Social networking is used in many different settings. People use it to stay connected with loved ones, voice their opinion, or just organizing their thoughts. However, in the corporate setting social networking seems to be very helpful. According to Dave Klonke, he uses Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin for different ways of communicating with the community. Instagram is used to post pictures of the products that are being sold and is good for a more organic growth in consumers. Facebook is used to tell the story of the company and communicating with the consumers. Lastly, Linkedin is used to generate leads for new employees (Lavenduski). Through this example, social networking is now a key factor in companies all around the world.
Now, of course, there are some benefits to social networking and some downsides. One benefit is that people can easily stay connected with one another and allows there to be a constant connectivity between people (Stout). They never have to be that far from the action of life. Companies can also create relationships with customer (Lavenduski). A perfect example of this was when I was looking for a place to apple picking this year. I messaged each place that I was interested in to see what they had to offer. It was a quick easy connection and I preferred the places where I was able to have an ongoing conversation with an actual person. However, there are definitely some downsides to social media. People become more withdrawn and skittish when it comes to face-to-face interactions since most interactions are now done online (Stout). Another is that websites, such as JuicyCampus, are created and encourage anonymous updates and discussions on people (Young). This easily leads to cyberbullying and creating an unsafe atmosphere for students.
With all these technologies being developed I do believe that technology will lead us into more secluded lifestyles with very minimal human interaction. You can see this happening at establishments like McDonalds, where certain locations have a kiosk machine where people can order their food without the help of another human being. Also with apps like Uber Eats where a person can order food online and wait for their food to be delivered with almost no human interactions.
Works Cited
Lavenduski, Sara. “How to Build a Community on Social Media.” Advertising Specialty Institute,
26 Sept. 2018, www.asicentral.com/news/how-to/september-2018/
how-to-build-a-community-on-social-media.
Stout, Hilary. “Antisocial Networking?” New York Times, April 30, 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/
05/02/fashion/02BEST.html.
Young, Jeffrey R. “They’re Back, and They’re Bad: Campus-Gossip Websites.” The Chronicle of
Higher Education, August 31, 2009, www.chronicle.com/article/theyre-backtheyre-bad-/48220.
Hi Ellie, I do fear that technology is going to diminish human interactions as well. That is why I still favor meeting with people and writing hand written notes. It's just the novelty of these things that helps enforce social interactions.
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