Social Media Advantages And Disadvantages

Background and Overview

The use of social networking has expanded in recent years, and communication became multidirectional and instant (Cormode & Krishnamurthy, 2008). Aside from providing bi-directional communication channels, social media have advantages such as low cost and low usage thresholds. Social media became an important medium for businesses to maintain their relationships with customers and employees. The difference between traditional and social media management is that the usage of social media is paid via social currency; social media relies on long-term relationships. Enterprises can spend less to achieve the purposes of two-directional communications for consumers and market development through social media (Kirtis & Karahan, 2011; Fischer & Reuber, 2011). Internet users often form virtual communities via social media, and the relationships among community members are strengthened through information and knowledge transfers, as well as interactions.

In 2014, Internet penetration in Kuwait reached a total of 2.1 million people (Mcilhone, 2014). Access to the Internet through smartphones was the highest in the MENA region at 90%. Among Internet users in Kuwait, social media penetration was 87%. Facebook and Twitter were the most accessed SNS, with 83% of Internet users in Kuwait accessing Facebook (Mcilhone, 2014). More males (91.2%) than females (88.5%) in Kuwait are Facebook users, whereas more females (53.6%) than males (53.6%) used Twitter (Ipsos ICT,