Social Networking

Facebook is an addiction like an alcohol, tobacco product.The fact is in era of social networking we are mad and we just see the good effects of Social networking.It’s not that I belong to a rural area, I am an urban girl, I have been using Facebook from nearly five years. Few days back I was reading an article in The Hindu that metropolitan teenagers are getting bored from Social media sites. I totally agree with that article. In my research I will tell you more about the research I did about the social networking.

What the hell is social network??

According to resources from Wikipedia, “A Social network is a theoretical construct useful in the social sciences study relationships between individuals, groups, organization, or even entire societies. Scholars in these and other areas have used the idea of "social network" loosely for almost a century to connote complex sets of relationships between members of social units across all scales of analysis, from the local to the global as well as the scale-free.

Advantages of social networking

Low costs:
It is free to use social networking sites for personal and business use which is underestimated by many online business owners. Using social networking strategies for marketing a product or service online is very effective because you can scout out target markets and potential customers with just a few clicks.

But is it actually low cost??

I'll tell you the truth for a monthly internet connection it takes 1000 Indian rupees plus 3000 Indian rupee electricity bill because you are a Social media Alcoholic plus when you go out you need to check all your messages and updates you'll check it with you cell phone so say about 500 Indian Rupee on that, you know in India surfing internet from mobile phone is way costlier. Hence round about 4500 Indian Rupee or 100 US Dollar. Is it really that cheap in a country like India??

Builds credibility:
You can build trust with customers if you can connect with them on both personal and professional level. Using social networking site is all about sharing information, not only your own information but other people´s information that you think can be useful for others as well. The more your customers know about you, the better.

Despite having to do a bit of work, it definitely pays off as you can be tapped for an offer if someone catches wind of your products or services. As long as you don’t pursue them too aggressively, you will do well here.

I actually laughed when i read this advantage. People not every day, not every hour, every second are breaking trust of the customers via social networking site. After the interest of the seller is fulfilled and it comes to after sales service the seller will either delete you from his account or he'll become invisible from the social media. It sounds less ridiculous as it is. Creating a mesh of words, convincing a person to buy your product is way easy than convincing in reality. It is because you don't get to see a person every day and every time around you but on social media you are always "THERE". You can't escape.

Connections and “new friends”
You have friends, people you know have friends, and so on. This is a common situation that has potential. With the help of a social networking site, you can get in contact with these people if you play your cards right. You must give to receive; it is true in this case as well. You can get a lot of new contacts quickly. Just look how big Facebook and Twitter is right now, more and more people are joining social networking sites every day.

New  friends or fake friends? Survey reveals that most of the friendship done online is fake and it lasts for very short interval of time. It starts with a friend request. People send request on the basis of how the profile picture looks like then the friend request is approved on the same basis, the profile picture. Then the late night chatting happens, all the sharing of likes and dislikes, a whole interview session in one night. After that there comes "Are You Single?"It is obvious that you'll say you are single because that person is not going to check on your works. The stage one of Fake friend is cleared. And the stages go on and on. Readers or I should say a pure Social Media addict would be smiling by this story but hold on I’ll not discuss all the stages in detail.

Building a strong brand:
Another huge advantage of social networking is that you can relatively quickly build a brand for your business, this is good news for people who are marketing online or thinking about a cheap and effective marketing strategy. Your marketing message will spread all around the web in a short time virtually for free.

It is good for a business man point of view. Wait but what does it matters to a common person on Facebook or twitter. Seriously this is a useless advantage for a school going girl or a boy. Marketing Guys in my definition book are the ones who can sell a comb to a baldy I know this because I am too a marketing person.

Easy to stay in touch:
A few years ago it was only possible to keep in touch with family, friends and colleagues by phone, text messages or email. Nowadays you can update your profile on Facebook and everyone knows what you are doing. Simple and quick!

It is not atoll staying in touch its more immensely keeping track of your every activity. Touch is a word which means gentle and firm touch not poking you friend’s life, each and every time you get online. 

What is your competition up to:
From a marketing perspective, one of the biggest advantages of social networking is that you can “spy” on your competition. All you need to do is follow them on the biggest social sites and you will have a good picture of what they are doing. This makes it easier for you to come up with a market plan and find your own niche.

Why, you ask? I had to choose a new cover photo you see! I had to find an appropriate picture with the perfect dimensions – something that made me look cool without making it seem that I tried too hard. With so many conditions to fulfill, panic was an obvious reaction.

So you think I’m overdramatizing things?

Good morning Facebook!

Don’t tell me you don’t start your day with Facebook. That you don’t log in at wee hours to check what your friends have been up to. Or that you don’t spy around your ex’s profiles to see whether they’ve been poking random people.

What is the first thing you do once you get up? Brush? Pick up the newspaper? Get a cup of chai? Head to the loo? Or do you, like me, head straight to your laptop? Before I have even finished rubbing the sleep away from my eyes, I’m on my wall, wondering what all happened in my friends’ lives while I slept.

On most days, there are no new friend requests, no new messages and no new notifications. Disappointment hits me when I realize that none of my 500+ friends missed me (at least on Facebook) for eight whole hours!!

It’s just a FAD

I then spend a good half an hour surfing through my news feed, checking out random pictures and statuses people put up.  I login again from my phone and then from work and then again when I’m home! Sound familiar? I’m not surprised. FAD or Facebook Addiction Disorder has just started to gain momentum as the newest disorder to hit the town!

If you are still not convinced, check your browser. Do you have Facebook open on multiple tabs? Do you keep hitting refresh to update your newsfeed? Do 8 out of 10 of your friends seem unknown to you? Do you keep checking your status update and get disappointed if no one “likes” it or comments on it? You my friend, may be afflicted with FAD!

Don’t worry, there’s help at hand! If you think things are spiraling out of control, just add a cute and simple reminder, like a cross on the back side of your hand. Every time you reach for your laptop, you’ll be reminded why you put it there. Trust me; it acts more as a deterrent than as a reminder. Just decreasing the frequency with which you check Facebook helps too. Every minute you spend away from your computer and Facebook helps you overcome FAD!

All addicts are not born equal

To make it easier, I’ve listed out some common types of Facebook addicts. Take a look and see if you can spot yourself!

The lurkers: These are the ones who see everything, read everything but leave no sign that they were ever online. No comments, no shares, heck, these people don’t even hit the like button!

The likers: Speaking of the like button, there are those who seem to hit the like button for everything they see. At their worst, they may end up liking their own status messages!

The attention seekers: These people are always active on Facebook. These people upload pictures, put up status messages with an alarming regularity and usually have more than 1000+ friends.

The gamers: These are the people who flood your newsfeed with random requests from Farmville, Poker, Castleville, Mafia wars and the likes. They may even invite you to be their neighbors or join their gang!

Are you one of them?

Experts say the first step to solving a problem is admitting to it. So if you did find yourself in the list above, take a deep breath and repeat after me, I’m (your name) and I’m a Facebook addict.

Now go to your wall and do a status update about it. I know you’re dying to.

The war between the advantages and disadvantages of Social networking is endless.

 Stay tuned for more blog posts. Please share if you like. :)