Social networks (Social Media) - What are they? characteristics, advantages, disadvantages

Social media

Organizations are made up of individuals that generate social connections.

What are social networks?

Social networks are organizations made up of diverse individuals who share information and generate social connections, since they are related by some common theme, such as preferences, interests, friendship, or even ideologies.

These individuals can be linked through digital platforms on the internet or any other means, depending on the particular objectives of the social network.

Characteristics of social networks

The main characteristics of social networks are the following:

• They can be presented on digital platforms or other types of mass media.
• They present common interests or tastes among the individuals that make them up.
• The individuals who are part of them may or may not know each other.
• They facilitate long-distance communication.
• They allow and facilitate the work of exchanging information between individuals.
• They are made up of virtual or physical communities.
• They are made up of 2 or more individuals.

Advantages and disadvantages of social networks

Advantages

Some advantages of social networks are the following:

• They improve remote communication since they do not require the physical presence of individuals.
• They can be used by companies to boost their image, due to the great impact they can achieve.
• Being digital, the reaction of individuals is instantaneous, which benefits advertising strategies.
• Due to their massive diffusion, they notoriously improve the commercialization of products.
• They allow acquiring knowledge of great value according to the particular interests.
• They facilitate work environments, becoming key to remote work.

Disadvantages

Some disadvantages of social networks can be the following:

• There is a risk of damaging the public image because the information shared can lead to unexpected reactions that may not be positive.
• They can generate addictions if they are not used appropriately and in a controlled manner.
• They are a source of dissemination of false information, due to the massive amount of information that exists without verification.
• There are risks of fraud since the information provided is not always true or there is not always a way to corroborate the facts.

examples of social networks

Some examples of popular social networks are:

• Reddit: social platform in which specific content of any kind is added, as a social forum.
• Facebook: a social platform that allows individuals to interact and share content.
• Youtube: a social platform in which videos generally created by the same community are shared.
• TikTok: a social platform that allows you to share and create videos between 00:30 to 03:00 minutes in length.
• Discord– A social platform that offers a cross-platform messaging service.

 

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