Some Limitations and Drawbacks Related to Social Media

With the development of the Internet communication technology, social media has become a significantly important part of organizations, while there are some drawbacks concerned with it. Social media is a platform that allows people to create and share information in virtual communities. Organization is a group of people working together, which consists of three parts: government, company and non-profit organization. This essay is divided into six sections. At first, there is an introduction which provides some background information and valuable definitions. Before discussing some limitations of social media when it is used in organizations, the next three paragraphs outline how government, company and non-profit organization can successfully use social media. At the end, a conclusion will be drawn.

Governments can strongly harness social media to improve their quality of public service. Khan, G.F., Swar, B. and Lee, S.K.(2014) state that there are increasing numbers of critical information can be collected by social networks. This is because social media has a large number of users from the most of social class and age group, and its ability to process information is powerful. This means that governments have more resources for reference when formulating politics, which enables these strategies more scientific, and scientific decision-making is the core factor to improve the quality of public services. Moreover, authors also mention that the connection between governments and citizens becomes more tightly through using social media. This is because the feedback and criticism of citizens to administration's actions can

 be received and responded by governments through social media, which enables governments rationally modify polities that have been implemented to improve the quality of public service.

According to companies, Nițescu, D.C. argues that they can employ social media to capture key information from users, such as preferences and behaviors. This means enterprises have ability to provide specific services or products to specific groups of customers, helping enterprises gain some loyal clients and dominant position in competition. At the same time, workers in companies could easily contact with each other no matter when and where they are due to social networks. This enables massages sharing in companies much quickly, and could save money because there is no requirement for them to book a place to have a meeting.

Non-profit organizations can raise funds through social media. Nah, S. and Saxton, G.D.(2013) point out that fundraising is one kind of method to fulfill non-profit organizations' target. They also mention that conventional approach to raising funds is employing mail or telephone to contact professional fundraising companies, while now they can reach a wider range of possible donors through social media. This suggests that donations could not only come from qualified fundraising firms, but also from some charitable companies or individuals. Because of lack of information related to non-profit organizations, those who are willing to donate may not find the channel for donation. However, this situation may have changed for the

 combination of social media and non-profit organizations, meaning that non-profit organizations could have more opportunities to raise funds.

However, there are some limitations with social media when it is used in organizations. Firstly, the data collected from social networks may not be intact. Khan, G.F., Swar, B. and Lee, S.K.(2014) point out that people's attitudes toward social media may influence its use in organizations as a tool sharing information and interacting with others. They also state that some people cannot use the Internet connecting to social media or do not know methods of using them. For example, numerous old people never use these social media, and most of them do not even have a smart phone or computer. Secondly, Nițescu, D.C. (2014) argues that the authenticity of data should be judged and the data collected from the Internet may be damaged. Although data is complete and authentic, organizations should further distinguish which information is useful and which is not, because the messages from social networks are extensive. Finally, there are some reputational risks for organizations. Costin, D.(2014) points out the mastery of reputational mistakes has significantly reduced because of the open and uncertain character of social media. This suggests that organizations should establish an effective system to communicate with customers.