Social Media Essay
Essay by meagler • July 20, 2015 • Essay • 1,946 Words (8 Pages) • 1,886 Views
Social Networking Assignment (Team One)
Table of Contents
Google+
Works Cited
By: Byron Jackson
Facebook is increasingly becoming a major workplace tool. Since the advent of web 2.0, many companies are allowing their employees to telecommute to the workplace. As a way for employees to collaborate and communicate with each other many are turning to Facebook as their primary means of communication. Not only is Facebook a great way of communicating with your colleagues, it is also a powerful (did I mention free) marketing tool. With around 1.35 billion active monthly users, Facebook connects us with over five percent of the global population! To put that in perspective, if Facebook were a country, its population would be equal to that of China, which is the world’s most populous country.
With its tremendous amount of active users the potential for professional networking on Facebook is tremendous. According to Facebook close to 96% of all small businesses are active on the site, and 70% of Fortune 500 companies are active. What does this mean for the potential job seekers? Facebook conducted a poll in 2012 and found the 54% of employers anticipated using Facebook as part of their talent acquisition process. Also, 90% of the companies polled Facebook stated; “Facebook has decreased the amount of print advertising needed with regards to their recruiting efforts, making Facebook a cost effective way to find new talent.” (2012).
All of this might sound extremely attractive to companies looking to incorporate Facebook into their day-to-day operations. However this would not be without its pitfalls. According to noted technology blogger Michael Fitzpatrick, Facebook costs employers close to $28 billion dollars a year due to lost productivity. (2011). Companies must implement controls in order to augment these losses. One way is to develop policies on proper social media use within the workplace. However, ultimately in the end it is up to the end user to properly use the site for the betterment of the organization.
By Angela Limbacher
LinkedIn is considered a social networking service, but more business oriented compared to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. LinkedIn is a free network that started in 2003 with the main focus being to help people network professionally. With the use of LinkedIn you are able to connect with business partners, clients, co-workers, and friends. LinkedIn can be used for professional and organizational use, job-seeking and recruitment.
If you are looking to use LinkedIn for professional use, it is a great tool used for networking. Networking can be a key component when it comes to a career. LinkedIn will keep you aware of the latest business trends and provide you with information where you can join certain groups to help you network in the professional world. It also allows you to ask and answer questions within these groups to help increase your knowledge as a professional. Joining these groups can help you increase your networking even more. LinkedIn can also help you with research. It allows you to research people and companies that you may currently do business with (Mindtools).
LinkedIn is great for organizational use as well. With the use of LinkedIn a company is able to increase their visibility. The company is able to provide information about their business which allows others to look into their company in hopes of doing business together. It also works the other way around. LinkedIn also provides the opportunity for recruitment and job-hunting. Many recruiters are able to use LinkedIn because each member provides their experience, skills, current work place, etc… (Mindtools).
It goes without saying for any social networking site; you want to be sure there is responsible/ethical/productive use of the service. One measure that should be followed is always telling the truth. People sometimes make up fake accounts or provide inaccurate information that is deceiving. This causes an ethical issue that can only end up hurting a person and not helping. With the use of LinkedIn you want to be responsible and show professionalism as well and not provide any lies or gossip about companies or other people (Mindtools). It does not look good in the professional world. Being professional with a business oriented social networking service is key to success.
Google+
By: Richard J. Chang
Google+ has been a social networking platform that has gained steam since its inception in June of 2011. It currently has some 300 million users, but active engagement is relatively low still.
Google+ has enormous potential in the workplace. One benefit of this forum is that you can create "Circles," which in the workplace could be your particular team or group. The members within this group are the only ones that can view the interaction with each other. The features within this social networking platform allow the users to be very interactive. You can video chat through what is called “Hangouts.” Google+ allows you to research different topics, while being able to view other people's opinions and interact with them to receive more from the topic than just textbook information. The Google+ forum is already intertwined with the Google search engine and email, making it is easy to sign up since about 60 percent of consumers use Gmail as their main email service. This would make implementation in the workplace very streamlined.
Using Google+ for professional networking could be a bit more difficult than using it within your own team, group, or workplace. As I mentioned earlier, Google+ allows you to search different topics, which includes businesses and organizations. Once that business or organization accepts your invite, which allows you to view even more information, you then must find a way to stand out in a very crowded online community. Once you are able to do this and network with various companies and leaders, your professional profile can begin to grow.
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