Social media has had a dramatic effect on the way consumers interact with brands. Today, customers can invest their hard-earned money into the products and services of a company through social media channels. This allows them to emotionally connect with a brand and feel closer to it.
Although there are a number of positive benefits of social media, it also presents a number of negative effects. These include addiction, information overload, and stress.
Research on the impact of social media has expanded over the past two decades. Initially, studies focused on the ill-effects of social media on routine performance. Later, studies explored both dysfunctional and positive tendencies.
One study, conducted by Sung et al., examined the use of Facebook by university students in the United States. They found that people in the same class year tended to form denser networks.
In addition, a large percentage of users were unaware of the risks of revealing their personal information on social networking sites. Other studies investigated the effect of social media on natural disasters.
Another study, conducted by Oh et al., investigated the use of social media by individuals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Their findings revealed that Facebook had an impact on the level of social capital across the nation.
Finally, several studies have examined the negative impact of social media on the workplace. While a few suggested that there was a stigma associated with social media usage, others indicated that users were not able to effectively manage their social networks.
