MODULE-1

Introduction to social media?

Technology has become less about connecting computers and more about connecting people. A major reason
for this evolution is that the use of social media has exploded in the last few years, making it easier for
individuals and businesses to contact others and get their messages across to large audiences.

According to a July 2012 study by the Mc Kinsey Global Institute, there are 1.5 billion People using social
networking throughout the world, with 80%of them interacting regularly with other social media users. Its
popularity and the drive to reach customers has led to 70% of companies using social media. Social
technology has become a way of life in how we socialize and do business.

However, while social media is a powerful tool for interacting with others, many people and organizations
have jumped into using it without considering the risks. The threats you face can affect your safety, job, and
business.

Understanding Social Media?

When you think of social media, you probably think of sites like Face book, Twitter, and LinkedIn. After all,
it’s common to go to a company’s site and see graphic links that take you to the company’s presence on
these other sites. In making this connection, you’re not wrong.

The same way that you associate traditional media with newspapers, TV stations, and other methods of
publishing professional content, you can understand social media by looking at how information is being
communicated. Social media is defined by how it’s used and the technology that supports its features.
Social media takes traditional forms of media to a whole new level. It is different from a news article or bill
board that has information professionally created, polished, vetted through people who check and sign off on
the content, and sent out as a one-way message to an audience.

One of the major features of social media is of course its social aspect. Traditional media tells a person what
the message is and doesn’t interact with the consumer. By looking at these functions and features, we can see
that social media is a term that describes various technologies being use to engage people in collaboration,
the exchange of information, and interactivity with Web-based content

Different Types and Classification of Social Media?

As soon as you begin looking at social media, you quickly realize there are significant differences in the
purpose and functionality of different sites. In a 2010 article published in Business Horizons, Andreas
Kaplan and Michael Heinlein created a classification scheme for different types of social media.
1. Collaborative projects
2. Blogs
3. Content communities
4. Social networking sites
5. Virtual game worlds
6. Virtual social worlds
 Collaboration:
Collaboration sites allow multiple users to generate content and contribute to a final product, making
the content produce a community or group effort. The most popular example of this would be wiki’s, which
are Web sites that allow individual users to add and edit content. The collaboration project classification also
includes social bookmarking sites, such as reedit ([Link]) and Delicious ([Link]).
Blogs:
Blogs allow a person or group to post content on a Web page as a series of submissions. What a person
writes about on a blog is only limited by their imagination, but it works similar to a diary or log. Each entry
is stamped with the date and time and is displayed in reverse chronological order while blogs are Web pages;
a variant is a micro blog, which allows people to post short. Messages that can be read by others. The most
popular example of this is Twitter ([Link]
Content communities:
Content communities are sites that allow users to share multimedia content. These communities include
sites like YouTube ([Link]), Daily Motion (www .[Link]), Imgur ([Link]
Tumbler ([Link]), and Flicker ([Link]). People will upload images, video, music, or
other content and provide a description, which other users can then search for and view. A common feature
of these sites allows for comments to be added to a page displaying the content and to share links to the
multimedia on other social media sites like Twitter and Face book. Businesses can benefit from content
communities by sharing multimedia that promotes their products or brand, or to exchange information with
customers or interested parties.
Social networking sites:
Social networking sites enable people to connect or network with one another through the use of profile
pages. Profile pages allow you to provide a summary of yourself or business, photos, contact information,
interests, or other facts that define who you are. On these pages, you may post additional content such as
video, audio files, or links to other content. There are a number of different social networking sites on the
Internet. The most popular social networking site is Face book ([Link]), which boasts 1.06
billion active users monthly, but it is by far not the only one.
Virtual worlds:
A more media-rich form of social media are virtual worlds. In these worlds , a user can interact with others
using an avatar, which is an animated character that he or she controls. In a virtual game world, a person
performs specific missions, quests, or tasks but can also communicate and work with others to achieve goals.
Virtual social worlds are somewhat different from the games, as they are more social in the purpose of
allowing a person to connect with others through their avatars as if it were the real world

The Value of Social Media?

We've discussed some of the benefits that different types of social media can bring to you personally and
as an organization. However, the value you find in using social media is dependent on how it’s used. The
choices you make will affect whether you find social media beneficial or detrimental to your personal or
corporate presence
While it’s common for people and businesses to use social media, they are not necessarily using it the
same way. There are many different sites to choose from, with the most popular ones embraced by small and
large companies alike.
 A 2013 study of Fortune 500 companies by University of Massachusetts Dartmouth found increased
usage of social media by big business. The study found that 73% of the 2012 Fortune 500 primary companies
have corporate Twitter accounts, 66% (332) havecorporateFacebookpages,and62%(309) are using YouTube.

Value can be found in the potential: While a primary feature of social media is the user-centric ability to
publish your own content, the goal is community orientated in having people pay attention to what you have
to say. Is there a potential audience? The answer is most definitely yes. Social media has the potential to
reach a large segment of the online population and members of every age group.
Mobile social media: In developing social media strategies, it’s important to recognize how social media
will be accessed. Mobile phones, tablets, and other devices are commonly used to connect to social media
channels.
According to Pew Internet & American Life Project, 40% of people with mobile phones access
socialnetworkingsitesontheirphonesand28%doso every day. Furthermore, Cisco reports that people are using
mobile devices at a continually increased rate.

Unfortunately, mobile users can also be a source of problems for organizations. Usage of mobile devices
within an organization should always be a security concern.

It doesn’t stop a person from visiting Face book, Twitter, or other sites through his or her personal
mobile phone or tablet. This means that there is the inherent security risk that they could leak information,
upload data, or breach security in some other way by using the mobile device at work
Cutting Edge versus Bleeding Edge?
The attitude of decision makers can have a significant impact on how an organization uses technology
and addresses security. On one extreme, social media may be treated as a cutting edge approach to
publishing information and communicating with people.

In such a case, they may dive in to using it without fore thought or proper risk assessment. On the other
end of the spectrum, it may be treated as bleeding edge technology that is largely untried, untested, and/or
poses a substantial threat.

In any project, you need to have decision makers and members of the team implementing the project to
become evangelists for it. If they don’t believe in it, then others won’t. However, a balanced approach is
needed.
Dealing with the “is it a fad?” Question:
Being that the term “social media” has become a house hold word for anyone with an Internet
connection, you might think that people would assume it is here to stay. However, a survey by Harvard
Business Review Analytics Services found that 11% of the companies felt that social media for business
purposes was a passing fad. This should not be unexpected. Anytime there is a new way of doing business, it
takes time to get everyone on board.

Having a successful social media strategy requires getting everyone on board. It requires creating a solid
communication plan that will address the concerns of others and will answer the questions they have. By
showing that social media is a proven method of business that’s being used by others, you can answer the
question of whether it’s a fad and worth pursuing.
The Problem that comes with Social Media?
While there are many benefits to using social media in an organization, it follows that there are
numerous risks to using the technology to share information. All too often, people and companies will use
social media without making proper decisions on security, what type of social media to use for a specific
purpose, or how to use existing sites and tools.
A major issue related to wikis is that information posted on a wiki may not necessarily be true, and that
many people reading these mistakes, hoaxes, or outright lies will accept it as the truth

In June 2005, the Los Angeles Times decided to try something new on their public Web site and created a
wiki that featured an editorial called “War and Consequences.” Calling it a wikitorial, the newspaper invited
people to contribute and edit this opinion piece. It didn’t take long before things got out of hand, and it soon
became filled with pornography and profanity. After a few days of trying to maintain this experiment in
opinion journalism, the Los Angeles Times ultimately gave up and took it down

Is Security Really an Issue?

When looking at the problems that can occur when using social media, it should come as no surprise that
security is an issue. Many people using social networking sites, blogs, and other social media may have
already exposed themselves to risk without even realizing it. As it is being used at greater levels by
organizations and individuals, the exposure to these risks has also grown.
Some of the security issues that you should be aware of and which will be discussed in future chapters
include:
● Having your network or devices exposed to malicious code
● Employees falling prey to social engineering tactics or scams
● Having sites or accounts hijacked or vandalized
● Having sensitive, embarrassing, or false information communicated to the public
● Making yourself vulnerable to criminal acts
● Having information that was for internal use made available to competitors
● Having content on Internet servers that may be accessible to others, as opposed to your own
internal network servers
● Providing too much personal information on blogs and social networking sites
● Liability issues related to searching for employees on the Internet
● Infringements of existing legislation or regulations

Taking good with the Bad?

Using social media can be incredibly easy, but it doesn’t come without its share of problems. That’s just
the way it is with most things worth pursuing in life. You need to take the good with the bad. Millions of
people go on social media sites everyday for work and fun. Their actions have moved beyond being what
could be considered a hobby and become a normal part of their day-to-day lives. Using social media, they
can share photos and video, read news, be part of events, play games, look for jobs, discover new things, find
old and new friends, and many other activities.
 Social media has become a platform on which people’s personal and professional lives are built.
Unfortunately, many people use it blindly, unaware that they’re putting themselves at risk with the
information they reveal, the sites they visit, the items they download, and the links they click.

Many organizations have seen the vast, untapped potential of social media and invested an increasing
percentage of their resources into making it work for them. It provides new ways of advertising, making
sales, building partnerships, and reaching customers.