ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Social Media and the Importance in Business

Updated on April 15, 2015
Source

An Introduction to Social Media

Our society lives in an exciting time where social media and connectivity are at an all time high. Services such as Twitch and Periscope allow users to stream content - whether it be their own talk shows, video games or public events. Through these apps, users are able to drive attention to their content and even use these platforms to earn income.

Services like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter propel creativity in photos and status updates. Combining the use of these apps and services can help spotlight a persons work and greatly improves the visibility of what they are doing. For anyone looking to promote their art, media or business... social media is quickly becoming more of a necessity and no longer just an option.

Social Media in Business

In terms of businesses, social media has become another way to compete for market share. With the correct use of these services by businesses... their consumers can also benefit and be rewarded. These rewards are often sales or discounts posted only on social media accounts. While these discounts are for the consumer, the business is also reaping success from more visits to their accounts, more followers on these accounts and an increase in the likelihood of having their name spread by word of mouth. From a business perspective it is best to look at social media as free and powerful marketing for the company.

While social media can help promote a business - these sites and apps can also help someone find a career. LinkedIn is used as a site for people to upload their qualifications, resume, work experience and other items that pertain to job searches. Essentially the site handles like Facebook as it is focused on the social networking aspect. It is a great tool that everyone should utilize because it can lead to great opportunities but it can also help those in your network make connections with companies through mutual acquaintances.

Source

Positives vs. Negatives

Social media and social networking sites have taken some negative heat in recent years. You will often hear the argument that these sites have led to a new generation of people always attached to their technology. These same people will often explain that face to face communication seems as though it is becoming more of a thing of the past while texting, posting and updating social media is how most interactions now happen - especially in younger generations.

There are also numerous reports that the use of these services often leads to an all new form of bullying. This bullying isn't limited to middle and high school, but often can take place in job settings and professional areas. However, I do believe... if used correctly, the positives of social media certainly outweigh the negatives.

Social Media is Here to Stay

In closing, it is easy to see the powerful benefits that social media can play in both the business world and how it can also be used to express a person's creative work. Social media is here to stay and will continue to grow and adapt, as technology continues to improve. I'm excited to see how the current sites will adapt but I'm even more thrilled to witness the creation of new innovative apps and how they will change what social media currently is.

What is your favorite social media site/app?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)