The popularity of social media has increased dramatically. It offers the easiest way to stay connected with family, friends, and contacts. On the other hand, for businessmen, it is a place where they can fire up their brand awareness, promote their products, services, and do paid advertisements. But, in this world, everything comes with bright and dark sides. And social media is not different. Whether you are a marketer or just a fan of social media, you must know the advantages and disadvantages of social media. So, let’s get started:
What are the 5 advantages of social media?
From easy to use and all-around convenience, the list of social media advantages is very long. For different people, the advantages of social media might be different.
In a short interview with Mayank Gupta, vice president of Udaan Infotech which is an SEO Company in Noida, we discussed the bright and dark sides of social media.
Free Services
Whether you need to share a photo of your last party or share a video of your talent or just say “hi” to your friends, do so with ease of mind. Most of the basic features and services are free except the advertisements and promotional activities. As long as you are using social media for your personal use then you don’t need to spend money. This is the biggest advantage of social media.
Provide global reach
Giant social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are available at the global level. Their global presence and acceptance enable the users to reach out to a large number of people across the world. And that too is possible in just a few simple taps on a smartphone. However, in order to draw the commercial benefits from social media, one might have to act strategically. The art of selling on social media is called SMO and SMM. To learn more about it check out our blog section.
Become Popular
Social media platforms have added wings to the talent and uniqueness of so many people. If you look around, you will find so many people who became popular overnight. Most interestingly, they got popularity unexpectedly. Whether you call it power or magic, social media can do wonders sometimes.
Build & Join Community
The next awesome benefit of social media is that one can find, create, or join the community of his choice. That’s to say that you can find people of the same interest. Most of you must have heard about the Facebook group and page. These are the best examples of a community where millions of people come together, talk, share, and support each other.
Business Benefits
Lastly but most importantly, you can drive leads, gain traffic to your website, do paid online branding, and generate revenue for your business. In addition to that, you can publish your ads on social media as well and get in touch with a large number of buyers directly. That’s how many big brands promote their product and service and reap the benefits.
What are the five disadvantages of social media?
If you think everything is fine with social media personally and professionally then think again. If you get close to the ground level, you will find a broad range of disadvantages of social media as well. So, if you are a great fan of social media or just doing business on it, you must find out the dark side of social media. Here we go:
Scam
Yes, sadly, social media platforms are not free and fully protected from online scams and cyber-attacks. Every now and then we hear so much news about the scam and frauds originating from social media platforms. That’s why most of the social media sites loudly and clearly mention the disclaimer page and appeal to users not to fall victim to any scam.
Defamation
The second biggest disadvantage of social media is the fact that it can seriously harm the reputation of anyone. As social media platforms are accessible and used at the global level, any small objectionable content in the form of an image or video can go viral in just a matter of a few minutes. Even if the news or information is false, it can spread like a wildfire.
Declining the Face-to-Face communication
Until the late nineteen, in the absence of social media platforms, people used to visit friends and relatives. The bond between the people was quite strong because they were in physical touch with each other. They would spend time walking, talking, and sitting together. But, now the bond among people is decreasing because they have become habitual to say just hi and hello on Facebook or Instagram, or Whatsapp. Thereby the level of proximity is weakening.
Developing Laziness
Today’s social media platforms are more than just a way to stay connected with people. In fact, it has become a way to spend time and entertainment. A large number of people have cultivated a habit of spending long hours watching videos, scrolling, and chatting with friends. All these long hours of time spent with online friends makes people lazy. Many people hardly take their eyes off the Facebook or Youtube screen and in the end they say “We don’t have time for exercise and exploring nature”.
Paid Services with No Guaranteed Results
There is nothing wrong with charging the companies and businessmen who want to run commercial activities on social media platforms. The problem is with the results. See, paying a big amount to Facebook or Instagram does not guarantee you the big results. Many marketers could be seen complaining and regretting the poor results they got from social media marketing on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. However, you can secure the best results by hiring the best SEO company in Dwarka Delhi.