Social Media in Modern Times

Social networking has become integral part of the way people live in modern times. 47% of American adults use social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Classmates.com and the number is growing. Present global user base of Facebook is three times the population of the US. People are developing their profiles on social media sites, communicating with friends and strangers, sharing ideas, photos, music links and much more.

Social networking sites encourage online interaction with friends and family members and erase geographical boundaries. The credit goes to technological ingenuity of visionaries who made irreversible impact on the way the world interacts. There is some criticism against social networking that the sites prevent face-to-face communication, waste time on frivolous activity and later spoil children’s behavior and expose users to predators like pedophiles and burglars; and spread false and potentially dangerous information.

However, over the years, social networking among college students and youth has become more and more popular. It is a way to make connections, not only on campus, but with friends outside of school. Social networking is a way that helps many people feel as though they belong to a community. I see social networking as using major social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, blogs, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn etc. for this discussion.

Whether one likes or not, social media has entered our lives and it will seek to play bigger role in the lives of millions of people across the globe. They way forward is to utilize the media for the benefit of all of us and the society around us. In this post I’m discussing the impact of social media on the society, not on business. Perhaps the impact of social media on business can be covered in future posts.

Social Media Penetration

The number of social media users are expected to grow 17 per cent to reach 91 million in urban India by December 2013, on the back of rising Internet penetration due to increasing affordability of smart phones and availability of cost effective data plans. The number of social media users in urban India reached 78 million by June 2013. It is said facebook is the leading website accessed by 96 per cent of all social media users and it is most used to connect with friends, publishing content and searching contacts.

Some social media networks have a more active user-base than others. Statistical research reveals that more than 95 percent of Facebook users log into their account every day. The same number for Twitter is 60 percent and for LinkedIn is 30 percent. In order to cut costs, businesses are now avoiding websites like LinkedIn, which have a very small reach in terms of market impact, because their users are not active when compared with Facebook or Twitter.

Facebook, Twitter, Google+ - a whole new world 

With Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social networks we have become much aware of the world we are living in and this is one of the changes being talked about. Social Networking giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ have contributed to create a whole new world where we are free to express our opinion and share it with our friends and peers. This world of social media gives scope to everyone to express and share ideas, thoughts and feelings, who want to be the part of it. Here are some areas where they have made significant impact.

News and updates- 65% of social media users get their breaking news through social networking sites. While the credibility of some sources can clearly be contested, news channels tweet or give updates on significant happenings all over the world. This becomes more important when the credibility of TV Channels becomes questionable especially in countries like India. We see every news paper and TV Channel clearly serving interests of one or other political party making neutral reporting the casualty. Other news sources through social media come in handy in such scenarios. TV Channels with their focus on TRP ratings are losing the bigger battle to other sources of news and their popularity and credibility may go down if they don't do something innovative to retain viewership.

Interactions- Social media has furthered interaction by such a massive scale that is hard not to notice it. It allows people to keep in touch in a more regularly, and sometimes, more intimately, than was ever before because of time and space constraints. People cities or continents apart can keep in touch so effortlessly, making distance irrelevant. Twitter has become a self-promotional tool used by celebrities. For those who like to “follow” their favorite celebrities, they can get instant updates about where their favorite singer or actor is, what they are doing, how they are feeling, etc. 

Political Influence - Social media has enabled greater political awareness and organization, which has in some cases rewritten entire political landscapes. It has particularly played a large part in the Iran elections, and Obama’s reelection for a second term as US President, and inspired the political unrests in Egypt. In India nobody can ignore the role played by social media in Delhi rape case. National Political parties like BJP and Congress are competing with each other in reaching out to youth through the SN sites. Both PM candidates are in the social media race, with Modi leading the race with his early catcher advantage. 

Verification of Credentials - Companies are increasingly turning to social media sites to peep into the candidate's profiles to find out what kind of a person the candidate is based his/her social behavior and check emotional aspects as well, in addition to career history. The kind of friends you have also is a factor that defines your personality. One would do well to demonstrate responsibility in one’s online behavior. The candidate’s past behavior is critically examined by recruiters to find out the fitment of a person into the role they have in their organizations and avoid bad hires, especially at senior levels.

Marketing -The whole dynamics of marketing have been changed, and rather than investing in mass channels ads, companies are becoming more consumer-centered through interactions made over social media. They are able to understand the needs of the market from the market itself, greatly altering the way marketing has been done in the past. 

Law Enforcement - investigating agencies are actively using social networking sites to nab the criminals who indulge in unlawful activities, thus improving the quality of evidence and enhancing their effectiveness.

While it is good to be up-to-date and leverage technology for the benefit of family and friends, one should avoid the pit falls of networking. Whether to use social networking site or not is an individual decision to many. But you must be aware of certain things when discussing your private life in public. These are some of the tips that can make you and your family safe on the networking sites.

1. Change the profile privacy now. Keep your information accessible only to people in your friend list.

2. Don’t accept friendship request from strangers. Most often we judge a particular person online, by his/her profile picture and personal information. This is the first mistake that cyber criminals wanted us to do.

3. Don’t post very personal information on the profile. It includes your email id, date of birth, contact number, home address and information about your family members.

4. Be cautious while posting your photo. Ensure your photo background doesn't show about your actual whereabouts.

5. Don’t post your current location when on a tour. Posting this information on social networking site is just like inviting criminals to your home.

6. Don’t post negative things about your life. This is just like maligning your own image. Your friends are monitoring your activity and one such mistake can cause havoc in future.

7. Don’t substitute real friends with virtual friends. Facebook/Twitter is a great tool to connect new people across world. But they can never be your real friends. You need real friends to enhance your social image and reduce stress and anxiety. Real friends can be part of your friends list though.

8. Avoid using Social networking sites in work hours. When you try to use social networking sites during work hour, it not only affects your work performance but also increases chances of getting fired.

9. Keep a check on children’s social media usage. Checking facebook every 15 minutes, chatting with friends can be a time killer and effect children’s academic performance and can also lead to undesirable consequences.

Please remember when you are making a post on social networking site, you are broadcasting your message to your present friends and future friends as well. There are software tools coming up,  which scan through all the postings of a user and based on the content posted, report the personality, likes and dislikes of a user. The consumer of the report could be your boss or future employer! Does it mean that you remain inactive all through and present dull behavior? You don't have to.

Happy Social Networking!

Leadership Essentials

The topic of Leadership has been discussed a lot and significant amount of time and effort has been spent on the topic and will continue to be spent on what leadership is all about and what qualities make one effective leader. The secret of Leadership has always been ever eluding and enigmatic and keeps changing with the  times we live in. I’ve come across great leaders in my career some of them very inspiring, charming and carry a lot of positive energy with them. Effective leadership is all about how you see and what results leaders produce and create value.

Some of the qualities I see in any person whom I call leader are the following. These are no way exhaustive, but definitely critical for any leader to be successful.

Inspire Action

Leaders create a vision and share it with the team that inspires the people to do whatever it takes to get there. They work hard, endure short term pain to realize the vision. The best leaders act as catalysts and remove the organizational roadblocks that constrain the employees’ creativity and natural talent and unleash tremendous amount of positive energy in the process.

Exude Optimism

All of us would like to be in the company of the people who raise our spirits instead those who drain out the energy pull us down. Positive energy and enthusiasm are contagious and quickly spread from person to person. A leader seeks out positives in his people and help them realize their full potential, spreading energy, enthusiasm and optimism across the organization. 

Integrity

The most important thing that employees expect from their leaders is integrity. They expect the leaders to walk the talk. Honesty, fairness and candor are the qualities which keep the leaders in good stead.

Risk Taking

For the people to give their best, they need an ecosystem that supports them by encouraging them to take risk, speak their mind be not afraid to fail. The fear of failure and being punished kills the initiative of the people. Leaders who encourage teams to take risks, be with the team through thick and thin facilitate progress towards attaining the goals. Here is the interesting story as told by former president APJ Abdul Kalam in his own words:

The Story of Rohini Satellite

"Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India’s satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India’s “Rohini” satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources — but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 — I think the month was August — we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts — I had four or five of them with me — told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal. It was a big failure. 

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference — where journalists from around the world were present — was at 7:45 am at ISRO’s satellite launch range in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh in southern India. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure — he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite — and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, “You conduct the press conference today.”

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience."

Communicate

In any organization, knowledge is power, and great leaders ensure that every employee, from the very top to the very bottom of the org chart, is provided with complete and up-to-date information about the organization’s goals, performance, successes and failures. To achieve this level of connection, you should also provide ample channels for two-way communication between employees and managers, actively soliciting their ideas for improvement and rewarding employees for submitting them.

Decisive

The most important function of any leader is decision making. Highly effective leaders aren’t afraid to be decisive and to make tough calls quickly when circumstances require it. Once you have all the information and options available, you need to make an informed decision, then don’t hesitate--make it. And once you make a decision, then stick with it unless there is a particularly compelling reason for you to change it.

No matter what type of organization or industry you're in, it's possible to become a more effective leader, inspiring your people to give their very best every day of the week. Make a point of practicing these leadership traits, and you will be an effective leader too.