Unit-IV

Twitter
Twitter is a 'microblogging' system that allows you to send and receive short posts called tweets.
Tweets can be up to 140 characters long and can include links to relevant websites and resources.
Twitter users follow other users. If you follow someone you can see their tweets in your twitter
'timeline'. You can choose to follow people and organisations with similar academic and
personal interests to you. You can create your own tweets or you can retweet information that
has been tweeted by others. Retweeting means that information can be shared quickly and
efficiently with a large number of people.
Why use Twitter?
Twitter has become increasingly popular with academics as well as students, policymakers,
politicians and the general public. Many users struggled to understand what Twitter is and how
they could use it, but it has now become the social media platform of choice for [Link]
snappy nature of tweets means that Twitter is widely used by smartphone users who don‘t want
to read long content items on-screen.
Twitter allows you to:
 easily promote your research, for example by providing links to your blog stories, journal
articles and news items
 reach a large number of people quickly through tweets and retweets
 follow the work of other experts in your field
 build relationships with experts and other followers
 keep up-to-date with the latest news and developments, and share it with others instantly
 reach new audiences
 seek feedback about your work and give feedback to others
 follow and contribute to discussions on events, for example conferences that you can't
attend in person
 express who you are as a person.
What should you tweet about?
The type of information you tweet can depend on whether you are tweeting as an individual or as
an organisation, project or group.
If you have a personal Twitter account you may want to mix tweets about your research with
tweets about other things that are of interest to you, for example hobbies, news stories and
general observations. Insights into non-academic aspects of your life can help make you an
interesting person to follow. If you are tweeting on behalf of an organisation, project or group
then you may choose to only send research-related tweets. Twitter is a relatively informal
communications tool so doesn‘t be afraid to embrace a personal, friendly and humorous
approach to tweeting.
Examples of things you can tweet
 Details of new publications or resources you've produced
 News items that feature your research
 Links to any blog posts you've written
 Thoughts on conferences you attend
 Questions to invite feedback
 Interesting news items you‘ve found
 Interesting photographs
 Replies to other people's tweets
 Retweets of other people's tweets
Twitter, this social network that promises a lot, which is based on writing 140 characters and
showing them to your followers. There is many advantages and disadvantages of Twitter. All this
is part of the development of computer technology in the Internet area.
Advantages of Twitter
 Twitter is a very simple social network because it allows you to be aware of everything
that interests you, such as communities, celebrities or just people who are not famous but
who you know. This is a very important advantage of Twitter.
 The fact that everything has to be written in 140 characters makes the social network
simple and practical for human thinking.
 If you have written a tweet and one of your followers like what they see, this can be
retweeted so this tweet is also seen by all the followers of your follower.
 Another great advantage of Twitter is the structure it has since it is made up of your
followers and the ones you are following.
 It is possible to combine your Twitter account with your Facebook account so that what
you post on Twitter is also done on the other social network. This is a great advantage to
not waste so much time publishing on both social networks.
 You can place buttons on the websites to tweet the page and other users can observe and
review the subject in question.
Disadvantages of Twitter
 With Twitter you have to summarize everything that is happening to you in 140
characters. This can generate problems by having to abbreviate everything that happens.
 Another disadvantage of Twitter is that there is a lot of spam on the network and this is
not so controlled. This also makes the network too fast in terms of number of Tweets and
sometimes the trust of the network is lost.
 It is very common to see insults from people towards companies.
 False profiles on Twitter are very common and this can generate distrust in the network.
 Another big disadvantage of Twitter is that having false profiles, any person can create a
famous account and many people begin to follow when in reality this profile is not of this
celebrity but a random person.
FACEBOOK
Facebook is a social networking site that makes it easy for you to connect and share with family
and friends online. Originally designed for college students, Facebook was created in 2004 by
Mark Zuckerberg while he was enrolled at Harvard University. Facebook is a website which
allows users, who sign-up for free profiles, to connect with friends, work colleagues or people
they don't know, online. It allows users to share pictures, music, videos, and articles, as well as
their own thoughts and opinions with however many people they like. It began at Harvard
University in 2003 as Facemash, an online service for students to judge the attractiveness of their
fellow students. Because the primary developer, Zuckerberg, violated university policy in
acquiring resources for the service, it was shut down after two days.
The official stated purpose of Facebook is to make the world more open and
connected. Facebook's latest mission statement is that people use Facebook to stay connected
with friends and family, discover what's going on in the world and share and express what
matters to [Link] addition to keeping up with friends and family, Facebook is a great place to
upload all of those family photos. You can also browse through your feed to see interesting
photos and videos shared by friends and pages you've liked. Facebook pages and ads can be
invaluable marketing tools. It is used to maintain a good relationship with others who identify
with certain tastes or products.
Is it safe to use Facebook?
Overall, Facebook as a website is a safe place. There is built-in security that helps to protect you
and your information. One primary level of security that Facebook uses is called SSL (Secure
Socket Layer). ... When you log in to Facebook, you provide a password
Advantages of Facebook:
 Facebook for Networking: Facebook is arguably the most powerful social media and
social networking site out there. You can use Facebook to connect with your
family, friends, work colleagues, and you can even meet new people on Facebook.
 Facebook for Dating: Facebook is also known for finding dates. Indeed, with a social
network powered by over 1 billion active users, it‘s easy to find a date that shares
common interests and hobbies.
 Facebook for Business: Facebook is one of the largest sites in the world where we are
not only allowed, but encouraged to connect with everyone.
 Facebook Video Chatting: Facebook can also be used as video chat tool. Recently,
Facebook implemented the Facebook video chat feature in partnership with Skype. Now
you can make video calls to your friends using Facebook‘s inbuilt video chat service.
 Facebook for Image and Video Hosting: You can also use Facebook as a site to host
images and videos. You can set privacy levels for individual albums to control who can
see what you share.
 Facebook for News & Information: The real advantage of Facebook is that it‘s a real-
time social networking site. This makes it one of the best sources to stay updated with the
latest news and information. Major news usually goes viral on Facebook, and most
brands use it to announce important things regarding their products/services. Bloggers
and internet marketers can subscribe to popular blog fan pages and keep themselves
aware of the latest updates. In fact, I have one profile just to gather news.
 Facebook as a Personal Portfolio: Facebook‘s Timeline gives a completely new look
regarding your personal profile branding.
DISADVANTAGES OF FACEBOOK:
 "Facebook Addiction" A new disorder
 The fight continues against fake profiles & phishing bots.
 Scams are spreading like fire.
 Can't keep things personal.
 Criticism.
 Effect on academic's activity.
 Data privacy issues.
 Better Socializing - Facebook is changing the way we think & feel.
Facebook Privacy
One of the major concerns and disadvantages of Facebook has to do with Facebook‘s privacy. In
the past, it has created a lot of buzz due to sudden changes, but now Facebook has simplified its
privacy settings. Another thing to consider has to do with the availability of really personal
information, whether it‘s in video, pictures, or text.
Here‘s a good rule:
 Never give out too much personal information.
All throughout the internet, we should always keep in mind the privacy of our personal data.
After it‘s placed online, we lose all control.
Private Status Published Publicly
Even though Facebook has simplified its privacy settings, many unknowing users still end up
publishing private images and status updates publicly.
Also, people usually keep their Facebook friends list visible to the public, and this helps
Facebook stalkers find more information about you.
Fake Facebook Profiles
Facebook is full of fake profiles.
There is no limit to these profiles. Most of them are created by stalkers or marketers looking to
gain more friends and use it for their marketing purposes.
Not Using Facebook List Feature
Many users still don‘t use the Facebook list feature which is very helpful to keep your status
updates targeted to a specific group of friends (e.g college friends, office friends, etc.)
Time-consuming
Facebook offers many entertainment applications and games which engage users to a great
extent. Apart from that, Facebook chat and Facebook video chat are another two time-consuming
features.

WHATSAPP
WhatsApp is a messaging app that lets users text, chat, and share media, including voice
messages and video, with individuals or groups. WhatsApp Messenger or simply WhatsApp is
an American freeware, cross platform messaging and Voice over IP (VoIP) service owned
by Facebook, Inc. It allows users to send text messages and voice messages, make voice and
video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other media. WhatsApp's client
application runs on mobile devices but is also accessible from desktop computers, as long as the
user's mobile device remains connected to the Internet while they use the desktop app. The
service requires users to provide a standard cellular mobile number for registering with the
service. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app targeted at small
business owners, called WhatsApp Business, to allow companies to communicate with
customers who use the standard WhatsApp client.
WhatsApp is free to download messenger app for smartphones. WhatsApp uses the internet to
send messages, images, audio or video. The service is very similar to text messaging services,
however, because WhatsApp uses the internet to send messages, the cost of using WhatsApp is
significantly less than texting. You can also use Whatsapp on your desktop, simply go to the
Whatsapp website and download it to Mac or Windows. It is popular with teenagers because of
features like group chatting, voice messages and location sharing.
Growth of WhatsApp
WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, now has 1 billion users worldwide and is the biggest online
messenger app on the market. Founded in 2009 by ex-Yahoo employees it started as a small
startup and swelled to 250,000 users in just a few months, growing so fast that they had to add a
charge for using the service per year to slow the subscription rate down. In 2014, WhatsApp was
acquired by Facebook and has seen continued growth, reaching the 1 billion mark in July 2017.
It is popular with teenagers because of features like group chatting, voice messages and location
sharing.
Using WhatsApp
To use WhatsApp you need a compatible smartphone or tablet with a sim card, an internet
connection, and a phone number. The app uses your phone number as its username, and your
account is locked to the phone, although you can transfer your contacts over to new devices.
Whatsapp is free to use in Ireland.
Features of WhatsApp
Users of WhatsApp can share their location in real time over messages. They can also organise
lists of contacts so that they can quickly send messages to lots of people in group chats through
WhatsApp. Probably the best feature of WhatsApp is that it allows users to keep in touch with
people living abroad, without incurring the international charges associated with text messages.
Live Location Tracking
Whatsapp now lets its users share their location in real time. This feature allows you to share
your exact location with a friend or loved one. This may be useful when you are meeting friends
in a crowded area, or you want to let someone know you have arrived at your destination safely.
To use it you:
Open the contact you would like to share your location with
For IoS select the + button, and for android select the paperclip on the lower left-hand side of
your screen
Choose ‗Location‘
When the map appears, select the ‗Share Live Location‘ option
You will then see this message ‗Participants in this chat will see your location in real-time. This
feature shares your location for the duration even if you‘re not using the app. You can stop
sharing at any time‘. You can then decide how long you would like to share your real-time
location with this person, you have the option of 15 Minutes, 1 Hour or 8 Hours.
It is important to know that you are allowing your movements to be tracked by another
person. Only use this feature with people you know and trust. Parents should talk to their child
about location sharing and advise them against it.
Editing Features
WhatsApp have also added the ability to delete messages that you may have sent in error. This
may be helpful if you sent a message to the wrong contact. The next update to the messaging
service will look at adding a ‗Reply Privately‘ function while in a group chat.
WhatsApp users can also now hold down a message in a group chat to select and add a reply to
it. It ensures that members in a group can follow conversations more easily and respond to
specific questions in a group chat or write comments on content in the group.
Terms and Conditions and Privacy on WhatsApp
WhatsApp terms and conditions specify that users should be at least 16 years of age to use the
service in Europe. By default, WhatsApp will automatically set your Privacy Settings to allow
any WhatsApp user to view your last seen, profile photo and status.
Consider, switching this setting to limit who can see your profile.
To switch your profile setting, simply go to: Menu Button > Settings > Account >Privacy. You
can set the following options for your account privacy from Everyone (Public) to My
Contacts or Nobody (Private).
Advantages:
 Connectivity - Sending messages, and making calls have a new destination,
WhatsApp. So even without a balance, we can reach our loved ones.
 Sharing: It has a capability to share wide variety of media, be it photos, audio, video,
and even documents.
  Call over data: The best feature that was ever introduced on Whatsapp is Voice and
Video Calls. It uses your data connection and lets you connect instantly to any person
residing at any corner of the world.
 Group messages and Brodcasting: Want to send the same message to everyone at a
moment, make a group to share it. Want to keep anonymity of recievers, Broadcast it,
only you will know the people you send message.
 Intuitive chat: You can use various typing techniques while chatting, like put *your
word* to make it bold; use _your word_ for italics; and use ~your word~ for
strikethrough the text.
 Smart Reply: Just suppose someone asked you two questions seperately, then you can
mention which answer you are replying.
Disadvantages:
 Time Loss: Chatting with a buddy is interesting, you are knowing his life at hostel, or
he is describing his time at party. You don't realize that time keeps on passing by and
you just spent it using your phone.
 Relationship suspension: You said bye, I gotta work and ends chatting with her/him
but still keeps online chatting with others. She might think, you are ignoring her, that
might cause friction in your relationship.
 Reduces Productivity: It has been observed that a lot of workers whatsapp during
working hours. Some companies transact their businesses via whatsapp chats,
exchange of messages, audios, pictures and videos. However, productivity at the
workplace reduces when one uses working hours more often to check and respond to
personal messages other than business. It is for this reason that some companies do not
allow any form of communication via personal phones apart from company lines.
 Nuisance if not on mute: Sometimes, the rate at which whatsapp messages are
received could be a nuisance if the group is not muted. The whatsapp message tone
becomes a nuisance where it rings continuously within short intervals. This is also
likely to destruct people at work, schools and perhaps, affect productivity.
YOUTUBE
YouTube is a video sharing service where users can watch, like, share, comment and upload their
own videos. The video service can be accessed on PCs, laptops, tablets and via mobile phones.
YouTube is a free to use service and a can be a great space for teens to discover things they like.
For many young people, YouTube is used to watch music videos, comedy shows, how to guides,
recipes, hacks and more. Teens also use the video-sharing service to follow their favourite
vloggers (video blogger), subscribe to other YouTubers and celebrities they are interested in. To
set up a YouTube account users must be 18 years of age or 13+ with parental consent. Update:
Under the new E.U General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Ireland has now set the Digital
Age of Consent to 16 years old. This means young people under the age of 16 in Ireland are not
allowed to access this platform.
However, users do not need to sign-in to access the website or to view videos. There is, however,
a YouTube kids version now available to download for free. YouTube kids is designed for
children aged 3-8 years old and make it easier for children and parents to find content they are
interested in. Click here for more info the YouTube Kids app. According to
Wikipedia YouTube is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San
Bruno, California. The service was c reated by three former PayPal employees -Chad
Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim – in February 2005. There are various similar
websites like YouTube such as Vimeo, Metacafe, Veoh, etc. But YouTube is the most
popular Video sharing website among these all. But now its parent organization is Google.
What Are the Main Functions of YouTube?
 Users can search for and watch videos
 Create a personal YouTube channel
 Upload videos to your channel
 Like/Comment/share other YouTube videos
 Users can subscribe/follow other YouTube channels and users
 Create playlists to organize videos and group videos together
Advantages of YouTube for Business and Career: YouTube is a video search
engine website in which you can share educational, entertaining and any kind of
informational videos. In other words, it is like a TV, but the difference is you can
search whatever you want to watch.
 YouTube is a video search engine: This is a video-sharing website, and we
can share videos here, we have to pay nothing here for views and uploa ding.
 You can watch and download videos and audio of videos: There are
different types of videos here on YouTube and you can download these all
videos in any quality like mp4, 3gp, HD 480, and HD 720. If you want to
download audio from video, you can search on Google for YouTube videos to
the audio converter.
 You can like, dislike, subscribe and comment on Videos. These options are
up to the trend in which you can like any video with a like button. But if you
do not like the content in the videos, it provid es you the option to dislike. It
is because of the dislike button on YouTube and it will improve views on
other qualify videos.
o If you want to give some suggestions, want to ask the question, want to
learn more about a video, so you can also post a comment below the
videos.
o You see a Red Color button which is used to Subscribe. This is for
viewers. Almost all YouTubers use this word in there all videos
because they need more and more subscri bers for their YouTube
channel. If you like the content in the video so you can subscribe to
the channel.
Why do you subscribe to the channel?
If the content in the video and channel is beneficial for career and
business, you can subscribe to get notificat ion by email, when that
channel uploads new video publicly.
 You can learn any kind of skills that you want: You can use YouTube for
knowledge. For many YouTube is a platform for learners. Anything from
anyone and specific from an expert, everything is avai lable here. You can
learn almost everything such as English, Coding, Business management and
everything else that you think will be possible.
 You can watch business and career movies: YouTube has many channels of
business training and carrier movies so you can watch these videos. And you
can start your own business by learning tips and tricks.
 You can learn many skills that you want to learn: Many YouTubers teach
you many skills on YouTube so you can watch their videos on YouTube. And
after learning, practicing on those skills, you can also teach other people
about these skills.
 You can upload your own videos: Yes, you can upload any kind of videos
(please check policies) on YouTube for your channel, and people watch your
videos on YouTube in any country. But learn here more about Copyright and
rights management
 You can share useful videos with other people on Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn: Sharing is caring. So, when you like the video because it‘s very
useful for anyone in their career and business, so it‘s good to share it with
your friends. You can find the share option below the videos. It will also
grow more subscribers, views, and likes and the channel will get popularity
and income. And it‘s good for humanity. It‘s because when you share good
things (any kind of productive information or content) it is the practice in
which good people lead the world and support good things more. Selfless
help!
 You can earn money from your videos on YouTube: To earn money, you can
monetize your videos with Google AdSense. You can use Google AdSense services if
you want to earn money through monetization, and you can sign up for AdSense account
with your Gmail ID. But to earn money, first, you need to provide great tips or
entertaining materials for viewers.
 The more views you get, the more you can earn: If your videos are good and people
like your videos, so you can earn more money. It‘s because YouTube gives you more ads
if you have more views in your videos. You can create entertaining, educational, tutorials
and documentary movies and or any kind of valuable videos.
 To create and record video, you need a high-quality camera: High-quality
videos get more views and it‘s very comfortable for the audience. If you
think you can‘t-do it live, without editing, you can search on Google for free
or paid video editing software. You can also use online video editing
services, online video creation tools, etc.
 There are various people earning a great amount of money from
YouTube: For many people, it is a full -time job and business. The reasons
behind their popularity are because they have the expe rtise, great
communication skills, selling and marketing skills. While there are many
other popular people or channels using creativity and interests and getting
money.
 You can also connect with people who live: You can go live with YouTube
new option it‘s called live streaming, and connect with your subscriber.
  You can use your Gmail Email Id to use YouTube functionality and
features: If you want to subscribe to any YouTube channel, or like or dislike
any video so have to log in first with your Gmail id.
 It’s a place to market and promote your Business & Services: Whatever
method you‘re using these days to promote your business online and offline,
but you can‘t ignore YouTube because its reach is wider and a variety of
people for various countries and in di fferent time zone using YouTube. So,
this will create opportunities for small business owners, IT consultancy
service providers, entrepreneurs to promote their products and services using
videos, animation, tutorials, etc.
Disadvantages
 Everything is Public: YouTube is a public social media platform. This means people
don‘t need to create an account to see any of your videos you publish on your channels.
Also, anyone can post a video. This can cause copyright issues, and there could be issues
with privacy invasion.
 Many Rules: Like any other social media platform, YouTube has many rules which
restrict what you can do within your channel. This can be through terms of optimisation,
what things you can post on your channel and how your channel looks.
 Your account can be disabled without any reason: If you are in breach of the rules
YouTube has, your account can be disabled. This can occur if:
o The content you are publishing is in breach of the Terms of Service and Community
Guidelines that you need to agree to create a YouTube Channel.
o You continue to act in predatory behaviour towards other people. Examples of this
behaviour are harassment, sexual comments, and spam.
o Your videos are repeatedly reported for claims of copyright infringement.
o Your account can be disabled when copying someone‘s video idea, or when making a
video which doesn‘t comply with the terms and conditions. YouTube has the right to
delete or disable your channel without any reason provided.
 Any Advertiser can put an add on your video: This means that even your competitors
can run an add on or near your video, which can hurt your brand.
 Lost traffic: By hosting your videos on YouTube, you‘re sending your audience to a
third party site (ie. YouTube), as opposed to your own website. This means that
 YouTube videos will be more visible within Google, compared to the videos embedded
onto your own site.
 Reduced control of your brand: Some companies may be reluctant to use YouTube to
host their videos, as they are concerned about the reduced amount of control they will
have over their brand, due to related videos shown alongside their videos. Related videos
that appear have the potential to detract the attention away from your brand, and lure
users to click away from your video and brand message. This is due to the fact that
YouTube controls which videos are associated with your content, and is completely out
of your control.
 Negative video comments and ‘trolls’: Although YouTube provides a great medium
for engagement, it is also provides a gateway for unwanted negative commentary,
potentially affecting your brand‘s reputation.
 Dealing with the clutter: YouTube relies heavily on advertising to generate revenue,
which in itself is a separate debate. Yes you can disable ads on your videos but this does
not reduce the amount of distractions that still appear on any given page.
 YouTube’s autoplay feature: Last year YouTube rolled out an autoplay feature. If
you‘re not already aware, autoplay works by automatically playing a related video, once
your current video ends. The idea behind this was that users would be able to view
content related to their initial search or video, and in turn they would stay on the site for
longer.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a social media platform geared to professionals. It enables you to network and to
build your professional portfolio, but you can also go out into the world and look for a new job.
Professionals who've been in business for decades use LinkedIn and so do newly minted college
grads. LinkedIn is a social networking website designed for business professionals. It allows
you to share work-related information with other users and keep an online list of professional
contacts. LinkedIn is a social network that focuses on professional networking and career
development. You can use LinkedIn to display your resume, search for jobs, and enhance your
professional reputation by posting updates and interacting with other people
LinkedIn (/lɪŋktˈɪn/) is an American business and employment-oriented service that operates
via websites and mobile apps. Founded on December 28, 2002, and launched on May 5, 2003, it
is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers
posting their CVs. Since December 2016 it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. As
of June 2019, LinkedIn had 630 million registered members in 150 countries.
LinkedIn allows members (both workers and employers) to create profiles and "connections" to
each other in an online social network which may represent real-world professional relationships.
Members can invite anyone (whether an existing member or not) to become a connection.
Benfits of LinkedIn in Career
LinkedIn gives you the ability to showcase your profile, expertise, recommendations and
connections, not only is your profile the first professional impression of you when recruiters and
employers use LinkedIn to search for candidates but it also demonstrates credibility in your
industry and highlights your achievements. Many people still underestimate the importance of
LinkedIn in their job search and are sometimes reluctant to embrace social media.
7 reasons why using LinkedIn can add value to your job search.
1. Gain exposure to Hiring Managers and Recruiters: 93% of recruiters use LinkedIn to
research and recruit candidates. LinkedIn allows you to have an online personal brand which
makes you visible to key decision makers and recruiters. This means when your name is put into
a search engine such as google, you have an online personal brand and you are appearing in
search results. It‘s for this reason you need to make sure you treat your LinkedIn profile in a
similar way to your CV and you ensure what is on the profile is selling you in the best way
possible.
2. Demonstrate your knowledge, credibility and leadership expertise: Having a LinkedIn
profile helps build trust with employers and recruiters as they can see your recommendations and
connections and evidence of where you have added value.
3. Use LinkedIn as a research tool: Having a LinkedIn account also means that you can use the
site to research companies, interviewers, recruiters, and hiring managers — this is helpful before
submitting applications and researching who‘s interviewing you and conducting interview
research.
4. LinkedIn has a great job board: New opportunities exist throughout the LinkedIn site that
may not exist on traditional job boards. You can directly apply for roles using LinkedIn apply,
save job searches, as well as flagging to recruiters that you are open to hearing about
opportunities.
5. You can gain social proof for your skills and talents: Let others recommend and endorse
you for your skills and past work. When others recommend or endorse you, anyone who sees
your profile can see these and it shows you have other experts backing up your claims to have
certain skills. This is very powerful in making connections. You can build your credibility
through the endorsements and testimonials that LinkedIn allows your contacts to leave on your
profile.
6. Follow Companies: LinkedIn is a brilliant tool for researching organisations and people that
work at them. You can use this to target people within your network that work for organisations
that you really want to work for.
7. Join LinkedIn Groups: Groups are a brilliant way to meet people with similar professional
interests and expand your network from other graduates to professionals already working in your
industry. Groups allow you to take part in discussions. This is a great way to exhibit your
knowledge on topics related to your industry, ask questions and start conversations with key
people in key organisations.
The benefits of LinkedIn are almost endless with no downside to having a LinkedIn profile. Get
involved in forums, join groups and meet like-minded individuals like yourself. Best of all
LinkedIn is totally free. Job seeking is a tough business and applying for online jobs each and
every day is a job in itself.
Advantages:
 Get connected: LinkedIn was built for networking, and it‘s still a useful networking tool.
Networking for your business takes work. Don‘t just post content; cultivate meaningful
interactions with people on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a decent search feature that can help
you find people in your industry and in the industries you serve. Don‘t link with people
just to build the number of connections you have. Use your connect requests more
strategically to engage and build relationships with your target customers and influencers
in your market space.
 Build trust for your brand: LinkedIn is chock full of groups that are devoted to specific
professional topics. Join the ones that are relevant to you. Once you‘re a group member,
become an active participant in discussions that help you and your company gain
recognition as an authority in the field. After participating for a while, consider starting
your own discussion topics within the group, or even posting an article for the group to
digest and discuss. Don‘t use it as an advertising platform to promote your products and
services. Instead offer insightful information, and the requests for information about your
products and services will come on their own.
 Promote your brand as an authority: If you‘re creating great content pertinent to your
industry, share it on LinkedIn. Is there value in starting your own group to share content
 and foster engagement? This could become a channel for you to become a trusted source
for insights in your industry. Be certain to include updates from your blog and a few
well-placed links leading back to your website. Encourage employees to share your
content, too, so it isn‘t only coming from your organization‘s branded page.
LinkedIn‘s video capabilities keep expanding. This is a great tool to establish your
organization as an authority while also showing the human side of the company or
association. People respond well to video and LinkedIn is making it easier than ever to
share.
 Gather feedback: Have a new idea or a product that‘s just been launched? This is the
place to ask for feedback from people whose ideas and opinions you trust. If you‘re a
business, asking for input can be a great way to identify potential customers and to make
current customers feel valued. And notice that asking for input also gives you an
opportunity to mention a product or service without it sounding like an advertisement.
Disadvantages of LinkedIn in a Professional Capacity
Even though this is not a direct disadvantage of LinkedIn, but since LinkedIn is a public
platform, there can be professional situations when people cannot be officially involved in a
professional social networking platform like LinkedIn. For example, appointed judges who
might be influenced in their decision-making for a case by being active on LinkedIn.
 LinkedIn’s User Experience Has Turned People Off in the Past: There have been
many complaints by users who use LinkedIn regularly, regarding the user experience that
it offers. People feel that the user experience is average and with a lot of errors to start
with. A platform with errors can lead to frustrated users, and might lead in a low all-time
usage.
 Slow Reaction Time by LinkedIn Support: People who have reached out to LinkedIn
for help and support, also complain that LinkedIn is slow to react. This is a tough
one. Even though I agree that slow customer service can lead to unhappy users (or
customers), but we have to understand that LinkedIn offers a free access to their platform
for everyone. And having free-access to hundreds of millions of users can lead to an
imbalance. An efficient customer service might come at a cost.
 LinkedIn Owns Your Personal Data & Information: Nothing in the world is
free. LinkedIn supports itself through advertisements, by allowing advertisers to target its
users through the data it collects through users‘ profiles. Many people consider this as
 one of the biggest disadvantages of LinkedIn because they are not comfortable with their
professional information being sold.
 LinkedIn Decides on Who Reads Your Post: This is a debatable one. Because there is
so much content being shared across all social networks, social media websites like
LinkedIn, have built algorithms that limit the shared content based on user interests and
engagement levels.
 Limited Moderation to Manage Scams: Another big disappointment that I have been
facing recently is the amount of scam and phishing that is increasing on LinkedIn.
 Building a Professional Network is Time-ConsumingBuilding a presence on LinkedIn
is time-consuming, and might take someone months (or years) for their profile to become
helpful. You cannot play a short game on LinkedIn. Many might consider this a
disadvantage.
 Becoming a Power-User on Linked Requires a Learning Curve: Like any other
platform, if you really want to become a LinkedIn power-user, it will require you to set
aside some time from your busy schedule and really learn the ins-and-outs of the
platform.
 Another Disadvantage of LinkedIn: It Exposes Your Identity: From a privacy
perspective, having your life (personal or professional) out there for everyone to see is
not the safest thing one can do.
 Disadvantages of LinkedIn for Job Seekers: A lot of job seekers complain about not
getting any responses from the applications they send through LinkedIn.
 Identity Theft and Risk of Breach of User Data & Privacy: We‘ve seen many data-
heavy companies getting hacked for user-data. That‘s one of the major risks that users put
themselves into when signing up for social network platforms like LinkedIn.
 Addiction to LinkedIn: Social networks are addictive. And the user might start spending
too much time on LinkedIn, and de-prioritize other personal and professional
deliverables.
 More Advanced LinkedIn Features Cost Money: If a user wants premium features that
LinkedIn offers, they would have to pay for a membership.
 Professionals Who Are Not Active On Linked Might Be OverLooked: So this I feel is
an interesting one because not everyone will have a great LinkedIn profile, however, they
might be a great candidate for a role that just opened up in your company.
  Limited Engagement from People You Want to Connect With: Even though LinkedIn
boasts over 500 million users on its platform, not all of them are active. The good thing
is, that Linked also allows people to share their email address, which can be a
workaround to reach people who are inactive.
 Active Profiles on LinkedIn Are Up-to-date: It is ideal to keep ones profile up-to-date
on LinkedIn because it represents a user‘s professional image in the social space.
 Spam Messages on LinkedIn by Job Seekers and Business Trying to Sell: Since many
users are trying to develop business or looking for jobs, almost everyone receives a lot of
spam messages from LinkedIn users that are not very LinkedIn savvy.
 Not Many Users Engage on LinkedIn: Engagement on LinkedIn is limited when you
compare it to other social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
 No way to Verify Endorsements on LinkedIn: Professional endorse each other on
LinkedIn for different skills. More often than not it is a quid-pro-quo.
 Premium Accounts on LinkedIn are Costly: A business premium account on LinkedIn
can set you back at least $600 (exclusive of taxes) annually. And that too if you pay the
annual amount upfront. Paying monthly would be about $60 (exclusive of taxes) – but
that‘s an additional $120 per year (exclusive of taxes).
E-Commerce
E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce is a methodology of modern business, which addresses
the need of business organizations, vendors and customers to reduce cost and improve the quality
of goods and services while increasing the speed of delivery. E-commerce refers to the paperless
exchange of business information using the following ways:
 Electronic Data Exchange (EDI)
 Electronic Mail (e-mail)
 Electronic Bulletin Boards
 Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)
 Other Network-based technologies
The history of ecommerce started 40 years ago and, to this day, continues to grow with new
technologies, innovations, and thousands of businesses entering the online market each year.
Electronic Data Interchanges and teleshopping in the 1970s paved the way for the modern day
ecommerce store. The history of ecommerce is closely intertwined with the history of the
internet. Online shopping only became possible when the internet was opened to the public in
1991. [Link] was one of the first ecommerce sites in the US to start selling products
online and thousands of businesses have followed since.
The first online transaction was, by some reports, marijuana sold by Stanford students to MIT
students via the Arpanet account at their artificial intelligence lab in 1972. However, the first
online shopping transaction on the Internet took place some 22 years later. With the headline
―The Internet is Open‖, the August 12, 1994, issue of New York Times chronicled the sale
between two friends of a Sting CD. The Times said, ―The team of young cyberspace
entrepreneurs celebrated what was apparently the first retail transaction on the Internet using a
readily available version of powerful data encryption software designed to guarantee privacy.‖
Characteristics of e-commerce:-
 Establishment of B2B relationship.
 Electronic payment.
 E-distribution of products & services.
 Exchange of information.
 Pre and post - sales support.
 Customer relationship management.
 Easy of Navigation.
 Fast Load Times.
Features E-Commerce provides the following features:
 Non-Cash Payment: E-Commerce enables the use of credit cards, debit cards, smart
cards, electronic fund transfer via bank's website, and other modes of electronics
payment.
 24x7 Service availability: E-commerce automates the business of enterprises and the
way they provide services to their customers. It is available anytime, anywhere.
 Advertising/Marketing: E-commerce increases the reach of advertising of products and
services of businesses. It helps in better marketing management of products/services.
 Improved Sales: Using e-commerce, orders for the products can be generated anytime,
anywhere without any human intervention. It gives a big boost to existing sales volumes.
 Support: E-commerce provides various ways to provide pre-sales and post-sales
assistance to provide better services to customers.
 Inventory Management: E-commerce automates inventory management. Reports get
generated instantly when required. Product inventory management becomes very efficient
and easy to maintain.
  Communication improvement: E-commerce provides ways for faster, efficient, reliable
communication with customers and partners.
Traditional Commerce v/s E-Commerce
BASIS FOR COMPARISON TRADITIONAL COMMERCE E-COMMERCE
Meaning Traditional commerce is a E-Commerce means carrying
branch of business which
out commercial transactions
focuses on the exchange of
products and services, and or exchange of information,
includes all those activities
electronically on the internet.
which encourages exchange, in
some way or the other

Processing of Transactions Manual Automatic

Accessibility Limited Time 24×7×365
Physical inspection Goods can be inspected Goods cannot be inspected
physically before purchase physically before purchase.
Customer interaction Face-to-face Screen-to-face
Scope of business Limited to particular area Worldwide reach
Information exchange No uniform platform for Provides a uniform platform
exchange of information. for information exchange.
Resource focus Supply side Demand side
Business Relationship Linear End-to-end
Marketing One way marketing One-to-one marketing
Payment Cash, cheque, credit card, etc. Credit card, fund transfer etc.
Delivery of goods Instantly Takes time

The advantages of e-commerce can be broadly classified into three major categories:
 Advantages to Organizations
 Advantages to Consumers
 Advantages to Society
Advantages to Organizations
 Using e-commerce, organizations can expand their market to national and international
markets with minimum capital investment. An organization can easily locate more
customers, best suppliers, and suitable business partners across the globe.
  E-commerce helps organizations to reduce the cost to create process, distribute, retrieve
and manage the paper based information by digitizing the information.
 E-commerce improves the brand image of the company.
 E-commerce helps organizations to provide better customer service.
 E-commerce helps to simplify the business processes and makes them faster and
efficient.
 E-commerce reduces the paper work.
 E-commerce increases the productivity of organizations. It supports "pull" type supply
management. In "pull" type supply management, a business process starts when a request
comes from a customer and it uses just-in-time manufacturing way.
Advantages to Customers
 It provides 24x7 support. Customers can enquire about a product or service and place
orders anytime, anywhere from any location.
 E-commerce application provides users with more options and quicker delivery of
products.
 E-commerce application provides users with more options to compare and select the
cheaper and better options.
 A customer can put review comments about a product and can see what others are
buying, or see the review comments of other customers before making a final purchase.
 E-commerce provides options of virtual auctions.
 It provides readily available information. A customer can see the relevant detailed
information within seconds, rather than waiting for days or weeks.
 E-Commerce increases the competition among organizations and as a result,
organizations provides substantial discounts to customers.
Advantages to Society
 Customers need not travel to shop a product, thus less traffic on road and low air
pollution.
 E-commerce helps in reducing the cost of products, so less affluent people can also afford
the products.
 E-commerce has enabled rural areas to access services and products, which are otherwise
not available to them.
 E-commerce helps the government to deliver public services such as healthcare,
education, social services at a reduced cost and in an improved manner.
The disadvantages of e-commerce can be broadly classified into two major categories:
 Technical disadvantages
 Non-technical disadvantages
Technical Disadvantages
 There can be lack of system security, reliability or standards owing to poor
implementation of e-commerce.
 The software development industry is still evolving and keeps changing rapidly.
 In many countries, network bandwidth might cause an issue.
 Special types of web servers or other software might be required by the vendor, setting
the e-commerce environment apart from network servers.
 Sometimes, it becomes difficult to integrate an e-commerce software or website with
existing applications or databases.
 There could be software/hardware compatibility issues, as some e-commerce software
may be incompatible with some operating system or any other component.
Non-Technical Disadvantages
 Initial cost: The cost of creating/building an e-commerce application in-house may be
very high. There could be delays in launching an e-Commerce application due to
mistakes, and lack of experience.
 User resistance: Users may not trust the site being an unknown faceless seller. Such
mistrust makes it difficult to convince traditional users to switch from physical stores to
online/virtual stores.
 Security/ Privacy: It is difficult to ensure the security or privacy on online transactions. 
Lack of touch or feel of products during online shopping is a drawback.
 E-commerce applications are still evolving and changing rapidly.  Internet access is still
not cheaper and is inconvenient to use for many potential customers, for example, those
living in remote villages.
Common Payment Errors
 Insufficient Funds. This means that your credit card has reached its limit, or for prepaid
cards, there are not enough funds on the card balance to process the transaction.
 Call Issuer. Pick Up Card. This usually happens when a replacement card should be used
instead of the current card.
 Issuer or Cardholder restriction. This error usually occurs because the bank (or the
customer) has set rules on what payments are allowed. Sometimes international payments are
blocked, which returns this error.
 Incorrect IFSC Code. This can happen even if you‘ve successfully made payments to
incorrect ifsc code. The bank‘s first-level support will simply confirm that they approved the
payment and that your ifsc code is stored correctly.
 Other Errors. These can happen for a variety of reasons. Call your bank‘s Level 2 support
to find out why these payments were rejected.
o Declined
o Do Not Honor
o Processor Declined
o Transaction Not Allowed

Common Legal Issues Faced By E-Commerce Businesses

With the advanced and increased use of online media, online business is becoming a fast
emerging trend. Every five in eight companies are operating online, conducting E-
Commerce business. But being functional online doesn‘t mean you can escape legal matters.
Some of the common legal issues an e-commerce business faces:
Incorporation Problem
If you are a company operated merely via a website, not being incorporated is a crucial problem.
Any purchase and selling activity related to your products will be considered illegal and you
can‘t claim your right in case of any fraud and corruption. Without incorporation, your business
has no shelter.
Trademark Security Problem
Not getting your trademark protected is one of the main legal issues in the field of e-commerce.
Since trademark is your company‘s logo and symbol, the representation of your business all over
the web, it must be protected. If you don‘t secure it, it won‘t take long before you‘ll realize your
trademark is being infringed upon. This is very common legal issue and can become a deadly
threat to your e-business. With the hackers on loose and cybercrime so common, trademark
infringement of your business or by your business can be a serious legal matter and may hinder
your business‘s progress.
Copyright Protection Issue
While publishing content for your e-commerce website, using content of any other company can
be a severe legal problem. This might mark an end to your e-business. There are many
sites online which are royalty free and allow you to access their content and images. You may
use those sites for creating web content for your business site. Even if you unintentionally used
copyrighted content, the other party can easily sue your business.
Transaction Issues
The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) governs all e-commerce transactions in Australia.
Therefore, if you do not abide by the rules, you can get into serious law violation problems.
If your business fails to provide clear and complete description of the product, cost and purchase
details, information about delivery i.e. when the customer will receive products and other
information related to exchange and refunds, the ACL can impose penalties on your business.
Privacy Issues
When it comes to online businesses, privacy is the major issue that can create problems both for
the business and customers. Consumers share information with businesses online and they expect
the sellers to keep their information confidential. By just one minor mistake and leakage of
valuable information of a customer, you‘ll not only lose your potential customer but your image
and reputation will become a question mark.