This research report examines the impact of social networking sites on business. It was submitted by four students to their professors at KSOM, KIIT University. The report includes a literature review on the topic, a description of the research methodology used, an analysis of data collected through questionnaires, and conclusions and suggestions. The research aims to understand how social networking sites are impacting business and which sites are most popular for social networking. It analyzes data collected from 50 students through questionnaires about their social media usage and perceptions of how sites can be used for business.
14. We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to:
15. (1) Construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,
16. (2) Articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and
17. (3) View and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.
18. While we use the term "social network site" to describe this phenomenon, the term "social networking sites" also appears in public discourse, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. "Networking" emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers. While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary practice on many of them, nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC).
19. What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between "latent ties" (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily "networking" or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them "social network sites."
21. While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features, their backbone consists of visible profiles that display an articulated list of Friends who are also users of the system. Profiles are unique pages where one can type oneself into being. After joining an SNS, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated using the answers to these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests, and an "about me" section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo. Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia content or modifying their profile's look and feel. Others, such as Facebook, allow users to add modules ("Applications") that enhance their profile.
22. The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user discretion. By default, profiles on Orkut or hi5.com are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account. Alternatively, sites like MySpace allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public or "Friends only." Facebook takes a different approach—by default, users who are part of the same "network" can view each other's profiles, unless a profile owner has decided to deny permission to those in their network. Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary ways that SNSs differentiate themselves from each other.
23. After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system with whom they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs depending on the site popular terms include "Friends," "Contacts," and "Fans." Most SNSs require bi-directional confirmation for Friendship, but some do not. These one-directional ties are sometimes labelled as "Fans" or "Followers," but many sites call these Friends as well. The term "Friends" can be misleading, because the connection does not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense, and the reasons people connect are varied (Boyd, 2006).
24. The public display of connections is a crucial component of SNSs. The Friends list contains links to each Friend's profile, enabling viewers to traverse the network graph by clicking through the Friends lists. On most sites, the list of Friends is visible to anyone who is permitted to view the profile, although there are exceptions.
25. Most SNSs also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages on their Friends' profiles. This feature typically involves leaving "comments," although sites employ various labels for this feature. In addition, SNSs often have a private messaging feature similar to webmail. While both private messages and comments are popular on most of the major SNSs, they are not universally available.
26. Beyond profiles, Friends, comments, and private messaging, SNSs vary greatly in their features and user base. Some have photo-sharing or video-sharing capabilities; others have built-in blogging and instant messaging technology. There
27. are mobile-specific SNSs (e.g., Dodgeball), but some web-based SNSs also support limited mobile interactions (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, and Cyworld). Many SNSs target people from specific geographical regions or linguistic groups, although this does not always determine the site's constituency. Orkut, for
30. Content sharing and business : users share and discuss personal and professional contents. eg orkut and facebook
31.
32.
33.
34. People who use sns regularly in daily life works as and when required fall in the age group of 22-26.
35.
36. Cramer’s v of .1 shows a weak relationship between gender and reason to click on an advertisement.
37.
38. 82.3% of males and 93.8% of females found advertisements on the sns.
39. 17.6% males and 6.3% females did not find any advertisements in their accounts on sns.
40. Low cramer’s value of .1 shows a weak relationship between the gender and availability of advertisements in their accounts on social networking sites.
47. 58% of the respondents use social networking sites as and when required. These respondents belong to the age group of 22-26 yrs.
48. 42% of the respondents click on a link of a brand or company which they are aware of. Here females accounted for the majority of the share than their counterparts.
49. 86% 0f the respondents noticed advertisements in their accounts on sns in last 3 weeks. Males noticed more advertisements than the females.
50. 86% of the respondents trust the social networking sites and display their education information on them. Here again males accounted for major accountability than females.
51.
52. Individuals in the age group of 22-26 use these sites as and when required for there purposes which may be educative or for general purpose.
53. The females are more driven by the brands than men and hence account for 50% clicks on advertisements displaying their known brands or companies.
54. People use these networking sites for their purposes and thus we can see that they (86%) of the respondents keep a track of the advertisements displayed on these sites.
55. They are also quite aware of the cyber crimes and issues related and thus prefer to remain safe by clicking on the sites known to them.
56. 91.2% of the males prefer displaying their educative information on these sites while 8.8% refrain themselves from displaying their personal information.
57.
58. Results could have been more substantial if respondents were from different sectors of the economy.
59. Tests to check the validity of results were constricted as all questions were in nominal scale.
71. More than 2 years <br /> 5. Please state your tool to use social network (you can choose more than one choice)<br /> PC<br /> <br /> Laptop<br /> Smart Phones<br /> <br /> <br /> 6. Did the information you get about the product on various social-networking sites persuade you to buy <br /> the product?<br /> Yes<br /> No<br /> Can’t Say<br /> 7. Would you like the companies making the use of Blogs to mention in details about the various <br /> features associated with the product?<br /> Yes<br /> No<br /> Can't Say<br /> 8. To what extent you make use of social-media tools in your daily work?<br /> I don’t need it in my work<br /> Regularly<br /> As and when need arises<br /> 9. In the last three visits, did you notice any advertising on social networking websites?<br /> Yes <br /> No<br /> 10. If you answered NO to the previous question - What is the primary reason(s) you skip the ads <br /> messages? (please skip this question if you answered YES to the above one)<br /> It is not always clear the message is an ad<br /> It is in the same colour as non-ads messages <br /> It is not in a visible part of the screen on my profile<br /> I’m so used to it I no longer look at the place where it is always placed<br /> <br /> I use a paid account to avoid ads<br /> <br /> 11. Can you consider ads that you see on your profile relevant to your interests?<br /> <br /> Yes, most of the time<br /> Occasionally<br /> <br /> No, never<br /> <br /> 12. How often do you click on the ads you see on your profile?<br /> Often<br /> Rarely<br /> Occasionally<br /> <br /> Almost Never<br /> 13. What is the main reason that makes you click an ad?<br /> It is relevant to what I want/interested in<br /> I’m intrigued by a hint in a promotion<br /> I can get anything FREE<br /> I recognize the brand/company/product<br /> <br /> I’m attracted by a celebrity on an ad<br /> 14. Do you trust information you obtain via social networking websites?<br /> <br /> Yes<br /> Yes if it comes from my friends/connections<br /> <br /> Yes if it comes from professional communities<br /> Yes if it comes from company official profiles/pages<br /> <br /> No, I’m always critical to such kind of information and check other sources<br /> 15. According to you, which industry mostly prefers ads in Social Networking Sites.<br /> FMCG<br /> IT<br /> Institutions/ Universities<br /> Entertainment Industry<br /> Electronics Industry<br /> Others<br /> <br /> <br /> 16. What is the key reason(s) for which companies are joining social networking sites?Viral <br /> Marketing :A technique aiming at reproducing quot;
word of mouthquot;
, usually on the internet by e-mail or .<br /> Social networking sites.<br /> <br /> Viral Marketing<br /> Branding<br /> Niche Marketing<br /> Competing with other brands<br /> <br />17. Would you like to highlight your relationship to your college/university at your SN profile (s)?<br /> <br /> <br /> Yes, I list my college/university as a place where I am studying/studied<br /> <br /> No, I’m not highlighting my place of studies<br />18. What are the other sources which made you aware about the product?<br /> Television<br /> Newspaper<br /> Banner<br /> <br /> Magazines<br /> Others<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />