Professional Benefits of Social Media
Networking In A Digital Median
Networking is the "the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business."(Merriam-Webster) and has been used in professions and business for many, many years. However, in recent years there has been a new median in which networking can occur, and that is over Social Media and the Internet. Previously in order to network you had to meet people directly and get to know them and their business, but now all this can be done online using Social Media services like Linkedin and AngelList.
The benefits of these online Social Media services over their previous physical counterparts are that they allow you, the individual, to be instantly connected to people and business all over the world, much easier than with traditional means. You can communicate with other business owners and potential employees/employers that you may have never had a chance to meet before these services. Networking is known to be crucial in the modern world with so many benefits that you just can't afford to miss out on. “It’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know.”(Baird)
Visibility to Employers, Attracting Potential Customers
Being that Social Media connects people to each other, it can also be used to connect you to the jobs that fit your skillset or to connect your business to more customers. Using Social Media services like those mentioned above and others like Facebook can get more visibility than possible using older means such as posters or mail. Imagine you own a business that needs to attract more customers to your store, in order to do this you may want to create a Facebook page for your store so people can talk about it and post how their experiences were. People who are looking for a particular business may search for it and come across your business page and see these positive post and want to see it for themselves. Perhaps a customer will post on there Facebook saying they went to your business and tagging the page! Using these Social Media tools can increase your visibility to anyone using the internet, just using Facebook allows you exposure to over a billion users (Ayes).
The same effect of exposure can be used to help you find an employer as 60% of employers use Social Media to find and screen potential employees (McDonnell). With so much exposure and visibility with Social Media however, in order to get the most benefits out of it you must keep your Social Media professional!
Keeping your Social Media Professional
Key points pointed out in this video are that you must post and act online in a way you would if everyone could see you, even if there are privacy settings on. Employers do use Social Media and how you look on them is important!
Work Cited
Merriam-Webster. “Networking Definition.” 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
Baird, Kim. “Top 9 benefits of business networking.” AmazingBusiness.com. Amazing Business, 2016. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
Ayres, Scott. “Top 10 benefits of a Facebook business page.” Postplanner.com. 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
McDonnell, Amy. “60% employers use social media to screen job candidates -.” Carrerbuilder.com. 28 Apr. 2016. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.