Commericalizing Social Activity

       This paper will first briefly summarize the nature of social networking. Second, this paper will say how social networking impacted e-commerce. Third, this paper will explain how small businesses used social networking to increase their exposure. Fourth, this paper will explain how small businesses used social networking to increase their exposure. Finally, this paper will explain how it envisions that social networking will continue to enhance e-commerce in the next 2-3 years.

       The nature of social networking is that it is a form of microblogging. The idea that a blog takes much more time to maintain than a microblogging website  is the reason why microblogging has surpassed blogging networks in popularity by a large margin. In Microblogging (Facebook, Twitter, Thumbr), the user has a roster of friends and he/she  can like businesses, activities, places, products, hobbies, people, government agencies, even outerspace on their profile page.  You try to copy other people you're friends with to improve the relationship with the users new acquaintances. You write about stuff her/she has been doing, succeeded in, or events in his/her life on the wall.  The Facebook user is in a cloud where one has a blog to the  post blog entries, yet one has an acquaintance roster of places, friends and family. People can like just about anything.  It is a way to advertise.  Twitter and Thumbr are used by celebrities for fanfare. Twitter is used by political related people and Thumbr is used by celebrities and young people.  Thumbr has a lot of teenagers and young adults who prefer using this website instead of Blogspot and Wordpress. Facebook is conquering Blogspot, because Blogspot is #10 on Alexa while Facebook is #2. Youtube is #3 most visited website according to Alexa. The web ranking drives Internet users decisions in 2012. (Axon, S, 2009)(Dataportability, 2012)(Solis, B, 2009)(Solis, B, 2011)(Solis, B, 2012)(baruchnewmedia, 2012)(Owyang, J.K., 2009) (Harper, M, 2010) 

         This paper believes that social networking has impacted ecommerce, because Nielsen says 90% of people trust recommendations from people they know. Facebook has a Open Graph protocol. Based on the Facebook users Graph data as well as their own personalization algorithms, it can narrow results of what users do with their time logged onto it.  Facebook has a currency known as Facebook credits bought at Wal-mart or Target. The Facebook member can buy anything online with Facebook credits.  The business would create an e-commerce site that is compatible with Facebook credits like some ecommerce sites are compatible with Paypal.  Facebook is the preferred microblogging, because it is #2 on Alexa rankings in the United States behind Google.com.  Google+ is new complex social networking service, but few Facebook users wants to be a part of Google+. Google+ has all the features that Facebook currently has, yet few people want to move without their friends.  Google+  is similar to Chinese government building cities with contractors in Western China, yet few citizens wants to migrate to new cities without their friends, employers, businesses and family. People like to purchase stuff on their smart phone off their favorite social networking site.  I think of the movie Matrix when I see Facebook, because it is a virtual world (matrix) that has everything for the general population who don't need to visit other websites. Facebook is like your second life where you live two lives.  This kind of addiction has happened with The Sims released in 2000 by Maxis and Electronic Arts where gamers are addicted to creating a virtual life character who  does everyday activities. The Sims is the best selling PC game in history. The Sims 2 is also one of the best selling PC games in history where people are incredibly addicted to a virtual life  PC game. The point is Electronic Arts made millions in profit off The Sims franchise. The Facebook connect infrastructure to allow users to log onto websites our Facebook identity and relationships in tow, bridging the updates back to the Facebook News Feed to share with the members social graph.  In terms of Twitter followers, Some businesses will be able to clearly see online sales go up with the about of Twitter followers. It can be less about monthly figures and more about the culture on social networking sites so customers revisit.  Businesses say that they have  solidified loyalty with Twitter or Facebook.  People use social networking for meetups for a business with Facebook's invitation application where Facebook users can say they're going or maybe going to an event. (Axon, S, 2009)(Dataportability, 2012)(Solis, B, 2009)(Solis, B, 2011)(Solis, B, 2012)(baruchnewmedia, 2012)(Owyang, J.K., 2009) (Harper, M, 2010) 

          On Youtube, businesses have to advertise at the beginning of the streaming video. Youtube users have to buy views and thumbs up using an outside service like Youtube-views.com to get the attention needed in the first place to have people comment. Without Youtube-views.com, the business isn't going anywhere fast. The business would have to advertise the Youtube channel with an Youtube logo on the business homepage. (Axon, S, 2009)(Dataportability, 2012)(Solis, B, 2009)(Solis, B, 2011)(Solis, B, 2012)(baruchnewmedia, 2012)(Owyang, J.K., 2009) (Harper, M, 2010) 

          People will review business scores with Yelp if they don't have an online social networking site or not.  Some of the Yelp review scores are negative.  The business needs to make an online presence to combat the negative reviews on Yelp in a two way conversation. Businesses will need to hook up with hootsuite.com and figure out how to combat with facts and hyperlinks. (Axon, S, 2009)(Dataportability, 2012)(Solis, B, 2009)(Solis, B, 2011)(Solis, B, 2012)(baruchnewmedia, 2012)(Owyang, J.K., 2009) (Harper, M, 2010) 

       Small businesses used social networking to increase their exposure and this paper will now explain why. This paper believes that adventures in the social realm should be to listen more than the Facebook or Google+ member talks on their wall. He/she should be  scared to let go of the situation.  Individuals aren't going to be able to control the entire message. He/she should get used to this fact. People list their employer or give their own Facebook page when people  type in their employment. The most obvious benefits are increased customer loyalty and engagement. If the business wants to target professionals such as LinkedIn, and Plaxo. Social networking is great for businesses, because the employee may create his/her profile on these social networking sites and include images and information about his/her business.  It is very efficient and less costly to market your business. Businesses use social networking sites to recruit or at least lure new employees into their own companies. Social networking can be used to provide support to the customers, gain feedback and make additional sales. The online websites can help customers connect with experts and greatly reduce the time for problem solving. Social networking is also very important in the business sector, because good businesses make real-time connections with employees. Businesses have been using url shorteners such as bit.ly, because it creates a hit-counter on how many people clicked the hyperlink. You might find that your Facebook followers like to click on coupons, and your Twitter followers like breaking news. The customer is sharing their reviews for the ecommerce site so the business is supposed to give members the option of posting reviews on their Facebook or Twitter walls or Thumbr or Wordpress or Blogspot or Livejournal blogs.   The sharing information should be in the thank you page, sale confirmation email or mailing list email templates.  The business should tell the general population why they should use a certain brand or itself on Facebook and Twitter. Brands can make a living commercial on this behavior by engendering advocacy through direct engagement, blogger relations in the 'magic middle', and also via sponsored conversations. (Axon, S, 2009)(Dataportability, 2012)(Solis, B, 2009)(Solis, B, 2011)(Solis, B, 2012)(baruchnewmedia, 2012)(Owyang, J.K., 2009) (Harper, M, 2010) 

         There are a many virtual casinos on Facebook and Google+ with all the popular casino games like Poker, Blackjack, Solitaire, slots, and craps that can generate revenue for whomever created the application. I see some bidding applications where Facebook can emulate an Ebay type ecommerce site with payment options like Paypal, credit cards and Facebook credits. (Axon, S, 2009)(Dataportability, 2012)(Solis, B, 2009)(Solis, B, 2011)(Solis, B, 2012)(baruchnewmedia, 2012)(Owyang, J.K., 2009) (Harper, M, 2010)  )  

         This paper envisions social networking will continue to enhance e-commerce in the next 2-3 years, because retailers use conversion marketing to increase sales while shoppers are on their Facebook and Google+ websites. The companies have taken powerful insights gleaned from an individual shopper’s clickstream paths and inferred intent, and created an althgorium to  display the right content and products to Facebook and Google+ members at the right time  It can drive traffic from the Facebook page to the ecommerce page.  Nielsen says 90% of people trust recommendations from people they know.  If Facebook credits for ecommerce takes off, the business will see a boom. Facebook users will see their friend's likes. Right now, I can see the videogame industry profiting on this section, yet I am unsure other industries would. Many businesses today are trying to influence the members of networking communities by offering unique services. Facebook would be a great media tool for companies to market their business to all the users. Facebook is a great platform for business to interact with a wide range of people. Facebook also an efficient way to collect conduct market research based upon people’s information, ,and provide the best services for their customers. Due to the recession, most businesses are cutting down on costs by asking employees to work from home and social networks bring employees and organizations together to share and retain knowledge. There will be Go-To-Meeting type video conferencing on Facebook. Right now, you can hook a webcam onto the chat and video chat with anyone with a webcam online. There will be more games like Mafia Wars and farming applications that take facebook credits. Some of these games items take Facebook credits to buy them. (Axon, S, 2009)(Dataportability, 2012)(Solis, B, 2009)(Solis, B, 2011)(Solis, B, 2012)(baruchnewmedia, 2012)(Owyang, J.K., 2009) (Harper, M, 2010) 

         Once customers buy off social networks and make reviews, this will encourage more and more people into buying the product. The business could give the customer coupons to gain more trust. Businesses have to interact with their customers on social networks daily to be successful. There are other websites such as shareThis and AddThis for analytics. You can figure out where your site visitors are sharing your products, and that information is invaluable. The future is social colonization. This is supposed to be the next step in  social evolution with tools like such as OpenID and Facebook connect will enable individuals/members to be able to journey from network to network. This paper believes that the portability of corresponding data, social objects, and friendships the Facebook users maintain in each network becomes very  important. Facebook in the future is supposed to be automated, but businesses will still rely on the explicit expressions of Facebook users to improve the experience. Companies using Facebook should be formally catering to communities, signifying the trading of power towards connected customers. (Axon, S, 2009)(Dataportability, 2012)(Solis, B, 2009)(Solis, B, 2011)(Solis, B, 2012)(baruchnewmedia, 2012)(Owyang, J.K., 2009) (Harper, M, 2010) 

           Facebook is supposed to turn away from a CRM and even sCRM  and evolve into a Social Relationship Management (SRM) social network. This system will view all members as equals. SRM is also acutely cognizant of and in harmony with VRM (Vendor Relationship Management). This SRM is  distributing influence further than the customer landscape, distribute authority amongst stakeholders, prospects, advocates, decision makers, and peers. SRM distinguishes if Facebook user recommended a product, purchased a product, or simply recognized it publicly and this how will affect the company. The customers have a cut of the chart  that also balances , experts, partners, vendors, and other authorities. Dataportability.com  is working with Facebook to enable members to bring their friends, identity, conversations, files and histories along with them without having to open a new service.  This information will automatically be updated on other websites so the Facebook user doesn't have to input the data.  openID will connect Facebook users to third-part networks including  PayPal and Google for serious ecommerce.  This will be in harmony with Vendor Relationship Management, an opposite of CRM.  A VRM is designed to empower sentiment  and consumer participation so that the company can improve products on Facebook or Google+. (Axon, S, 2009)(Dataportability, 2012)(Solis, B, 2009)(Solis, B, 2011)(Solis, B, 2012)(baruchnewmedia, 2012)(Owyang, J.K., 2009) (Harper, M, 2010) 

        This paper first briefly summarized the nature of social networking. Second, this paper said how social networking impacted e-commerce. Third, this paper explained how small businesses used social networking to increase their exposure. Fourth, this paper explained how small businesses used social networking to increase their exposure. Finally, this paper explained how it envisions that social networking will continue to enhance e-commerce in the next 2-3 years

References

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       Prompt Standards

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       Retrieved May 25, 2012, from Mashable website

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