Social media is continuously expanding and encompassing every aspect of day-to-day life.

Organizations used social media channels to advertise their products and service and build their
brand images. Social media when used properly could be an indispensable tool however if not
handled properly it could damage the company's image and wreck its legacy.

To better understand the impact of social media we first need to grasp the concepts of social
media zones. Social media zones include social communities, social publishing, social
entertainment, and social commerce. Social communities are channels that focus on activities
and relationships and include social networking sites, forums, wikis, and message boards,
channels where you may already participate (Lumen Learning, 2020).

An organization may choose to use a few of these channels or all of them but careful
consideration should be made before deciding what and how much information to share.
Sensitive information like contract data, company secrets, or new product development should
not be shared casually.

Social Publishing sites aid in the dissemination of content to an audience. The channels of social
publishing include blogs, microsharing sites, media sharing sites, and social bookmarking and
news sites (Tuten and Solomon’s (2018). Organizations have to choose trusted bloggers or
Youtubers to share their content. The more preferred option is to create a page where they can
show their products and services without fear of misinformation.

Social entertainment is another segment that has been growing at a rapid rate. This zone
encompasses various channels including social games, console games, alternate reality games,
and entertainment communities. Organizations tend to advertise less using social entertainment
zone cause consumers don't pay much attention to advertised content when playing social or
console games.

Social Commerce refers to the use of social media to assist in the online buying and selling of
products and services (Tuten and Solomon’s (2018). It provides a platform for online shoppers
and merchants to free interact, rate products, and provide reviews. Organizations can interact
with their customers directly and compare their products with others. Consumer recommendation
is more vital than common advertisement approaches. Some companies even pay people to give
them excellent ratings until their product becomes well known.
Companies find themselves in a position where they have to relinquish their control over their
content. This is a difficult decision to make for any company. The key point to this stage in the
process is that the company (the content creator) must be willing, and even embrace, the fact that
they no longer have full control over the content (Oprensik, 2017). Allowing the online
community to freely share your content will help you to quickly disseminate information but it
will be susceptible to modification of content in an undesired manner.

Companies should share information with their customers on a need-to-know basis. Additionally,
having a strong cybersecurity department is a good start to safeguard an organization. Using
updated security software, making sure that employees have a strong password and encrypting
sensitive information are important first steps to secure company's information.

References

Lumen Learning. (2020). Introduction to Social Media Marketing | Introduction to Business.

Lumen. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/baycollege-introbusiness/chapter/reading-
introduction-to-social-marketing/

Oprensik M. (2017) " Social Media Marketing: A practitioners guide" - An interview with Mark
Opresnik https://www.marketingjournal.org/social-media-marketing-the-practitioners-guide-an-
interview-with-marc-opresnik/

Tuten T. L. and Solomon M.R (2018) Social Media Marketing, Sage Publications Inc.