Essay draft 1

Cyber bullying is one of the problems which arise due to the use of social media. Cyber bullying refers to the use of electronic media especially the internet to threaten, intimidate and upset some one. It can come from friends in school or even online friends made in social media platform . This cyber bullying behavior has become a problem because it can lead to potentially adverse effects on the victims like psychological trauma and in the worse cases it has caused victims to commit suicide. Online bullying is especially prominent in Singapore. According to the study done by Microsoft in 2012, Singapore has the second highest rate of cyber bulling globally among children and youth between the ages of 8 and 17(Nawira Baig, 2014). This study is conducted by asking children about negative experiences they have had online from their point of view such as being called mean names, being teased etc. Similarly, in 2013 a survey had been done by Touch Cyber Wellness on 1,900 primary school students and 3,000 secondary school pupils. It revealed that 1 in 3 of the latter population had been bullied online, while 1 in 4 surveyed admitted to having bullied their peers in the online sphere through social networks (Nawira Baig, 2014). The trend in primary school is similar whereby 1 out of 5 students had been taunted on social media platform. There are efforts by the government and private organizations to mitigate the problem of cyber bullying among the children and youths.

The government has implemented the Harassment act in 2014 as an measure in curbing the problem of cyber bullying (Attorney-General’s Chambers, 2104). This new act would give more protection to the ordinary citizens including children who are using the internet in the form of punishments such as fine and custodial sentence depending on the severity of the offender’s action. This law ensures that individual is accountable for crimes committed online through social media platform or websites. However, the measure may not be effective as there is no guide line on ascertaining the identity of the anonymous offender. Thus, the identity of the anonymous can only be trace if educators and profession who work with the youth are given the resources to do so. Furthermore, if the victim does not report the case of cyber bullying, there is no way to enforce this law. The offender may be just left unpunished and continue his wrongdoings. In addition, school bullying in the form of cyber bullying is a complex problem which cannot be adequately resolved through legislation. As the offenders might be young and immature, they may commit mistakes unknowingly due to poor judgment. Thus, the laws should be more lenient towards children.

Besides enforcement of the law, more can be done to empower the youth to speak up against cyber bullying as young people not generally deterred by legal policies. According the research done by Cyber-bullying Research Centre in America, it is shown that informal social controls like peer influence, are found to be more influential in curbing deviant behavior among the youth (Theresa Tan, 2013). Moreover, a research done on about 4500 americans students in 2010 found that those students who felt their parents and schools were not dismissive of cyber-bullying and would punish them for such behavior were less likely to do so (Theresa Tan, 2013). Hence, parents and schools play an important role in deterring cyber bullying behavior through instilling moral values in the young people and teaching them the proper behavior when using social media.

In order to create awareness on cyberbully issue, private organization such as Touch Cyber wellness has been proactively educating children and teenagers on the consequences of using social media in a negative way and inspires them to use the Internet in positive ways(Touch Community Services, 2014). Moreover, other organization such as Media Literacy Council has partnered with Facebook to provide new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers (Media Literacy Council, 2015). These includes important tools which gives them information on what they can do if they experience something upsetting, recommendations to adult who want to help, as well as guidance to the person accused on why they have upset someone and how they can make it better. Education on cyber awareness seems to be an effective method in bringing across the anti-bully message among the youths. Nevertheless, there are still cases which can go unnoticed if the victims themselves do not seek help or do not know that they are being victimized. As cyberspace extends beyond the bounds of the school, parents have to be more cautious about their children’s online activities.Close cooperation between parents and schools is required to help identify children who are victims of cyber bullying so that appropriate steps can be taken.

It is evident that cyber bullying is growing issue in today’s society. Anonymity online can be misused to threaten and victimize the young people who uses the internet often. With the implementation of the Harassment Act, offenders can be punished and it serves as a warning for those who have not been caught. Moreover, education and safety resources provided by non-profit organization can help to reduce the occurrence of cyber bullying cases but it does not completely prevent the occurrence of it. Therefore, close cooperation between parents and school is essential as they play important roles in monitoring the child’s behavior and instilling moral values in them.

(911 words)

References

Attorney-General’s Chambers. (2015).Protection From Harassment Act 2014. Singapore Statutes Online. Retrieved from http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=DocId%3A%2207275b05-417a-4de5-a316-4c15606a2b8d%22%20Status%3Ainforce%20Depth%3A0;rec=0

Media Literacy Council. (2015). Press Release. Facebook and the media literacy council launch new safety resources for teens, parents and teachers in Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.medialiteracycouncil.sg/press-room/press-releases/Pages/BullyingPreventionCentre.aspx#sthash.eMhccH1Y.dpuf

Nawira Baig. (2014). 1 In 3 Students In Singapore Have Been Victims Of Cyberbullying. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/1-3-students-singapore-victims-070013753.html

Theresa Tan. (2103). Tackle cyber-bullying in Singapore before it gets worse. Retrieved from http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/tackle-cyber-bullying-singapore-it-gets-worse/page/0/0

Touch Community Services. (2014). Youth Service Group. Touch Cyber Wellness. Retrieved from http://www.touch.org.sg/touch_cyber_wellness

"An Influential Event "

An event which has shaped my life and the person I have become was the day my grandmother passed away. It happened five years ago when I was in my junior year in polytechnic. My grandmother took care of my brother and I since we were born as both of my parents are working. We had very close ties because we stayed together. I still remembered her telling me bed time stories whenever I couldn’t sleep at night. She was my closest kin since then.

As I grew older, my grandmother and I started to drift apart; I was getting busier with my school and friends. I started neglecting her and our conversation got lesser and lesser. Eventually, my grandmother started to fall sick and many illnesses caught up on her. She had dementia, sometimes she forgot who I am, so I find it very difficult to communicate with her and I did not know what to talk to her

It was five years ago when my grandmother got a stroke because she fell down in the toilet; she became bed ridden and she could not articulate her speech well anymore. There was hardly any interaction between us after she was bed ridden as I did not know how to talk to her. Not long after, she passed away. It was then when I realized that I had so many things which I have not told her and should have done for her. I regret not taking care of her when she was sick and old. I was very selfish and I took many things for granted. I knew that I had to change so that I would not have any regrets in the future. Ever since my grandmother passed away, I have changed for the better; I cherish every thing I have now in my life and making for use of every moment.

reader response draft 3

The article titled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (Newton, 2014) states that social media is a critical concept to all businesses. The author discusses the different challenges and opportunities of using social media for businesses (Newton, 2010). He claims that social media is crucial for improving sales and it is advisable to allow employees’ participation in the platform. However, businesses have to know ways in attracting their target market and engaging them through the right social media platform.

In this article, the author mentions that “social media is a concept that most organizations are realizing they have to embrace”. This is indeed true based on the fact that social media tools can help to increase sales provided that businesses choose platforms which suited their targeted pool of customers and also have the capability to retain them. As a frequent user of social media, I usually browse through different platforms for new update on products such as clothing, accessories and shoes. If I come across a product I like on Instagram, I visit the online store and purchase it. Hence, social media serves as a good advertising platform for businesses as they can make use of it to increase their brand exposure and their web traffic. Moreover, there is a growing trend in the users of social media, according to the statistics provided by Statista; the numbers of social network user worldwide have climbed from 0.97 billion in 2010 to 1.79 billion in 2014. This suggests that businesses are able to achieve higher market penetration through social media due to the rising numbers of user.

The author also points out another important point, which is a business choosing its active sites. This is largely dependent on a business’ targeted market. For instance, if the target group is youths, Instagram, Twitter and online blogs are better choices as users of these platforms are mostly from the younger age group. However, just being active is not enough to attract new customers; businesses have to engage customers by using humor and interesting posts. Being a consumer myself, I am more attracted to sites which use humor to promote their products and also this certainly leaves a deep impression on me. This is supported by the article “2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media” whereby one of the five reasons why people follow brands on social media is for its entertaining content (Karr,2014).


In addition, the two other reasons why people follow brands on social media are for its customer service and ability to offer feedback (Karr,2014). A customer like to have product support after purchase from the seller as this can improve his or her buying experience and trust in the brand. Furthermore, before buying a product, most of the people read the buyers’ reviews of the product and the feedback provided by the seller as these have an influence on his or her purchase decision. In order to provide feedback more efficiently, Karr suggested that an organization should set up a social media team to handle any matters regarding the platform and allow other employees in the organization to participate instead of blocking social media applications. This is a useful concept that businesses should adopt, as by proving prompt feedback to the consumers can improve customer satisfaction. Eventually it can translate into higher sales for the company.


In conclusion, social media is a useful tool for businesses as it can help to boost their sales level. Nonetheless, it is only useful if businesses choose the suitable platform for their targeted customers and they must also have the ability to retain them.

(602 words)

References


Karr,D. (2014, October 1). 2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media [web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.marketingtechblog.com/2014-statistics-trends-businesses-social-media/

Newton,P. (2014, June 18). The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved from http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-posts/the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-social-media/

Number of social network users worldwide from 2010 to 2018 (in billions). (2015). Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/

Reader response draft 2

The article titled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (Newton, 2014) states that social media is a critical concept to all businesses. The author discusses the different challenges and opportunities of using social media for businesses (as cited in Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). He claims that social media is crucial for improving sales and it is advisable to allow employees’ participation in the platform. However, businesses have to know ways in attracting their target market and engaging them through the right social media platform.

In this article, the author mentions that “social media is a concept that most organizations are realizing they have to embrace”. This is indeed true based on my personal experience. As a frequent user of social media, I usually browse through different platforms for new updates on products such as clothing, accessories and shoes. If I come across a product I like on Instagram, I would visit the online store and purchase it. Hence, social media serves as a good advertising platform for businesses as they can make use of it to increase the brand exposure and their web traffic. Moreover, there is a growing trend in the users of social media, according to the statistics provided by Statista; the number of social network users worldwide has climbed from 0.97 billion in 2010 to 1.79 billion in 2014. This suggests that businesses would be able to achieve higher market penetration through social media due to the rising number of users.

The author also point out another important point, which is choosing their active sites. This would be largely dependent on the business’s targeted market. For instance, if the target group is the youth, Instagram, Twitter and online blogs would be a better choice of platform as most users are from the younger age group. However, just being active is not enough to attract new customers; businesses have to engage customers by using humor and interesting posts. Being a consumer myself, I would be more attracted to sites which use humor to promote their products and also this would certainly leave a deep impression in me. This is supported by the article “2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media” whereby one of the five reasons why people follow brands on social media is for its entertaining content (Karr,2014).


In addition, the two other reasons to why people follow brands on social media are for its customer service and ability to offer feedback (Karr,2014). A customer would like to have product support after purchase from the seller as this would improve his or her buying experience and trust in the brand. Furthermore, before buying a product, most of the people would read the buyers’ reviews of the product and the feedback provided by the seller as these would have an influence on his or her purchase decision. In order to provide feedback more efficiently, the author suggested that an organization should set up a social media team to handle any matters regarding the platform and allow other employees in the organization to participate instead of blocking social media applications. This is a useful concept that businesses should adopt, as by proving prompt feedback to the consumers can improve customer satisfaction. Eventually it can translate into higher sales for the company.


In conclusion, social media is a useful tool for businesses as it can help to boost their sales level. Nonetheless, it is only useful if businesses choose the suitable platform where the targeted customers are present and they must also have the ability to retain them.


References

Number of social network users worldwide from 2010 to 2018 (in billions). (2015). Retrieved Feb 5, http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/


Puala Newton. (2014). The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved Feb 9, http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-posts/the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-social-media/

Douglas Karr.(2014). 2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media. Retrieved Feb 8, https://www.marketingtechblog.com/2014-statistics-trends-businesses-social-media/


Andreas M. Kaplan & Michael Haenlein. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved Feb 9 http://michaelhaenlein.com/Publications/Kaplan,%20Andreas%20-%20Users%20of%20the%20world,%20unite.pdf

"The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media" reader response draft 1

The article titled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (Newton, 2014) states that social media is a critical concept to all businesses. The author discusses the different challenges and opportunities of using social media for businesses (as cited in Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). He believes that social media is crucial for improving sales and it is advisable to allow employees’ participation in the platform. However, businesses have to know ways to attract their target market and also engage them through the right social media platform.

In this article, the author mentions that “social media is a concept that most organizations are realizing they have to embrace”. I feel that this is indeed true based on my personal experience. I use social media on a daily basis, and I usually browse through different platforms for new updates on products such as clothing, accessories and shoes. For example, if I come across a product I like on Instagram, I would visit the online store and purchase it. Hence, social media serve as a good advertising platform for businesses as they can make use of it to increase brand exposure and increase web traffic. Moreover, there is an increasing trend in the users of social media, according to the statistics provided by Statista; number of social network users worldwide has climbed from 0.97 billion in 2010 to 1.79 billion in 2014. This means that businesses would be able to achieve higher market penetration through social media.

The author also point out another important point which is choosing their active sites. I feel that this would be dependent largely on the business’s targeted market. For instance, if the target group is the youth, Instagram, Twitter and online blogs would be a better choice of platform as most users are from the younger age group. However, just being active is not enough to attract new customers; businesses have to engage customers by using humor and interesting posts. One of the five reasons why people follow brands on social media is for its entertaining content (2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media). This is true because as a consumer myself, I would be attracted to sites which uses humor to promote their products and also this would certainly leave a deep impression in me.

In addition, the two other reasons to why people follow brands on social media are for its customer service and ability to offer feedback (2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media). Being a consumer myself, I would like to have product support after purchases from the seller as this would improve my buying experience and trust in the products. Furthermore, before I buy a product I would read the buyers’ reviews of the product and the feedback provided by the seller as these would have an influence on my purchase decision. In order to provide feedback more efficiently, the author suggested that organization should set up a social media team to handle any matters regarding the platform and allow other employees in the organization to participate instead of blocking social media applications. I feel that this is a useful concept which businesses should adopt as by proving prompt feedback to the consumers, as it can improve customer satisfaction and in turn translates into more sales for the company.

In conclusion, social media is a useful tool for businesses as it can help to boost their sales level. Nonetheless, it is only useful if businesses choose the suitable platform where the targeted customers are present and also have the ability to retain them.



References


Number of social network users worldwide from 2010 to 2018 (in billions). (2015). Retrieved Feb 5, http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/


Puala Newton. (2014). The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved Feb 9, http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-posts/the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-social-media/

Douglas Karr.(2014). 2014 Statistics and Trends for Businesses on Social Media. Retrieved Feb 8,
https://www.marketingtechblog.com/2014-statistics-trends-businesses-social-media/

Andreas M. Kaplan & Michael Haenlein. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Retrieved Feb 9 http://michaelhaenlein.com/Publications/Kaplan,%20Andreas%20-%20Users%20of%20the%20world,%20unite.pdf

Outline for reader response

Main thesis- Social media is an essential concept for businesses

First supporting idea- businesses can use social media to advertise their products

Explanation- increased the knowledge of products through social media, increase target market size

Example- growing number of online shoppers, there are increasing number of people who use social media on a daily basis

Second supporting idea- allowing all employees in an organization rather than only the group who is in charge of the social media to participate in social media is beneficial

Explanation- there will be more feedback on improving customer satisfaction in using the social media platform; customer support service is more efficient, and also increase employees’ commitment to the organization

Example- everyone can have access to the social media platform will enhance interaction between the company and customer and also within the organization itself

Summary for “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media”

The article titled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (Newton, 2014) states that social media is a critical concept to all businesses. The author discussed the different challenges and opportunities of using social media for businesses (as cited in Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). He believes that social media is crucial for improving sales and it is advisable to allow employees’ participation in the platform. However, businesses have to know the ways to attract their target market and also engage them through the right platform.