A. UNDERSTANDING, IMPACT AND INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
The development of information technology brings a change in society. The birth of social media caused people’s behavior patterns to experience a shift in existing culture, ethics and norms. Indonesia, with its large population and diverse ethnic, racial and religious cultures, has a lot of potential for social change. From various circles and ages, almost all Indonesian people have and use social media as a means of obtaining and conveying information to the public.
Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as “a group of internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and enable the creation and exchange of user-generated content ”.
Social media is an online media, where users can easily participate, share and create content including blogs, social networks, wikis, forums and virtual worlds. Blogs, social networks are sites where social networks are sites where anyone can create a personal web page, then connect with friends to share information and communicate. The largest social networks include Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. If traditional media uses print media and broadcast media, social media uses the internet. Social media invites anyone who is interested to participate by providing contributions and feedback openly, providing comments, and sharing information quickly and without limits.
The existence of social media has influenced social life in society. Changes in social relationships or as changes to balance . Social relations and all forms of changes in a society, which affect its social system, include values, attitudes and behavioral patterns between groups in society. Social changes that have positive impacts such as ease of obtaining and conveying information, obtaining social and economic benefits. Meanwhile, social changes tend to be negative, such as the emergence of social groups in the name of religion, ethnicity and certain behavioral patterns which sometimes deviate from existing norms.
B. SOCIAL MEDIA DEVELOPMENT GRAPH
As internet and mobile phone technology becomes more advanced, social media also grows rapidly. Now, for example, accessing Facebook or Twitter can be done anywhere and at any time just by using a mobile phone. The speed with which people can access social media has resulted in a major phenomenon in the flow of information not only in developed countries but also in Indonesia. Because of its speed, social media is also starting to appear to replace the role of conventional mass media in disseminating news.
The rapid development of social media now is because everyone can have their own media. If to have traditional media such as television, radio or newspapers, large capital and a lot of labor are needed, then the situation is different with the media. A social media user can access using an internet network, even if the access is slow, without large costs, without expensive tools and can be done alone without employees. We as social media users can freely edit, add, modify text, images, videos, graphics and various other types of content.
Social media has the following characteristics:
§ The message conveyed is not only for one person but can be sent to many people
§ Messages conveyed are free, without having to go through a Gatekeeper
§ The messages conveyed tend to be faster than other media
§ The recipient of the message determines the time of interaction
C. THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is an effective business promotion tool because it can be accessed by anyone, so the promotional network can be wider. Social media has become an indispensable part of marketing for many companies and is one of the best ways to reach customers and clients. Social media such as blogs, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube have a number of benefits for companies and are faster than conventional media such as print media and TV advertisements, brochures and flyers.
Social media has advantages compared to conventional media, including:
Simplicity
Conventional media production requires a high level of skill and superior marketing skills. Meanwhile, social media is very easy to use, even people without IT basics can access it, all that is needed is a computer and an internet connection.
Building Relationships
Social media offers unparalleled opportunities to interact with customers and build relationships. Companies get immediate feedback, ideas, testing and manage customer service quickly. If you use traditional media you cannot do the things mentioned above, but traditional media only carries out one-way communication.
Jangkauan Global
Traditional media can reach globally but of course it is very expensive and time consuming. Through social media, businesses can communicate information in an instant, regardless of geographic location. Social media also makes it possible to tailor your content to each market segment and gives businesses the opportunity to send messages to more users.
Measurable
With an easy tracking system, message delivery can be measured, so companies can immediately know the effectiveness of promotions. This is not the case with conventional media which takes a long time.
D. SOCIAL MEDIA FUNCTIONS
When we define social media as a communication system, we must define the functions related to the communication system, namely:
Administration
Organizing company employee profiles in relevant social networks and relative to your current market position. Establishment of social media policy training, and education for all employees on social media use. Establishment of an organizational blog and integration of content in relevant communities. Market research to find out where your market is.
Listen and Learn
Create a monitoring system to hear what your market wants, what is relevant to them.
Thinking and Planning
By looking at stages 1 and 2, how will you stay ahead of the market and how will you communicate to the market. How social technologies improve the operational efficiency of market relations.
Measurement
Establishing effective measures is essential to measure whether the methods used, the content created and the tools you use are effective in improving your market position and relationships.
E. IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
The positive impact of social media is that it makes it easier for us to interact with many people, expand our relationships, distance and time are no longer a problem, it is easier to express ourselves, dissemination of information can take place quickly, costs are cheaper. Meanwhile, the negative impact of social media is that it distances people who are close and vice versa, face-to-face interactions tend to decrease, making people addicted to the internet, causing conflict, privacy problems, and being vulnerable to the bad influence of other people.