Introduction
Information Technology (IT) is becoming a fundamental requirement for people with desires to align with the modern world. It has been established in a multidimensional perspective that incorporates a variety of fields. These advances in IT are facilitated by mass media, cloud and mobile computing, business analytic, and social media among others (Voss, 2011).
Apparently, the development of IT will continue integrating, advancing and producing quality outcomes. Social media are among the most developing areas in IT. It has contributed significantly to socialization, information dispersion, advertisement, sales, and business development among others. Consequently, this analysis report will pay particulate attention to social media (Facebook) that have enabled business development.
Description
Facebook is a social network that allows interaction of signed users. It was implemented by Mark Zuckerberg in the year two thousand and four (Decarie, 2010). The initial target was to enable students’ interaction in universities.
However, the development of the network assumed a broad dimension that facilitated global interactions. A person registers for free and meets friends from various backgrounds for interaction. It allows users to post ideas, comment, request friendship, create pages, and chat among others. It has managed to collect users throughout the globe since 2004.
Furthermore, Facebook has brought people together for communication and interaction. They allow businesses to advertise their products and services through a section referred to as the business page. Facebook has a patent that allows partnership with other profit making organizations. This depicts that there are opportunities to develop businesses through this popular network. In fact, most businesses have identified the opportunities and applied them for developmental purposes.
Current Capabilities
Popularity of Facebook has managed to bring people together and allow business activities. These services are being offered for free to users. Consequently, it can unite many people regardless of social class and distance between them. The large number of people logging into Facebook facilitates the advertisement and announcement through social sites.
Consequently, it can collect worldwide data and information to display the prevailing issues. It is potential of accessing the globe and retrieving information in a fast manner. For instance, the arising issues about violence appear in Facebook within minutes. People post current issues freely without the necessity of confirmation.
In the recent Boston bombing, people were able to distribute the threats and suspicious activities throughout the globe. Consequently, people understood conversely about the exact occurrences at the place of bombing. Finally, it has the capacity to restrict information meant for specified people. Facebook can prevent people to access confidential information. This could be facilitated by the request of the posting user.
Strengths
Marketing is an area that relies on advertisements facilitated partly by the social media (Waters et al, 2009). Facebook accommodates more than one billion users worldwide.
This epic tally enhances mass operation especially where many ideas area required at once. The visits made to the website facilitate sales of goods and services. In fact, Facebook redirects to partner businesses for selling reasons. The trust created by Facebook facilitates sales and development of other businesses. For instance, Facebook can influence the income of key businesses such as Safaricom.
The distribution of Facebook throughout the globe allows fast and efficient spread of information. In the United States, it is apparent that politics rely on Facebook. Also, many other civilized nations are applying Facebook to disseminate political ambitions. Facebook has achieved a criterion to facilitate business competition. Price advertisement is the most prevailing factor of this competition. This allows people to buy products after comparing prices and qualities. Finally, Facebook can facilitate mass survey for research activities.
Weaknesses
However, it must be noted that Facebook is not liable for individual posts. The accuracy of information posted on Facebook might be misleading. Therefore, conciseness of information posted on this site relies on the posting party. For instance, if a company claim to offer products at cheap prices, the definition of cheap would be on the hands of the buyer and the company. Facebook is facing competition from other social medias such as Twitter and Google plus.
Also, accessing Facebook requires the user to pay the server. Additionally, since Facebook is not a search engine, people might prefer to join the advanced Google plus media. People can try to make fake Facebook pages with similar appearances to confuse users and hark their sites. Another, unexceptional weakness involves wastage of time. If students and children do not manage Facebook appropriately, it could consume their time and arrest the prioritized activities.
Near-Term Expansion
The development of Facebook is mitigating many loops about new opportunities and techniques (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). For instance, there are developments that were made recently about the Facebook Exchange. This development is expected to integrate marketing through Facebook. It is targeted that a company/business will have signed customers. The customers will be able to buy products from this page.
The development of Facebook Exchange is being tested and will be available after some time. The expansion of Facebook does not rely solely on the website. The headquarters have targeted to employ 1000 new workers to operate on the site. This implies that there are additional infrastructure and facilities required for this expansion. The number of new registrations is increasing in a geometric manner. Consequently, there will be an expansion of the members signed to the site.
Adoption to Safaricom
Safaricom limited is a Kenyan company that runs a variety of profit making activities. The company has been providing mobile networks since 1997. It has managed to establish shops and integrate its services in many dimensions. Safaricom’s profits are related partially to social media including Facebook.
Advertisements
Advertisements allow Safaricom to reach customers worldwide. Customers and other people are granted the opportunity to access information. Safaricom has a Facebook page that allows people to check for the offer on call rates, data bundles and products. This familiarity allows people to identify the opportunities that could arise from Safaricom.
It increases the income due to increment of purchases performed. The page shows the popularity of Safaricom limited due to the comments made on their Facebook wall and credible attitude designated by the ‘likes’ (Kirk, 2010). The page allows customers to ask questions through a messaging systems and receive adequate reply. In some instances, the advertisements include direction and privacy policies to enlighten customers about their operations.
In product advertisements, Safaricom assesses customer and announces their appealing product to people. For instance, there were advertisements made about phones. Ideos were the most selling phone brands for 2 years in Kenya. The popularity of this product arose due advertisement through social and msass media.
Socialization
This aspect mitigates Safaricom to apply the most sociable sites that can unite people. Apparently, the integrity and trust of Safaricom lies squarely on interactions with Kenyans. Facebook offers Safaricom the opportunity to integrate its ideas with people. In fact, people from all over the globe could access Facebook and its services without going to the headquarters.
The interactions allow them to present their services, such as study mode, to customers. Also, open channel for socialization allows the potential customers to integrate their abilities explicitly and gain attraction from Safaricom services. This is because there are other existing companies offering similar services to the country. These companies include Zain, Yu and Orange. This field of competition has been described explicitly under the section of competition in a following paragraph.
Competition
Facebook has created a desire for many companies, including those competing with Safaricom, to engage in social media (Lerner, 2011). Consequently, a business that disregards the social media is assumed odd. This influences the income and popularity of the business.
It could have influenced Safaricom to create a page showing how people are attracted to its services. Otherwise, the comments that customers provide are critical for modifications and expansions (Dickson & Eckman, 2008). Safaricom manages to post its financial analysis to the social media. This depicts their apparent strategies in conducting business.
Ideologies
Facebook allows Safaricom to evaluate customers throughout the globe. The fast and easy services allow customers to provide comments about how they perceive Safaricom services. This facilitates modifications of their services and cautiousness when operating.
For instances, it was established recently that there was a crying need for clients to share data bundles. This arose from the continued comments and complaints about internet sharing. Therefore, it can be identified that Facebook played a vital role of determining the needs of people. Other forums allow Safaricom to post questionnaires that can be answered by well-wishers through Facebook.
Additionally, there are questions that Facebook creates to facilitate rating of business services. Safaricom services have been rated to lay the bases and trust in services and products. However, Facebook has shown the areas that Safaricom needs to modify when providing services to customers. For instance, what if the support center did not cater for customers conveniently? Individuals have been fired from jobs due to their disrespect on customers through call and Facebook support centers.
Browsing
Safaricom makes profits when people buy airtime to browse and chat on Facebook. Active users must ensure that they have data bundles to maintain the Facebook account online. Therefore, users buy airtime and raise the income of Safaricom. In Kenya, the development of these social sites triggered Safaricom to develop a daily internet bundle.
The daily bundles vary from five to twenty Kenyan shillings. Additionally, this development triggers Kenyans to buy phones that can browse Facebook. Consequently, Safaricom developed shops to sell phones, laptops, modems, and electronic accessories among others. Therefore, it could be concluded that Facebook has led to the development of Safaricom through browsing charges.
Messaging Facebook
Safaricom has integrated the use of Facebook through messaging. Individuals without browsing devices can use Facebook through sending messages. These messages are sent from the Safaricom network. Therefore, charges are incurred to cater for the services being offered by Safaricom.
This messaging Facebook allows the use of Facebook to every person owning a phone. In Kenya, 70% of the total country population own phones that can reply to messages. Consequently, Safaricom’s income from messaging services is increased due to the increased number of Facebook users.
Security
Facebook and Safaricom have a mutual share of identity. Irregularities identified under browsing of unidentified individuals are established and defined under the Safaricom customer databases. For instance, if a person uses Facebook to cyberbully another individual, Safaricom provides records of all customer registered to use the internet. Consequently, Facebook and Safaricom can assist each other to eradicate illegal activities.
Facebook users comply with the companies policies that disregard illegal activities. The registered name must represent a real person (Kim, & Choi, 2007). Therefore, Safaricom allows registration of customers to the website through Facebook account. This simplifies the process of signing up to a Safaricom account. When customers increase, it is expected that profits will rise proportionally. The relationship between Safaricom and Facebook achieves attainment of trust due to their high rating.
Privacy
Facebook privacy keeps Safaricom confident when posting and serving customers through its channel. The privacy allows Safaricom to secure the contents of customers and their activities. Customers are, therefore, confident when sharing through the website. They are aware that their private issues will not be accessed by third parties. Legal activities require companies to provide the exact requirements and services offered.
These policies are signed to ensure that a court of law can be involved in cases of dispute. It is, therefore, promising when both Safaricom and Facebook have a privacy policy to protect customers. In case a customer is offended by the companies, the legal necessities can isolate the mistakes and charge the party concerned. This makes Safaricom and Facebook trustworthy to the customers. This development boosts Safaricom when operating and serving the customers appropriately.
Suggestions and Comments
This area has valid and practical implications to the development of Safaricom limited. They gather information from Kenyans and other people from the globe to develop the business. Safaricom remains updated about the occurrences of every day. This allows abrupt response before customers are lost.
Otherwise, if customers remain dissatisfied without any responsive measure towards the dissatisfaction, other businesses will join the market. The suggestions allow Safaricom to evaluate the mood of people and determine the best strategies of fixing issues in accordance to the suggestions.
Attraction becomes evident when a need is addressed. Customers appreciate that their voice matters to the business operations. Facebook facilitates this assessment at a fast rate and on a wide area. The media can manage to collect ideas from a million people in different countries.
Conclusion
Advancements of information technology are prevalent and exposed throughout the globe (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). This growth has been facilitated significantly by social media. Facebook has dispersed well throughout the world. It could be used to develop businesses and trigger other developments in information technology.
The growth of Facebook could assume a bigger dimension than the one that we experience today. However, it is through determination and desires to test/apply ideas that these establishments become successful. Developers and other liberal minded people should establish bases to allow prosperity of businesses such as Safaricom. Also, businesses should recognize Facebook and design strategies to develop it towards their advantage.
References
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