Advantages and disadvantagesof the use of social media in disasters (10 points)?

[Abbey]

Advantages and disadvantages use of social media in disasters for my school project!!!

[Arushi]

advantageous

1. Strategy: A good agency should develop an effective and coherent strategy tailored specifically for your business to help you reach long-term goals.

2. Speed: A good agency will help you keep on top of your day-to-day tasks to progress through your strategies quickly
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3. Support: A good agency should provide you with answers to your social media questions and teach your employees how to take on social media tasks. It will also provide you with the information to help you avoid costly mistakes.

4. Network: A good agency will have an existing database of tier-one influencers who would be best for you to network with, saving you the time required to find them.

5. Integration: The best agencies will be able to integrate your social media efforts with your overall marketing strategy for the best results.

disadvantageous

1. Authenticity: Many businesses are concerned that outsourcing social media will depreciate its authenticity. I disagree entirely. A good agency should care and know about the businesses it represents as much as its employees. Also, the agency has just as much at stake to lose if the social media plan fails. Its reputation would be tarnished and it would lose its job handling the accounts of the business.

2. Connections: It is also thought by businesses that they will lose valuable connections forged through social media if they outsource their efforts. This is also untrue. Relationships are established through the business’s own channels. An agency worth its salt should distinguish brand advocates, influencers and prospects in their communities and make them well-known to the business that could then further relations if desired.

3. Authority: In a crisis situation, most agencies want to establish a clear communications plan to address problems quickly. This plan usually includes a statement to be sent out by the agency to the disconcerted individuals to buy them some time to inform the business and devise a solution. There is nothing wrong with this process; it can actually be more beneficial than attempting to solve the problem immediately as the business has time to work with the experience of the agency to develop the best possible response.

4. You can be locked in or even held hostage: This point was taken from a Social Media Examiner article. As mentioned previously, a good agency should provide all the information its client needs to take on social media itself. There needs to be constant communication between agency and client where questions are asked and answered promptly. It should be no mystery how the agency is conducting its client’s social media tasks.

5. Mistakes: This problem also exists if social media is done internally. As mentioned previously, a good agency should know your business through-and-through. If each message is checked by an internal representative to ensure its accuracy, there should be no errors.

[Thomas]

Being able to communicate with others in time of need is critically important. That's a real advantage. A disadvantage would be if no one answered your call for help or just ignored you thinking your message was a fake. This is a tough question because any answer you get will be pure opinion. People ignore their facebook accounts for weeks at a time. If you are in a true disaster like a STORM you make think you can depend on electronic devices when in reality they won't work if the towers are down. If the electricity goes out, so does your WIFI. You have to take into consideration what your definition of social media is. Good Luck!