Social Network and Mobile Marketing, Essay Example

Privacy issues on social networks

Privacy is the crucial problem that people are facing when using the social networks. Hacking is the main issue affecting users on the social networks. Strangers or intruders hack the social media accounts and manipulate the details and even posts. Privacy is an international issue that is affecting almost all people who are using the social networks. In 2010, Mark Zurkerberg the founder of facebook said that people are not having any more expectation of privacy. Social networks, which are affected by the privacy issues, include facebook, twitter, histogram, and many others. The privacy issues affect many people because when their private information is accessed and used in illegal and crime issues. It has raised concerned in many people that most of them opt to quit the social network due to the privacy issues. Social networks allow users to post their personal information; their lives connect to colleagues and friends (Cutillo & Strufe 2009, p. 98).

Another issue is exposure of perusal information. The information revealed on the social network should remain confidential and not published publicly. Thieves and fraud artists use the information produced voluntarily by the owners to commit crimes. The offenders use the information to trace the owners who post the information on the social network. The owners of the social networks are storing personal information of the users such that they can sell to marketers. The marketers and companies producing products will use the information on the social network to target their customers. Different people committing crimes will take advantage of their information like contacts and other business details to monitor the owners. As per the text, social network owners’ guarantee people of their security but they are affected because they reveal their information to specific users. Users of social media reveal the information to close friends and relatives, which is accessed by other strangers having bad intentions. In addition, user information can be retrieved by being hacked by unauthorized users on the social networks.

Cheating is another issue that users of social network are facing since many users are hiding the identification such that they can cheat. In the social networks many people use different names and pictures, which is a great problem affecting the users worldwide. When someone using different identification details commits a crime, wrong person will be traced, and he/she might be tortured mistakenly. Many people who run illegal businesses do not publish their personal information on the social network, which will be difficult for security personnel to trace them. Young children have been common on the social network, and they are mostly affected. Parents are concerned about their children’s information on the social networks because the information can be used to kidnap or even raping cases. This issue has raised concern on the social network owners to regulate the accessibility of young children on the social networks or improve privacy of data and information (Gross & Acquisti 2005, p. 76).

Many companies are currently displaying their products use social network for marketing and advertising. These companies use information on the social network to reach the targeted consumers. Social network user should be consulted before their information is released to the advertising companies. This will enable the users to limit personal information that they can release to be used in the public. The user will be save since crucial and private information will not be published in the public, and the crime offenders will not trace them.

In conclusion, social network owners and administrators should guarantee enough privacy to the users. The users will use their real information on the social network and avoid using other people’s details. If the social network owners guarantee enough security to users, all users will be free when using the sites because the information will be shared with friends freely without fear. Before the information is exposed to the marketers, social network owners need to consult the owners such that they can give the information that they feel secure when exposed. Users of social networks should not publish crucial personal information because other people on the social media are taking advantage of the information to track the owners and commit various crimes.

Mobile marketing using Smart Phones and Tablets

Mobile marketing is the frequently used mode of advertising in many organizations. This is because the method can be used to reach many people both in the community level and internationally. Smart phones and tablets have boosted the use of mobile phones in marketing products and services. This is because users can share the information to many people in one click. It likes other types of phones where it is difficult for people to share information with other people. Tablets and smart phones users can access videos and photos without any problem. When advertising, marketers will display their products on the internet or even on the media. Consumers will need to see the quantity and quality of the products such that they can decide to buy or not to buy. Tablets and smart phone are the best way the consumers will access the photos of the products (Shankar & Naik 2010, p. 115).

Advertising companies are using videos when marketing the products. The uses and prices of the products will be demonstrated by use of the videos. The videos will be posted on the social networks like facebook, twitter, histogram, MySpace, and even the youtube. Consumers will access the videos on the social media using the tablets and smart phones a service that cannot be accessed in other types of phones. The tablets and smart phones are portable, and the consumers can access the marketed products anywhere in the day and even at night. Consumers can access the information when travelling or when resting anywhere that the tablet or smart phone can be used.

Another feature that makes the Smartphone be preferred in mobile marketing is the installation of programs. Various programs, which boost display of photos and videos, can be installed on the Smartphone and tablets. The programs are very important since the photos and videos will be clear enough for the consumers to be satisfied and make decisions to buy the products. The marketers can install programs like Google earth such that they can use them to identify locations where they visit when marketing the products. Consumers can access the internet using the Smartphone or tablet to send and receive emails. Advertising companies can send the features and photos of new brands to the consumers through the emails. Consumers can send the feedback to the company using the email by either placing the orders or requesting more information about the products. Smart phones can be used when tracing the customers by use of their stored contacts in the companies. Calls can be made, and messages send to the customers by use of the smart phones like any other phone (Persaud & Azhar 2012, p. 433). This proves that Smartphone and tablets can work like any other phone apart from being used to access internet and other applications. Due to frequently changing technology and transformation to the digital era, tablets and Smartphone are most preferred in mobile marketing. Consumers can access all the information about the products advertised by the companies on the internet. In this case, smart phones and tablets are the best devices than can be used when accessing the information.

In conclusion, the advertising companies should employ mobile marketing because it can be accessed by most of the consumers. It is the best method of advertising because consumers can access the advertised products and services anywhere as the devices are portable. Those who do not have tablets and Smartphone can access the advertised information through the messages and even calls. Tablets, smart phones or any other type of phones is accessed and used by both young people and adults. Companies using this mode of advertising can reach a wider range of consumers when marketing their products.

References

Cutillo, L. A. & Strufe, T. (2009). Safebook: A privacy-preserving online social network leveraging on real-life trust. Communications Magazine, IEEE, 47(12), 94-101.

Gross, R., & Acquisti, A. (2005). Information revelation and privacy in online social networks. In Proceedings of the 2005 ACM workshop on Privacy in the electronic society (pp. 71-80). ACM.

Persaud, A., & Azhar, I. (2012). Innovative mobile marketing via smartphones: are consumers ready?. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 30(4), 418-443.

Shankar, V. & Naik, P. (2010). Mobile marketing in the retailing environment: current insights and future research avenues. Journal of interactive marketing, 24(2), 111-120.