Disadvantages Of Using Social Media

Open Platform

Discuss about the Disadvantages of using Social Media.

Social media is being increasingly used in the business organizations and by the users from all across the globe. There are a number of social media platforms, such as, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram etc. that have been set up. These platforms are used by the users to remain in contact with each other. From the business point of view, these social media platforms are used for marketing and advertising activities along with interaction with the customers. The comments and interests shown by the customers on the social media posts is also used for the purpose of information analysis to understand the customer preferences and choices.

There are various benefits of social media platforms that are offered to the business organizations in terms of enhanced customer interaction, better marketing and advertising, increased collaboration and likewise (Modeus, 2013).

However, there are also many drawbacks and disadvantages that are associated with these social media platforms.

An organization bears a number of disadvantages as well with the use of social media platforms in the business functions and activities.

Some of these drawbacks and disadvantages are listed and described below.

The social media platforms that are available and have been set are open platforms which can be used by any users and organization. There is a lot of information that is posted by the business units on these social media platforms so that the information may reach out to maximum number of people.

Due to the open nature of the social platforms, there cannot be any restriction that may be imposed on the information being viewed by the users. It gets exposed to the rivals and competitors as well that may obtain the information shared and may use it to their advantage. This may lead to increased competition in the market (Reddy, 2017).

There are a number of departments and divisions that are created in a business organization. Some of the common divisions that are normally present in the organizations include accounts department, human resources department, sales and marketing department etc.

However, with the increased use and application of social media platforms and networking, it has become necessary to set up social media management team as well (Business, 2015).

There are various roles that are defined for the social media management team, such as, social media managers, social media analysts, social media executives and many more. The organizations need to look out for correct set of skills and knowledge to allocate these roles to the resources. There is also external hiring that is carried out in certain cases.

Social Media Management Team

The setting up of the social media management team involves the additional costs, such as, cost of recruitment and training, cost of resources and likewise.

With the use and application of social media platforms in the organization, there are a number of security and privacy risks that emerge.

The information that is posted on the social media platforms is accessible to one and all. There is a lot of information that is posted by the business organizations on the social media platforms, such as, details of the new product being launched by the company, reviews provided by the customers, details on the business partners and stakeholder, contact information etc. This information may be captured by the malevolent entities and the security threats around identity theft and impersonation may be given shape (Adweek, 2013). These malevolent entities may impersonate as the legitimate business unit and then they may trick the users to extract additional information which may be used inappropriately.

There are various hackers and malware attackers that are present in various parts of the world. These hackers often look out for the security vulnerabilities and access points that may be used to hack the organizational systems and information sets. With the use of social media platforms, the occurrence of hack jobs and activities has increased due to the increase in the number of access points (Trendmicro, 2014). There are also a number of malware codes that have been designed which are launched by making use of social media platform as the threat carrier. The customers and the other users that use social media platforms are often infected with such malware. The launch of adware, spyware and ransomware is a common practice in association with the social media platforms.

Due to the open nature of the social platforms, there cannot be any restriction that may be imposed on the information being viewed by the users. It gets exposed to the rivals and competitors as well that may obtain the information shared and may use it to their advantage. This may lead to increased competition in the market. The competitors may apply their own analytics and may be able to identify the marketing patterns and trends being used by the organization which comes under the category of confidential information.

There are customers and business executives that may post and share information on the social media accounts and may use location based services for the same. This would allow the hackers and monitors to capture the location details of the user. These details may then be used incorrectly to cause harm to the user. 

When a business organization sets up social media platforms, it is necessary to monitor and manage the same at a continuous pace. There is also a lot of information that needs to be posted and shared through these social media platforms.

It is often witnessed that the social media team often posts an incorrect or accidental post on their social media accounts. It is within seconds that such accidental posts may get viral and users from all over the globe may come to known about the same (Abrons, 2017).

Such accidental posts and their sharing to the public can have adverse impacts on the business organizations and their reputation in the market.

There are huge number of customers and users that have presence on the social media platforms. These customers have the access to the social media platforms that are set up by any organization along with the information that is posted on these platforms.

In association with the services and products that are provided to the customers by an organization, there may be certain section of customers that may like the offerings, while, there may also be a section of customers that may not like or appreciate the offerings (Webpagefx, 2017). The customers and users belonging to the second category may post some deteriorating and upsetting comments and feedback on a particular service or product. 

There may also be competitors that may do it purposely so that the new set of users and customers may read through these comments and may lose their interest to form any engagement with the organization.

Thus, the customer base of the organization may get adversely impacted due to the negative comments that may be posted by the users on these social media accounts.

The customers of the present times wish to get associated with the organizations that have social media presence. They do not like to get associated with the ones that have a weaker social media presence and activities.

This is due to the reason that social media platforms have made it easier to create a higher level of transparency between the customers and the organizations (Nibusinessinfo, 2017).

There are certain organizations that may not have a strong social media management team. In such cases, the response to the customer questions and queries may not be provided in a timely manner. This may lead to the deterioration of customer expectations and satisfaction from the services and offers provided by the organization to its customers.

Accidental Posts

Planning is one of the most important activities and properties that are associated with any of the tasks. It is necessary to make sure that adequate planning is carried out so that the success of any activity can be assured.

In case of the social media platforms and related activities, there is a need to make use of an appropriate strategy. There are business organizations that miss out on this step and like to go with the trend of adapting social media platforms in their architecture (Norton, 2011).

Due to the absence of an adequate strategy, there are cases of failure or negative occurrences that are witnessed. These occurrences are in the form of ineffective communication and monitoring of the social media platforms, inappropriate content being shared on the social media platforms and many more.

This leads to the execution and experience of many disadvantages in place of the benefits that are possible with the use of social media platforms.

There are various strategies and policies that shall be followed so that the benefits can be achieved from the social media platforms that are set up for the organizations and the drawbacks are avoided.

One of the initial steps shall be the use of adequate planning and decision making in terms of the analysis of the requirements of the organization to set up social media accounts. The assessment of the needs shall be done followed by the selection and shortlisting of the social media platforms that shall be used.

It shall then be followed by the identification and tagging of the resources to be used in the core team of social media management. The resources shall be identified and shall be provided with the information on the set of roles and responsibilities that they must carry out.  The details of the plan that these resources shall follow along with assessment of the risks shall also be performed.

The content management and creation team shall also be created so that they create an intelligent content that may have the ability to inform the latest offers and services being provided in order to expand the customer base and enhance the customer engagement. However, the content shall not reveal any confidential and private information to the customers and the competitors (Baruah, 2012).

The security risks and attacks shall be controlled by making use of adequate security controls and tools. There are various types of security controls that have been created that may be used by the organizations. These security controls include the use of information protection and privacy controls for the avoidance of social media attacks on security. There may be a number of malware attacks that may be launched by the hackers. There are anti-malware codes and tools that have been designed which shall also be used and installed by the organizations on their respective social media accounts so that the malware attacks can be avoided.

Negative Comments

The social media management team must also be informed about the organizational ethics and ethical practices that they must follow while posting and sharing the information on the social media accounts.

Conclusion

Technology has advanced and upgraded itself in the recent years. There are many changes to technology that have taken place and have been observed. The organizations need to make sure that they make use of latest technological tools and practices that are in trend. This will allow them to have a maximum customer base and increased revenues. Social media networking and marketing is one of the latest additions in the practices being used in the current times. There are a number of social media accounts that have been created that are used by the business organizations for a number of different services and operations.

There are various benefits that are provided to the organizations with the use of these social media platforms. However, there can also be a number of disadvantages that may be observed for the organization. Some of these drawbacks include accidental posts, security attacks, negative feedback and comments, use of information by the competitors, additional requirement of costs and resources and likewise. These drawbacks shall be managed by following an adequate strategy and plan for the management of the social media platforms and accounts. The selection of the resources in the social media management team shall also be in accordance with the needs and requirements of the organization.

References

Abrons, R. (2017). The Disadvantages of Using Social Networks as Marketing Tools. [online] Smallbusiness.chron.com. Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-using-social-networks-marketing-tools-20861.html [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Adweek (2013). 5 Threats To Your Security When Using Social Media. [online] Adweek.com. Available at: https://www.adweek.com/digital/5-social-media-threats/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Baruah, T. (2012). Effectiveness of Social Media as a tool of communication and its potential for technology enabled connections: A micro-level study. [online] Available at: https://www.ijsrp.org/research_paper_may2012/ijsrp-may-2012-24.pdf [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Business (2015). Pros and cons of using social media for business. [online] Business.gov.au. Available at: https://www.business.gov.au/info/run/advertising-and-online/pros-and-cons-of-social-media [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Modeus, G. (2013). Social media - Integrate it and perform better?. [online] Available at: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:632477/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Nibusinessinfo (2017). Advantages and disadvantages of using social media. [online] nibusinessinfo.co.uk. Available at: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/advantages-and-disadvantages-using-social-media [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Norton, C. (2011). Norton's Notes | The Seven deadly disadvantages of Social Media. [online] Chrisnorton.biz. Available at: https://chrisnorton.biz/social-media/the-seven-deadly-disadvantages-of-social-media/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Reddy, C. (2017). Top 20 Disadvantages of using Social Media for Job Search - WiseStep. [online] WiseStep. Available at: https://content.wisestep.com/top-disadvantages-of-using-social-media-for-job-search/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Trendmicro (2014). 9 Social Media Threats You Need To Be Aware of - Security News - Trend Micro USA. [online] Trendmicro.com. Available at: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/9-social-media-threats-you-need-to-be-aware-of [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Webpagefx (2017). The Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing. [online] Webpagefx.com. Available at: https://www.webpagefx.com/internet-marketing/social-media-marketing-advantages-and-disadvantages.html [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].