Social Networks: Helping You Expand Your Business.

By Nareg Theodore Ohanessian

A social network is defined as a

website which offers online services
allowing users to interact with each other
through profiles, to make new
acquaintances, and expand their existing
social circle.Brainwork. Nowadays there are
numerous social network sites (SNS), which
allow people to intermingle. Some being
specific and targeting certain crowds,
like CafeMom, targeting mothers, while
others target a much broader audience,
like MySpaceand Facebook which aim at the
general public with no special
emphasis. Boyd.
A brief history of social networks
will allow us to analyze and understand the
process of implementing social networks
into the workplace and applying its concepts
in businesses. It is said that the first
recognizable social networking site was
launched in 1997: SixDegrees.com. But
since the internet was a new concept back
then, people did not have many friends
online, and the service was shut down, some
saying that the business was ahead of its
time. After that, a wave of social networks appeared, targeting millions. Boyd. Later on, in 2005,
after several years of SNS development, the public began to show bigger interest in these
sites. MySpace which had grown to host millions of users was bought by News Corporation for
$580 million. Boyd. Businesses had begun to notice the importance of these social network sites.
When a company releases a new
product, its main concern is to render
the public aware of the existence of this
product. It would also be interested in
reviews, ratings and comments, very

valuable information which SNS provide. With the emergence of social network sites,
advertising has been reformed and played a role in widening companies audiences. A study
shows that 80% of Facebook users login everyday to the service and about 93% login once a
month at least. Rajat Raizada. Those figures should speak for themselves. If a company were to
advertise on a social network site, it would have a much larger reach, and would certainly gain
more hits than it would on its official website. Salman. Since the ad is on the individuals profile
page, he does not go into the effort of entering the companys website URL, rather he clicks on
the link which is provided and goes directly to the page of the advertisement, or is redirected to
the companys official website. But that would not be efficient, if the general public was to be
targeted, since a lot of people would neglect the ad because of their lack of interest in that
particular product. That is why social network sites allow business to target specific people,
people with certain interests that would go hand in hand with the companys products. Chappell.
For instance, if Mercedes-Benz were to advertise on Facebook, it could target people who Like
the Mercedes-Benz fan page, people who have luxury cars as interests, it could even target a
certain age group, or even choose to target men exclusively. Targeting also reduces costs since
the number of times the ad would appear on pages would be reduced. In addition, since people
spent a lot of time on SNS, they would be exposed to a larger number of ads, which would be to
companies benefit. Pennsylvania.

Social network sites undoubtedly serve their purpose when it comes to advertising, but
they also play a crucial role in evaluating products and services. When a company creates a fan
page, it is very likely that it will post news about the release of new products and services on that
page, which means that it will be subject to comments, ratings, opinions, etc. Companies
consider this information a very valuable asset since they are receiving reviews from the public,
which will enable them to improve their product or service to increase customer
satisfaction. Pennsylvania

These sites also help users build businesses from scratch. For instance, Nick Kellet, a
board game designer, had left his job to publish his board game, and when he got in touch with a
former co-worker over a social network site, he was glad to hear that she was teaching Chinese
to another board game owner to facilitate communication with factory owners in Shanghai. Later
on, that friend arranged a meeting with the factory owners and Nick had found a manufacturer
for his game. He also put up his game on boardgamegeek and had applications designed on SNS
to have people play his game online. Swearingen.

In a nutshell, Social Network Sites, since their creation, have revolutionized the way
businesses maintain their social image online. Whether it is the way their advertise and target a

specific audience through queries, while having very low costs, or the way they track the publics
preferences and changes of taste, or even the way their use reviews, opinions, ratings and
comments to perk up their products, Social Network Sites have become an essential and
indispensable tool for businesses. In some cases, Social Network Sites might even hel
individuals speed up the process of launching a new business, through communication with key
people, since it is common for people to use their social network to establish businesses Jenssen.
Social Network Sites have revolutionized the way people receive information from companies
and vice versa.

Bibliography
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2011
BrainWork. (2010, 12 1). Expand Business Through Social Networking. Retrieved 05 22,
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Chappell, B. (2009, 08 18). How to Target Users within Social Networks. Retrieved 05 20,
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article=1054&context=wharton_research_scholars
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Salman. (2011, 01 12). Expand Business through Social Networking. Retrieved 05 24, 2011,
from http://www.ustaadkhan.com: http://www.ustaadkhan.com/ustaadkhan/2017
Swearingen, J. (2008, 09 05). Social Networking for Business. Retrieved 05 23, 2011, from
Bnet.com: http://www.bnet.com/article/social-networking-for-business/219914
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSne4YBY1Js&feature=player_embedded

This Video helped me see the impact social media has on businesses, and how they might
profit from them.
http://www.business.att.com/binary/content/whitepaper/WP-soc_17172_v3_11-10-08.pdf

Internet sites
http://1stwebdesigner.com/history-of-social-networking/#history-of-networking