Fce Reading
Fce Reading
Social networks
Business applications
Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepreneurs and small busine
sses looking to expand their contact base. These networks often act as a customer relationship mana
gement tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can also use social networks for
advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses operate globally, social networks ca
n make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the world.
Medical applications
Social networks are beginning to be adopted by healthcare professionals as a means to manage insti
tutional knowledge, disseminate peer to peer knowledge and to highlight individual physicians and i
nstitutions. The advantage of using a dedicated medical social networking site is that all the member
s are screened against the state licensing board list of practitioners. The role of social networks is esp
ecially of interest to pharmaceutical companies who spend approximately "32 percent of their marke
ting dollars" attempting to influence the opinion leaders of social networks.
Languages, nationalities and academia
Various social networking sites have sprung up catering to different languages and countries. The po
pular site Facebook has been cloned for various countries and languages and some specializing in co
nnecting students and faculty.
Social networks for social good
Several websites are beginning to tap into the power of the social networking model for social good.
Such models may be highly successful for connecting otherwise fragmented industries and small org
anizations without the resources to reach a broader audience with interested and passionate users.
Users benefit by interacting with a like-minded community and finding a channel for their energy and
giving.
Business model
Few social networks currently charge money for membership. In part, this may be because social net
working is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has not been firmly established in cus
tomers' minds. Companies such as MySpace and Facebook sell online advertising on their site. Hence,
they are seeking large memberships, and charging for membership would be counter productive. So
me believe that the deeper information that the sites have on each user will allow much better targe
ted advertising than any other site can currently provide. Sites are also seeking other ways to make
money, such as by creating an online marketplace or by selling professional information and social co
nnections to businesses.
Privacy issues
On large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too m
uch personal information and the threat of sexual predators. Users of these services need to be awar
e of data theft or viruses. However, large services, such as MySpace, often work with law enforceme
nt to try to prevent such incidents. In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placin
g too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowin
g a profile to be produced on an individual's behavior on which decisions, detrimental to an individua
l, may be taken.
Investigations
Social network services are increasingly being used in legal and criminal investigations. Information p
osted on sites such as MySpace and Facebook, has been used by police, probation, and university offi
cials to prosecute users of said sites. In some situations, content posted on MySpace has been used i
n court.
1 According to the text, social networks .......
a) advertise on business web sites.
are being used by businesses for marketing.
are about friendships.
can damage business reputations.