Assignment 1: Social Media
Running Head: SOCIAL MEDIA 1
SOCIAL MEDIA 2
Social media
Name
Institution
This paper looks at how blogging applies the four components of a legally astute social media marketing manager who use the opportunities available in the social media for consumer transactions and how each component can mitigate the risk involved in doing business in cyberspace. In addition, the paper will examine the of alternative dispute resolution and determine the best way to be used in resolving genuine disputes that arise with consumers who may make purchases from businesses that provide links through the social media. The paper will also identify how the federal government can best control the transactions of the social media due to the fact that these transactions can occur across the borders of the countries. It will also examine the three branches of government and discuss which branch can make the most significant impact on regulating consumer transactions via social media outlets. Finally, it will explain the agency and principal relationship that exists on social media sites between the social media provider and businesses that utilize the site for advertising.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Blogging is one of the most common sites besides Facebook and tweeter whereby people from different areas exchange information and ideas. Additionally, blogging is used to post pictures, videos, and other points of individual interest which are then shared with other bloggers and individuals from other parts of the world. Long time ago, business men used face to face conversations to chat with their customers, but this mode of communication was inefficient since a businessman only interacted with a small group of people. This created a need to come up with new systems of communication potential customers in order to acquire a large market share. Blogging has made this possible and has changed the face of E- marketing and has made it
possible for business men to interact with a large number of prospective customers. .The Connecting Blogs have allowed easy communication between businesses and customers. The chief executives are nowadays able to easily communicate to the customers via blogging. These blogs have exposed the customers to the activities of the organization and how the activities are conducted by the various departments of the organization. Through blogs, businesses have been able to stress on their strengths and have enabled the m to build a good reputation and create a good public image. With blogging, businesses are able to disseminate all the information about their goods quickly and also to demonstrate how their products work. The Selling Blog has been used as a marketing platform for goods and services. With blogs, organizations are able to provide more marketing information to their customers. It is also possible to easily prepare and implement marketing strategies geared towards attracting more prospective customers. Businesses create these blogging accounts to interact with various blogging communities who may be prospective suppliers, customers or even associates. The Informative Blog is used by businesses to promote the sale of their products through advertising and also to share business ideas and information. The Entertaining blogs help to attract customers by showing them the office activities conducted and are usually designed in an eye-catching arrangement or pattern.
The top management in the social media marketing should have adequate knowledge of the law pertaining to the procedures of conducting business through the social media. The managers should be aware of the legal astuteness which will enable them to communicate well with the council in order to solve the problems which arises in transacting business via the social media. Legal knowledge is required and is summarized into four components of the legal astute. The first component is a set of value laden attitudes in which the managers involved in social media transactions are required to recognize the role of law and incorporate these legal aspects in social media activities. They should meet the ethical standards and social requirements which mitigate the risk of being sued in court due to lack of legal compliance. The second component is the proactive approach which states that managers ought to take legal considerations positively and should use them at all the stages of their work both in making and implementing strategies.by doing so, the managers are able to conduct their activities with absolute compliance with the set regulations to avoid the risks of being shut down due to illegal conduct. The third component is the exercise of informed judgments and managers should make wise decisions on the allocation of resources for the benefit of the business. This will minimize the risk of losses due to resource wastage in social media services. The last component is the context-specific knowledge which requires the entire manager to have an understanding of the work of the law in setting the rules of conducting social media activities. Managers should learn how to apply legal tools correctly in order to mitigate the risks of closer of operations due to legal problems arise from poor interpretation of the law.
Social media transactions involve many disputes that arise between customers and sellers due to conflicts of interests. Disputes that occur in the internet transactions between buyers and sellers through blogging are solved in many ways. Alternative Dispute Resolution is usually adopted to solve these disputes that occur in these activities. This involves a procedure or procedures willingly agreed by the parties to the dispute to resolve issues in controversy to avoid resorting to litigation. These methods include; negotiation, arbitration, facilitation, fact-finding, mediation, mini-trial, etc. Negotiation allows the dispute parties to communicate and solve problems by themselves. Arbitration involves a third neutral party who listens to the conflicting parties and decides who is right and who is wrong depending on the evidence. Facilitation involves also a neutral who works with both parties and assists them to develop a common solution. Fact-finding engages a neutral party who conducts thorough investigations and comes up with facts to recommend a way of resolving conflicts. Mediation is whereby a neutral party who has no authority helps the conflicting parties to reach an agreement. Finally, mini-trial involves a third party with authority who listens to facts and evidence from both parties and states a way of solving the conflicts which must be followed. Arbitration pertains to handing over the dispute to a neutral who decides the matter after reviewing the evidence and hearing arguments from both parties. I think negotiation is the most appropriate and effective method of resolving conflicts that may arise in social media transactions. This is because the businessman and the customers may be located in different countries which hinder the use of other methods of conflict resolution which require third party participation. It is a challenge to engage a third party in social media activities hence negotiation is more applicable since customers and businessmen communicate and come into an agreement.
The federal government can control the social media transactions in various ways. One of these ways is through laying down procedures to be followed by businesses and issuing supervision to oversee that social media activities are in compliance with the law. The federal government is providing guidance to businesses that use the social media so as to reduce the probability of risk occurrence. The FBI has created an internet monitoring system to control and eliminate cybercrimes. This protects consumers from exploitation by dishonest business men. The federal government is fighting for collaboration with top internet companies such as yahoo and Google to assist them in monitoring internet activities in order to control these activities. The FBI is also implementing the wiretapping system to also control these media activities. The domestic communication and assistance sector has also been created to enforce the laws of scrutinizing communication data through the web.
The United States of America government is stipulated by the US constitution which was formed in 178. The state powers are shared between the state and the federal government. 9The three branches of government in the US are the legislative government (congress), the executive branch and the judicial branch. The legislative branch is composed of the senate and the House of Representatives. Its major function is to make laws. The senate is made up of 100 senators headed by the vice president and they approve nominations made by the president. The house of representatives is made up435 representatives who are headed by the speaker of the house elected by the representatives. The executive branch of the government is headed by the president who approves the laws put forward by the legislative branch. The president appoints or removes cabinet members and acts as the head of state and the commander in chief of the armed forces. The vice president and the cabinet members also make up the executive branch. The judicial branch is composed of the court systems and oversees the activities of the courts in the US. It interprets the constitution and the laws passed by congress. The Supreme Court is the leader of the judicial branch, and it rules whether something is in accordance to the constitution or not. Supreme Court is composed of nine judges elected by the president and gives final decisions. Among the three branches of government, the legislative branch is the most effective and has the largest significant impact on regulating consumer transactions via social media outlets. The congress is given the powers to collect taxes hence may increase taxes on social media advertisements to limit the social media marketing. The congress is involved in making laws hence may enact laws meant to burn social media marketing which must be adhered to. Through the congressional oversight, the legislative branch is given the mandate to enact laws to prevent fraud and this may secure customers from fraudulent business men.
A principal -agency relationship exists in social media transactions in the sense that the business employs the social media provider to carry out advertisement and sales promotion of the business goods to the prospective customers on behalf of the businessman. In this case, the business acts like the principle and the social media provider acts as an agent who is charged with a responsibility of carrying out tasks on behalf of the business. Conflicts of interests may arise where the social media provider fails to follow the specifications laid down by the business.
Conclusion
Social media has played a major role towards promoting entrepreneurial growth in the field of business. Blogging has enabled the business men to advertise and avail their services to a large number consumers both domestically and globally. Managers involved in social media activities should adhere to certain ethical standards and legal requirements. The federal government has made numerous efforts to control social media activities so as to prevent unlawful practices. Various conflict resolution measures such as negotiation are used in settling disputes between parties in social media activities. An agency relationship exists between the social media provider and the business man where the provider is employed to perform duties on behalf of the business man.
References
Winning legally; how to use the law to create value (havard business school press 2005)
Assaad, waad; Jorge max Gomez . social networking in marketing. February 2013
Social media marketing by dave evans and jake mckeeseptember 2010