Social media has become a popular phenomenon in the present world. Millions of people across the world use social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, LinkedIn, Youtube, Google+, and Instagram to interact, share information, market products, and search for jobs. All these social media platforms have two things in common: they are free to subscribe, and have transformed the world in terms of access to news and information, social connections, and marketing. Despite being free, social media has many multiple benefits, such as improved communication, marketing, recruitment, newsgathering, and political mobilization. It also has a premium option that can be optimized to satisfy the diverse business needs of business enterprises. Thus, social media is a highly effective phenomenon despite being cheap.
To begin with, a keen observer may have noticed that to become a social media user, one does not need to pay anything. For example, joining Facebook is as easy as inputting one’s personal information and choosing an appropriate password. Yet these simple steps usher the subscriber to a whole new virtual world of interaction with friends and ease of access to news. One can also join various groups based on interests, hobbies, friendships, and career aspirations. Ordinarily, one would not expect all these benefits to be within reach free of charge. Yet that is the reality of social media use in today’s information age. Critics of this ease of communication argue that it easily leads to the emergence of terrorist groups and all manner of anti-social behaviors such as reckless sharing of graphic content, pornography, and cyberbullying (Mackay 70). Indeed, these are serious challenges that have emerged due to the embracement of social media by mainstream society. Fortunately, they are easily outweighed by the benefits that come with these free but highly effective internet-based networking platforms.
Moreover, social media has multiple beneficial uses despite being free. They include improved communication, marketing, recruitment, news gathering, and political mobilization. Social media is being used widely for communication between companies and their clients. For example, Hello Health, a health care provider based in New York’s Brooklyn neighborhood is using Facebook as a cost-effective platform through which doctors interact with patients (Hawn 361). However, there are some challenges to be overcome, one of them being refusal by health insurance companies to cover health care costs incurred by patients who seek medical help through web-based platforms such as Facebook. Nevertheless, with the growing ubiquity of social media in society, health care providers will gradually become more receptive to new social-media driven health care management practices.
At the same time, social media has become a very powerful marketing tool. It is one of the alternative marketing practices that are changing the world. This phenomenon has benefited large and small companies alike. Small firms that cannot afford to pay for expensive marketing campaigns on mainstream media such as the television resort to the cheap but effective social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. All these social networking websites are relationship-oriented, and this greatly contributes to a situation where customer loyalty is easily built (Castronovo & Huang 119). They enhance relationship-oriented marketing in two ways: firstly, by providing up-to-date information regarding customers’ preferences and behaviors; and secondly, they lead to the development and maintenance of meaningful relationships on a long-term basis (Castronovo & Huang 119).
Additionally, the use of social media as a recruitment tool is gaining popularity. Research has shown that despite being free, Facebook is an effective recruitment tool (Fenner et al., 20). LinkedIn has also emerged as a dominant recruitment oriented social networking site that anyone can join for free. Despite being free, the website is an excellent place for employees to publish their professional credentials, thereby getting exposure to prospective employers.
On the other hand, journalists depend a lot on social media to obtain leads for breaking news. However, there is a heated debate on the level of use of social media to gather news relative to that of traditional newsgathering methods. Knight gives the example of the Iranian elections of 2009 where UK media praised Iranian journalists for heralding the Twitter revolution by using the social networking website extensively to report political events before, during and after the country’s elections (65). However, Knight notes that the reality on the ground was different; Iranian journalists rarely turned to social media for information (66). Rather, they relied primarily on traditional sources such as expert opinion, and political statements. Twitter users may consider these findings as inaccurate considering that news almost always tends to break in the social networking website long before it is broadcast in the traditional news channels. Thus, journalists have to rely on one way or the other for leads.
Moreover, social media has been widely embraced in all social, economic, political, and cultural spheres. All social spheres have been affected in one way or the other by social media. One example is that of the political scene, where social media has become an effective mobilization tool. It fosters political participation in a manner that triggers a political effect strong enough to trigger a revolution (Shirky 3). Opponents of this aspect of social media use have claimed that its outcomes cannot be prejudged, and that it overestimates the value of a media environment in which citizens are allowed to communicate freely at a highly personalized level. On the contrary, such communication is necessary in any democracy since its absence through censorship reek of dictatorial tendencies.
Lastly, the cost-effectiveness of social media arises from the introduction of premium-use options, whereby individuals and corporate entities can pay a subscription fee to gain access to enhanced social media capabilities. For example, Facebook has introduced a dedicated marketing platform where advertisers can pay to have their products and services marketed to specific demographic groups. This way, Facebook managers are able to provide relevant product information to specific demographic groups. Consequently, advertisers derive economic benefits through Facebook marketing while Facebook users gain access to insightful product information. Other social networking websites that have introduced similar premium options include LinkedIn, Twitter, and Whatsapp.
In conclusion, social media has emerged as a cheap but effective means of communication and interaction. It is free for one to register as a member of various social media platforms, and this explains their growing popularity. Despite being cheap, social media has numerous benefits for users and social media companies alike. The main benefits for individuals and corporate entities include improved communication, marketing opportunities, and news gathering, and recruitment opportunities. For the founders of these social networking websites, a growing number of subscribers brings into perspective numerous benefits arising from a monetized business model primarily through the introduction of premium-use options. Marketers are increasingly embracing these premium-use models in an effort to market their products to millions of registered social media users across the world.
Works Cited
Castronovo, Cristina. & Huang, Lei. “Social Media in an Alternative Marketing Communication Model.” Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 6.1 (2012): 117-131.
Fenner, Yeshe., Garland, Suzanne., Moore, E., Jayasinghe, Y., Fletcher, A., Tabrizi, S., et al. ”Web-Based Recruiting for Health Research Using a Social Networking Site: An Exploratory Study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14.1 (2012): 13-30.
Hawn, Carleen. “Take Two Aspirin and Tweet Me in The Morning: How Twitter, Facebook, and Other Social Media Are Reshaping Health Care.” Health Affairs, 28.2 (2009): 361-368.
Mackay, Wayne. “Law as an Ally or Enemy in the War on Cyberbullying: Exploring the Contested Terrain of Privacy and Other Legal Concepts in the Age of Technology and Social Media.” University of New Brunswick Law Journal, 3 (2015): 66-81.
Shirky, Clay. “The Political Power of Social Media.” Foreign Affairs, 3.1 (2011): 1-10.