Types of social computing applications
One of the types of social computing applications that create the above-mentioned benefits are web blogs. These are online journals in which an author or a series of authors publish material on particular topics. Content may be anything from cooking recipes, sports, business, politics, scientific work or entertainment.
Blogs allow users to engage in discussions by either linking a particular blog in another forum or by making commentaries about a blogging topic. Businesses can utilise this application in order to capture knowledge about their industries. They may also have internal blogs that provide employees with a platform to make personal contributions (Fun & Wagner 248).
Wikis are applications that allow users to make contributions about particular topics from scratch through hypertext. It is a collaborative authoring tool which aggregates into an open source of information, such as Wikipedia. Users and administrators can provide quality control in order to increase reliability of this form of social computing.
The mode of application is highly useful to enterprises because it allows them to share knowledge. Companies can discover new trends about their products or services. A business can also learn about stakeholder concerns, and thus improve its business operations.
Peer to peer networks are applications that allow users to share multimedia content as well as storage and bandwidth. People often use them to share music and videos. This feature explains why many internet stakeholders have a bias against P2P networks since they facilitate copyright infringement.
Nonetheless, a number of companies in the business industry have embraced these technologies as methods of distribution. P2P networks may also increase marketability of content when only short versions of a file are available for sharing. Customers may be prompted to purchase the original version of a file.
Social networking websites are sites that join users to their contacts and acquaintances in an online community. Common sites include Facebook and twitter. Facebook allows one to invite others (who may or may not be strangers) to become friends with him in his online community.
Businesses may use Facebook as an internal emailing system or as a promotional avenue for products and series. It can also strengthen business associations by building networks. Twitter is another social networking website that allows individuals to read short messages (tweets) and respond to them by following the user. Businesses can use this platform to stay in tune with industry trends, boost their networks, expose their brands, monitor their image, engage with facts and expand their consumer base (Rasmus & Salkowitz 8).
Video sharing websites such as YouTube are revolutionary social computing platforms as well. They allow entities to share clips about any matter they regard as important. This may range from sports, politics, music and many other issues. Businesses may make advertisements, explain product use or announce new corporate strategies through YouTube. The video element in this type of application makes it quite cutting edge and transforming.
Photo sharing websites like Flicker allow members to upload, tag and view photos. In these websites, it is possible to get feedback from concerned members. Companies can harness these websites in order to promote some of their new offerings. They can increase their popularity through this avenue.
Businesses may think of Flicker as an internet-based location for photographic posters. Social bookmarking services are similar to photo sharing applications because they also allow users to tag items. Here, social bookmarking services are only allowed for books, not photos. One well-known example is Delicious. In this application, users share links and give feedback about the most relevant one. Only communities with similar interests can belong to one social site.
Peer to peer video and communication services may also be regarded as aspects of social computing. Skype is an example of such an application. It allows users to communicate in real time through video and audio. Businesses may utilise this mode of social computing in order to facilitate that personal touch with clients. Customers can also give reviews about products through Skype, and this may enhance business outcomes.
Examples of successful use of social computing
Social computing has altered the way companies do business in numerous ways. One company that demonstrated the power of social networking websites was Toyota. In 2010, the company had quality control issues with their automobiles. They needed to recall a vast number of units, and this took a toll on their brand image. The company decided to target social networking website users in order to minimise this damage.
At any one time, there were almost a dozen Toyota employees monitoring Facebook and other social networking websites for commentaries about the company. The workers would respond to complaints and comments as soon as they arose thus ensuring that Toyota would not fall prey to negative publicity.
After about 6 months, not only had the firm managed to salvage its reputation, but it expanded its Facebook fan base by about ten percent. Therefore, social computing allows companies to target consumers directly concerning various aspects of marketing, such as, branding.
Educational institutions have also used social computing to improve performance. One such entity was Phoenix University. It has several online programs that it offers students all around the world. In order to enhance their experience, the institution created documentaries that talk about the institutional rules and regulations.
Furthermore, the firm needed to reach a vast pool of potential clients. It did this by publishing reviews and video testimonials on YouTube. These allowed interested individuals to access information at their fingertips. Furthermore, it placed the firm at the top of search results about online tertiary institutions (Messinger et al. 220).
Retail organisations can also use social computing in order to learn about and meet client needs. Best Buy is an example of a company that successfully did this. It asked Facebook members about their best vampire movies. The company acted on those responses by placing all the popular ones on sale. As such, Best Buy demonstrated that social computing can be a low-cost strategy of getting feedback from customers. This enables firms to meet their needs directly and more effectively.
How to use social computing to improve business practices in UAE
Social computing can revolutionise the way companies carry out businesses in the UAE. It is not enough for companies to use social media in order to market new products or reach new clientele; firms need to create sustained value through this phenomenon. UAE companies need to use social computing to develop their business in all realms; that is, in supplies, human resources, operations, marketing and public relations (Kim 5).
Firms in this country need to apply the concept when dealing with collaboration between two or more employees. They should also embrace it when optimising their supply chains. Social computing can also lead to better business to customer engagement.
The phenomenon can contribute to organisational strategy in the area of connections, analytics, culture and even content exchanges. Companies in the UAE need to realise that social computing will cause them to harness market trends that can drive their business models into the future (Parameswaran & Whinston 765).
Employees and consumers have altered their power over brands as well as IT processes. Workers are using social computing to get past the chain of command inherent in previous technological tools or processes. Customers are taking control of how their brands are perceived, so organisations in the UAE need to embrace this business-transforming idea.
In order to understand how social computing will gain relevance in the UAE business climate, firms need to demonstrate certain features after its adoption. Social business can assist firms in becoming engaged. They will become deeply connected to employees, partners, and most importantly, customers.
As a result, most of these organisations will become more efficient and productive. Social computing will also increase transparency in an organisation by elimination of boundaries that may exist in a company. Sometimes these boundaries can prevent a business from sharing information or utilising certain assets. Lack of transparency may also minimise access to experts, social computing would eradicate that problem.
Social business would also improve business practices in the UAE by eliminating boundaries in the above mentioned areas. Companies will also increase their rates of doing business if they take on social computing. They can anticipate problems and address them early on. Firms can also harness new opportunities that will give them an edge over their competitors (Shwartz 1).
Works Cited
Fun, Rachael & Christian Wagner. “Weblogging: A study of social computing and its impact on organisations”. IT and value creation 45.2(2008): 242-250. Print.
Kim, Peter. The definition of social business. 25 June 2012. Web.
Messinger, Paul, Eleni Stroulia, Kelly Lyons, Michael Bone, Run Niu, Kristen Smirnov, & Stephen Perelgut. “Virtual worlds – past, present and future: new directions in social computing.” Online communities and social network 47.3(2009): 204-228. Print.
Parameswaran, Manoj & Andrew Whinston. “Social computing: an overview.” Communications of the Association for Information Systems 19(2007): 762-780. Print.
Rasmus, Daniel & Rob Salkowitz. Social computing in the enterprise 2009. Web.
Shwartz, Jonathan. “If you want to lead, Blog.” Harvard Business Review Nov. 2005: 1. Print.