The Impact of Social Media on Today S Business Environment

Social Media and the Modern Business Environment

The modern society has witnessed a phenomenon of ongoing and rapid growth in enhanced communication and interaction between people, especially through the Internet. Actually, the Internet has become the means for collaboration and resulted in the emergence of the social media concept and networking. The Internet has been characterized by the emergence of numerous social media networks that are increasingly used as the means of communication and collaboration between people in the modern society. As a result of the impact of social media in today's society, the new paradigm is influencing the modern business environment. Given its impact on modern communications, social media has largely businesses as companies are increasingly using social media accounts for business. However, these social media accounts have generated privacy and security concerns, which results in the need to secure them.

The Growth of Social Media

In today's society, the Internet has become a major phenomenon given its influence in communications and collaboration through social media. The Internet has primarily created a virtual world, which has become crucial to ensuring stability of the modern society. Actually, without the existence of the virtual world created by the Internet, it would be relatively difficult to understand and ensure the society's stability. As a result of the emergence of the Internet, the modern society is currently in the information age (Svatosova, n.d.). The impact of the Internet in today's society is attributed to the fact that it provides the likelihood of autonomous decision-making as well as the ability of selection and targeting. Moreover, the Internet is not simply a passive channel but enhances the likelihood of mutual feedback and communication.

The modern society is currently experiencing a phenomenon for continual and rapid growth in the use of the Internet for collaboration and communication between people (Georgescu & Popescul, 2015, p.277). Consequently, the use of the Internet for communications and collaboration has contributed to the emergence of the social media concept. Social media can be described as practices, activities, and behaviors in communities that gather to share knowledge, information, and views through the use of conversational environments like the Internet. The social media concept is strongly linked to the use of the Internet, which represents a collection of technological platforms that promote interactions between users through developing and sharing information and various online materials. Actually, the Internet provides an infrastructure or technological basis that makes the possibility of social media concept.

There are several kinds of social media platforms that have evolved in the recent past including blogs and microblogs, socializing networks, collaborative projects, virtual communities, and virtual games. These platforms have evolved in the recent past as the number of users continues to increase annually. According to the findings of a recent study by Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, approximately two-thirds of American adult Internet users used social networking sites by December 2012 (McIntyre, 2014, p.6). Based on these statistics, some scholars consider the rise of the Internet as a transformative factor in the history of mass communication since the Internet has changed the way people communicate and interact.

Social media can also be described as a means of computer-mediated communications that is characterized by social networking sites. These web-based sites provide services that enable people to develop a public profile within a bordered system, incorporate a list of other users they have something in common, and view and navigate connections by others within the bounded system. The evolution of social media can be explained on the premise that these new web-based socializing sites have replaced older or conventional media to a greater extent and at a rapid rate. For instance, people no longer rely on older or conventional media to obtain information but access information through social networks. Therefore, social media not only supplements but also seemingly replaces conventional media with regards to acting as a source of information to the public.

Social Media in Business Today

Social media, particularly through social networking sites, has changed the contemporary business landscape given its impact on communication and collaboration between people in today's society. Companies are increasingly adopting social media or social networking sites for their business practices and operations. The impact of social media on the business landscape is evident in the fact that businesses are increasingly using these sites to share content or information with a large audience. This is primarily because social media focuses on content and promote conversations between groups and people with common interests.

In the modern global business environment, social media's role has enhanced significantly. The conventional view in the conventional business environment was relatively stable since most of the corporate organizations functioned in a standardized environment. On the contrary, the modern business scenario has experienced and anticipated numerous changes that are brought by various factors. The biggest change in the modern business environment has been brought by globalization, which has forced companies to make considerable changes to organizational structure and long-term initiatives (Abuhashesh, 2014, p.202).

Apart from contributing to changes in organizational structure and long-term strategies, globalization created the need for enhanced communication. Globalization contributed to the need for companies or businesses to operate in an environment where they generate the ability to satisfy consumer needs in markets with diverse socio-cultural background rather than operating in a homogenous business environment. Businesses in the modern environment need an improved level of communication with consumers in the global market in order to gain competitive advantages and generate more revenues. This need has in turn made social networking sites important components of the modern business environment. These web-based communication mediums are important in the creation of the business entities on the global platform. In light of the current factors in the modern business environment, companies need an interactive and flawless communication channel to enable them contact customers from different parts of world. As a result, the integration of social media in today's business is increasingly important since it helps ensure businesses meet the demands of the current business environment with regards to communication with customers and effectively responds to emerging trends (Abuhashesh, 2014, p.202).

Impact of Social Media on Business Today

As evident in the previous discussion, the integration of social media is one of the most significant factors in the modern business environment. The significance of this factor is largely attributed to the effect of social media on business today. The increased use of social media or social networking sites by companies has not only changed the business landscape but also had significant effects on business practices and operations. Generally, contemporary business environment is rapidly changing with advancements in information technology. As a result of these advances such as the evolution of social media, conventional recognized best strategies and practices have become inadequate for today's market. The inadequacy of best practices and strategies in the current business environment is largely attributed to the impact of social media and technological developments on business today. Some of the major impacts of social media and social networking sites on business today include

Changes in the Nature of Global Consumer Market

As previously mentioned, the conventional business operations was highly stable in nature since most of the corporate organizations operated in homogenous environment. The current business environment and sector has experienced tremendous changes due to a variety of factors such as globalization. The emergence of globalization has forced business organizations to focus on the global or international market. Together with globalization, social media has contributed to changes in the nature of global consumer market.

Social media has changed the nature of the global consumer market by contributing to an environment where consumers express their ever-changing demands and generate new market trends. This has in turn created a business environment where companies have to ensure they build capacity to meet these demands and effectively respond to emerging trends in the market. A company obtains competitive advantage over its rivals through enhancing its ability to meet these demands and react to new trends effectively.

Social media has also transformed the nature of the global consumer market by enabling consumers to have enhanced overall sensitivity to the global business environment. Moreover, consumers in today's business environment have improved their awareness of consumption behavior as a result of increased use of social media. Through social media, consumers have gained access to several corporate entities that compete in the market to attract their attention and interests (Abuhashesh, 2014, p.203). Consequently, consumers have the capability to choose their preferred business entity that provides them with the highest level of customization and satisfaction. A company can enhance its market share in the global business environment through customizing relevant business products and services according to needs in the market.

The global consumer market has become hyper-competitive because the society is currently in the information age where it is characterized by increased use of social media in communication and business practices. The hyper-competitive nature of today's business environment has made customers to have a wider view of competitive offers and become more selective and demanding as compared to the past where business operated in a standardized market or environment.

Changes in Core Business Functions

The second impact of social media on business today is that it has generated numerous changes in the core business functions. Core business functions like customer service, marketing, public relations development, and advertising have become increasingly dependent on integration of social media into the business organization. These core business functions have changed because companies in today's business environment face the need to enhance their capabilities in meeting the ever-changing consumer needs and adequately respond to new trends in the global market.

The emergence of the digital economy due to rapid technological advancements in the recent past has forced companies to clearly define their image and focus on identification of new business opportunities in the global market they operate in (Svatosova, n.d.). This in turn changes the core business functions as businesses are forced to understand and master new skills in order to survive in today's business. Since social media has transformed core business functions, companies are also faced with the need to rethink and change their business strategies for survival and competitive advantage. Actually, business managers are increasingly faced with the need to identify new means for maintaining long-term competitiveness through changing their core business functions.

Role of Marketing

Due to increased use of social media, business organizations have been forced to rethink the role of marketing in their marketing strategies. Through this trend, marketing has come to the forefront in today's business as reflected in the fact that marketing costs currently accounts for nearly 50% of an organization's total operational costs (Svatosova, n.d.). Social media has contributed to the emergence of a business environment where customers are no longer the object of marketing communication but are regarded as the subject of these communications. This is primarily because customers help shape products and brands as well as influence the technique of marketing communications.

Social media forced business managers to rethink the role of marketing in their strategies because it has enabled customers to become increasingly demanding. As a result, the essence of marketing is increasingly difficult to define and understand since it consists of satisfaction of customers' needs and desires. Actually, business organizations have adopted various approaches towards continuously enhancing and changing marketing activities in nearly every business sector with the aim of enhancing the likelihood of success in the market.

The contemporary approach to marketing has also witnessed the enhanced significance and position of marketing communication on the Internet. Companies are increasingly adopting strategies to carry out marketing communications on the Internet, particularly through social media since it affects consumers' lifestyles and behaviors. This trend also contributes to numerous changes on the existing rules and policies of business in the current environment. Internet marketing, especially across social media platforms, is gaining considerable attention and significance to an extent that it is slowly overtaking conventional mass marketing with regards to effectiveness.

Enhanced Marketing Benefits

Apart from changing the role of marketing, social media has affected business today by contributing to enhanced marketing benefits. Since social networking sites results in mass dissemination of information, they enable companies to easily communicate and discuss with their existing and potential customers regarding various products and/or services. The increased interactions between businesses and customers provide added value as compared to conventional marketing platforms and techniques.

The other marketing benefit generated from the use of social media in today's business is that social networking sites have the advantage of accurate targeting options unlike traditional marketing platforms and techniques. Despite privacy and security concerns, users of social networking sites provide information regarding their specific demographics, which is in turn used by marketers to target their promotional activities. In this case, marketers display relevant advertisements to these users based on their information or demographics. This helps in attracting user's attention, which is an added marketing advantage brought by social media. Therefore, social media provides numerous advantages for marketers who capitalize on them to enhance the effectiveness of their marketing strategies and practices.

Shift in the Balance of Power

In light of emerging trends in today's global business environment, social media has had significant effects on the balance of power. As companies increasingly use social media accounts for business practices, these Internet-based sites have contributed to shift in the balance of power as majority of power has not moved from business organizations to end consumers (Abuhashesh, 2014, p.203). The shift in balance of power in the modern business environment is reflected in the fact that customers have become the subject of marketing communications rather than the object of these communications like in the past. Social media has generated a platform where customers have the power to influence products and brand as well as the methods of marketing communication or promotional activity. Customers influence these processes through increased interactivity with business organizations across various social media platforms. Moreover, the voice of customers through social networking sites can have significant effect on the operations of a business.

As consumers have obtained more power in the today's business world because of the increased use of social media, business organizations have been forced to critically examine trends in the global consumer market and change their strategies in order meet consumer needs. Therefore, the determination of organizational operations and activities is no longer exclusively in the hands of the organization themselves but largely influenced by the ever-changing consumer needs and demands.

Increased Competition

Social media has generated increased competition between small and large businesses in today's business environment. Actually, social media platforms have presented small companies or business with strategic opportunities to compete with their larger counterparts. This strategic opportunity emerges from the fact that social media provides small businesses with necessary tools for effective advertisement at very cost effective means. Since advertising in social media platforms require very little investment in relevant technology, small businesses can effectively compete with large multinational corporate organizations. Moreover, small businesses can interact with the global consumer market using a low-cost strategy thanks to social media platforms (Abuhashesh, 2014, p.204). The increased interactivity generates significant advantages, which enables them to compete effectively with large organizations.

Enhancement of Informational Business Capital

Social media has enhanced information business capital in the global business environment through spreading information about a business easily. The improved informational business capital also emanates from the ability of social media to spread information about a business organization through obtaining valuable information regarding suppliers, employees, and customers. Social media platforms act as valuable source of information about a particular business for customers without making companies to make significant investments for publicity. The enhanced informational business capital is a major success factors in today's business environment where modern economy no longer relies on natural resources. Actually, the modern economy is increasingly becoming dependent on intellectual resources through which informational capital is important as financial capital while business targets are reached.

As compared to conventional measures and standards, social media enables a better assessment of a business organization's capabilities in relation to generating profits. Since the current economy is knowledge-based, intellectual capital, which is enhanced through the use of social media in business practices, is a crucial factor for business success. Consequently, social media enables business entities to enhance informational business capital, which enhances success in the market and industry.

Social and Ethical Issues

Despite its positive impacts on the global business environment, social media has serious social and ethical issues that sometimes affect the ability of a company to function effectively in today's business. Through the Internet-based communication platforms, social media enables and permits the proliferation of piracy, identify theft, and hacker attacks, which generates significant privacy and security concerns to many businesses (Georgescu & Popescul, 2015, p.281). Since these social networking sites can be accessed by anyone in any location across the globe, there is increased risk of false identities and loss of important information that poses serious security risks. The lack of effective techniques to prevent identity theft, hacker attacks, and piracy implies that companies using social media accounts are increasingly vulnerable to practices that could generate significant privacy and concerns. In cases where companies become victims of these practices such as loss of important customer information, the practice usually damages the organization's reputation and raises considerable negative impacts on its productivity and success in the market. This implies that social and ethical issues emanating from the use of social media in business today can easily create privacy and security concerns, which damage a company's reputation and results in decreased productivity and revenues.

Concerns with Companies Having Social Media Accounts

As reflected in the previous analysis, the impact of social media on business today is largely positive given the numerous advantages associated with increased use of social networking sites in today's business practices and operations. However, the use of social media in business is not all rosy because of the negative impacts associated with social networking sites. Companies that use social media accounts for business practices like marketing are faced with serious privacy and security concerns. These concerns largely emerge from the ease of access to information and the vulnerability of online accounts to hacker attacks and activities that could result in loss of important consumer information.

While opting out of social media is not longer a feasible option and idea for many businesses, the increased privacy and security concerns damage the consideration of social media as a viable and effective tool for business practices. Actually, many companies understand that social media has serious risks despite the numerous advantages and values it brings to business practices and overall productivity. If social media is not properly used, the communication from the use of social media accounts can eventually hurt the brand, generate serious problems with industry regulators, and estrange customers or probable employees.

Security Concerns

The use of social media in business today has been accompanied by numerous security threats, which continue to grow and could likely affect a business' operations and productivity if measures to overcome them are not established. One of the major security concerns relating to use of social media in business today is social scams. Social scams can be defined as attackers who present a post that users need to click on a link that leads to downloading malicious codes with the capability of stealing information from the user's device (Delgado, 2014). Since ascertaining the safety of every link on social media is relatively difficult, companies with social media accounts are increasingly vulnerable to social scams who can steal valuable company information.

The second security concern for companies with social media accounts is malicious applications or software, which can comprise the organization's information technology security. This is a major security concern relating to the use of social media since hidden malware can easily be downloaded into the user's device and reveal his/her private information or company data. In some cases, these applications or software destroy sensitive information, infect the company's network or transmit that information to a third-party.

Third, companies with social media accounts are more vulnerable to social network shortfalls given the likelihood of security lapses on leading social networking sites. While several security measures have been undertaken to promote the security of major social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, these online platforms are not completely free from security lapses and threats. Hackers can still obtain access to these major social networking sites and steal valuable information from a company's social media account. Therefore, companies with these accounts should not assume that social media accounts are as secure as on-site storage systems or systems provided by cloud computing vendors.

Privacy Concerns

In addition to security concerns, companies with social media accounts also face the risks or concerns of privacy. Companies are increasingly vulnerable to losing important customer and company information because of the security threats associated with using social media in business operations and practices. Since many companies use social media for marketing their products and/or services to potential customers, these accounts sometime contain important information regarding customers and the company. The lack of a fool-proof measure to ensure the security of social networking sites implies that companies with social media accounts are likely to lose important data in case of any attack.

One of the major privacy concerns for companies with social media accounts is the possibility of transfer of sensitive information to a third party. This is likely to occur in case of a hacker attack, social scam or downloading malicious software to the company's devices through clicking a link on social media. As previously mentioned, these practices can result in the transfer of sensitive company information to a third-party who may use it in ways that damage the firm's reputation, competitive advantage, and profitability.

Secondly, companies face the risk of theft of sensitive customer data through their social media accounts. This concern is attributed to the fact that social media accounts are largely used by companies to interact with customers and market products and services. During this process, companies collect relevant information regarding the customer and use this information to target advertisements. Without proper management of social media accounts, companies face the likelihood of theft of consumer information, which could have devastating impacts on its operations and generate problems with industry regulators.