it has played is, it allows marketers to build trust, strong relationships with potential buyers, social networking gives outstanding visibility and allows individuals to be heard (Steel, 2010), this results in marketers getting attention towards their company and its products.

Connecting with family and friends is seen to be a key ingredient to fill life with happiness, Social networking brings people together from all four corners of the globe this connection has never been easier. As the world rapidly moves into twenty first century traveling from one side of the globe to the other can be done in the blink of an eye, social networking keeps loved ones in touch, its such a comforting way to know that friends and family are safe where ever they are on the planet. In the case of solders, who often leave their loved ones as they are deported to foreign countries to serve duties, keeping in touch with parents, wives and kids, has never been easier with the use of social networking this was the case for Sargent Emmett Mailman from the US Army who witness the birth of his son via social networking site Skype all the way from Kabul, Afghanistan in 2012 (Kingswood, 2012). There are many different and unique ways connections can be made using social networking, Skype is great for face to face video calls, posting status on Twitter or Facebook to inform friends and family your location and thoughts, displaying photos on Instagram or even videos on YouTube. With the help of social networking society is being brought closer together then ever witness before. Love is found in many places, most notably in recent times with the help of social networking, Suggested in a report by Goldner (2008, p. 10) late adolescence are of a much higher percentage to form relationships with the opposite sex if they are involved with a social networking, this is also the case for social network users with slight disabilities as they that can interact with the world without being judged by there looks or appearance (Piastro, 1994). If this form of communication can bring love and happiness into peoples lives it can only be seen as a good thing.

The benefits of social networking are endless, although, being a member of social networking sites means displaying some of your personal details, this potentially putting yourself at risk of being a victim of identity theft (TrustedID, 2009). The Internet offers many different instances were personal and private information can be shared and used for identity theft unfortunately for social networking this is also the case. Its completely up to the individual how much personal information they wish to uncover, each site is forever developing software to fight against identity theft, strong warnings and high security is in place to help decreases the risk to each member using social networking sites (TrustedID, 2009). Blocking other users, choosing who you wish communicate with is made easy with this security, although its up to each individual using the social networking sites to keep their information privet and to be seen by whom they wish.

In conclusion the rapid increase of social networking users and the global phenomenon in which it has become in such a short space of time is simply remarkable. I firmly believe the positive influence that social networking has on society far out ways the negatives and I also understand social networking may not be for everyone. A slight percentage of the world population is yet to adopt the concept of social networking, sadly at the rapid speed in which social networking is taking over the world they will find themself left behind. The future for social networking is endless as it continues to grab hold, shape and positively influence on a global scale.

References
A survivor 's amazing story; secretary of state hillary clinton on U.S. aid in haiti; social networking sites helping earthquake. (2010, Jan 14). International Wire. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/466905214?accountid=10382

Goldner, K. R. (2008). Self disclosure on social networking websites and relationship quality in late adolescence. Pace University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 85. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304387520?accountid=10382

It 's a social world: Social networking leads as top online activity globally, accounting for 1 in every 5 online minutes. (2011, Dec 21). PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/912193824?accountid=10382

Kingswood, M. (2012, September 5). The Soldier’s Story: A Skype Video Call Testimony. Retrieved from http://www.supertintin.com/blog/skype/the-soldiers-story-a-skype-video-call-testimony

Kumar, V., & Mirchandani, R. (2012). Increasing the ROI of social media marketing. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54(1), 55-61. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1115278029?accountid=10382

Mobile social networking 2011-2016. (2011, Oct 04). PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/897746699?accountid=10382

Musibau, A. A., Eyinnaya, E. S., Edward, D. E., Wantrudis, M. C., & Nojeem, L. A. (2011). The implications of social networking sites in education in nigeria. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(7), 93-101. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/923786872?accountid=10382

Piastro, D. B. (1994, Aug 08). Networking helps people with disabilities find social/romantic contacts. Star Tribune. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/418627942?accountid=10382

Steel, E. (2010, Apr 15). Marketers watch as friends interact online --- using data from social networking sites, companies are able to target ads to like-minded acquaintances of customers. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/399133522?accountid=10382

TrustedID; TrustedID selects SentryBay to combat social networking identity theft and help stop phishing. (2009). Computer Business Week, , 34. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198009548?accountid=10382

References: A survivor 's amazing story; secretary of state hillary clinton on U.S. aid in haiti; social networking sites helping earthquake. (2010, Jan 14). International Wire. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/466905214?accountid=10382 Goldner, K. R. (2008). Self disclosure on social networking websites and relationship quality in late adolescence. Pace University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 85. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304387520?accountid=10382 It 's a social world: Social networking leads as top online activity globally, accounting for 1 in every 5 online minutes. (2011, Dec 21). PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/912193824?accountid=10382 Kingswood, M. (2012, September 5). The Soldier’s Story: A Skype Video Call Testimony. Retrieved from http://www.supertintin.com/blog/skype/the-soldiers-story-a-skype-video-call-testimony Kumar, V., & Mirchandani, R. (2012). Increasing the ROI of social media marketing. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54(1), 55-61. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1115278029?accountid=10382 Mobile social networking 2011-2016. (2011, Oct 04). PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/897746699?accountid=10382 Musibau, A. A., Eyinnaya, E. S., Edward, D. E., Wantrudis, M. C., & Nojeem, L. A. (2011). The implications of social networking sites in education in nigeria. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(7), 93-101. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/923786872?accountid=10382 Piastro, D. B. (1994, Aug 08). Networking helps people with disabilities find social/romantic contacts. Star Tribune. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/418627942?accountid=10382 Steel, E. (2010, Apr 15). Marketers watch as friends interact online --- using data from social networking sites, companies are able to target ads to like-minded acquaintances of customers. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/399133522?accountid=10382 TrustedID; TrustedID selects SentryBay to combat social networking identity theft and help stop phishing. (2009). Computer Business Week, , 34. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198009548?accountid=10382