Submitted by: Submitted by zaara
Views: 546
Words: 1894
Pages: 8
Category: Business and Industry
Date Submitted: 08/11/2012 01:59 PM
1. Introduction:
“Technology and technological systems are integral to everything we do and can do”. This statement, made by Pearson and Young, (2002) demonstrates the profound impact and importance technology has in contemporary society. In today’s day and age, social networking has become such a vital communicating instrument in people’s lives that companies have realised its importance and have had to adapt with the times in order to cater to their customer’s growing demands and needs. Marketing, through the use of social media, has become one of the most important methods to target consumers. Not only do social media represent low-cost tools, but each of these networks combine technology with social interaction through the use of words. Social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube have become a part of the daily lives of both the young and the old. And, with the availability of smartphones, staying ‘connected’ has been taken to a whole new level. Statistics found by Facebook shows that at the end of 2011, it had an active base of 845 million monthly users. Of the 845 million, 80% of their monthly active users were from outside the United States of America and Canada. The fact that Facebook is available in more than 70 different languages made it a niche for them for their users to feel comfortable and to interact in their native language. Furthermore, the acceptance of social media has created opportunities for businesses to reach out to their customers directly, thereby creating electronic markets. In addition to the unique characteristic of its global reach, a lot of the companies use this technology not only because of its availability anywhere, anytime, but also because it increases the amount and quality of the information available to the consumers and the market. This makes one wonder if social media has become the necessary evil in order to keep them in touch with their customer base.
2....