Why Do You Post on Social Media?
Brad McNeill
Most of us use social media every day; whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. So what are the pros and cons for using these sites? Do they help or hurt you. Well from what I can tell, it all depends.
Pro – Increased criminal prosecution
Police departments began using Twitter to track criminals foolish enough to brag about their crimes online. When a riot breaks out because your local sports team won a major game, police take to these media outlets to track and tag the people involved. I guess this is more of a Pro for crime prevention. Working in the insurance industry at ISB, I hear about people posting pictures playing sports when they apparently got hurt in a car accident and have been collecting from their insurance company. It’s amazing how people cannot resist posting their personal information for everyone to see.
Con – Misinformation
Social media is full of misleading information. While many blogs and tweets may have the correct information, there is a lot that isn’t correct and people tend to believe it just because it’s on the web. Rumors tend to spread faster than the truth and without properly vetting the sources, it’s easy to get misled.
Pro – Students are doing better in school
This is an interesting statistic about the effects on students. 50% of students with Internet access have reported using social networking sites to discuss schoolwork, and another 59% talk about instructive topics.
Con – Social media causes lost productivity
Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are a direct cause for lost productivity at the workplace. In a survey, 36% of people said that social networking was the biggest waste of time in comparison to activities like fantasy football, shopping, and watching television.
I could keep researching reasons why social media is great or not, but I would be going on forever. In my opinion, social media can be a terrific tool if used correctly for personal or business use. If you want to reach billions of people, social media is defiantly more effective then TV, Radio, and Newspaper.
