The Benefits of Social Media for People and Businesses

All right, let’s have a show of hands. How many of us have, over the last year, read an article either online or in traditional media talking about the drawbacks and downsides of social media?

If you just raised your hand, you’re in good company. If you didn’t, have you been living under a rock?

Everyone from social scientists to media moguls to mommy blogs to politicians has talked about the dark side of social media. It’s so common to trash these platforms these days that it’s easy to forget that there are, in fact, benefits of social media.

What are these social media benefits? How do businesses and everyday users gain from these platforms? Here’s what you need to know.

Social Media Builds Communities

Many have looked at the rise of social media usage as a major risk factor for radicalization across all political spectrums. However, part of the reason this risk arises is due to one of the functions social media does best. It builds communities for those who would otherwise struggle to find them.

Let’s focus on the good that social media has brought. Below, we examine a community that’s experienced a major shift in public perception and survivability due to social media access.

How the Rise of Social Media Lets LGBT Teens Survive Puberty

If you see a teenager using social media all the time, it’s easy to judge and say that they should make an effort to make “real” friends. However, for many teens in the LGBT community, these social media friends are the most “real” friends and the closest communities they have.

Let’s say that a gay teen lives in an area surrounded by those who oppose their very existence. They have to fight for basic empathy from even their parents.

In that case, social media may well be their only outlet to find support and comfort. That’s why it’s such a big deal that these platforms, once their safe havens, have become sources of harassment and bigotry.

With more people than ever being open about their LGBT status on social media, it’s harder to pretend that they don’t exist or to choose cruelty in public view. This makes it more likely that an LGBT teen will make it past their eighteenth birthday and find a loving place to live.

Social Media Mobilizes People

One need only look at the Black Lives Matter protests to see how swiftly social media mobilizes people. Setting up protests and counter-protests used to be a tricky process, full of weeks of phone tag, secrecy, and recruiting. Now, it’s as simple as setting up a Facebook event and sending invites.

Social media allows people across all areas of the political spectrum to organize and get moving at an unprecedented pace. This can be the cause of great, sweeping change across the nation, or a site of hate and tragedy. However, whether it’s used for good or ill, there’s no doubt that social media has made it easier than ever to set up events and become civically engaged.

Social Media Platforms Can Educate

So often over the past four to five years, young adults have had to explain to their parents not to believe everything they read on the internet. The same parents who, when the internet was young, told them the exact same thing.

Social media has been a vector for misinformation for so long that it’s easy to forget that it can educate as easily as it can misinform. The important thing is that you understand how to analyze and critique the source of the information.

Unfortunately, the potential educational benefits of social media crumble beneath the weight of the fact that most students don’t get taught to think critically. In fact, figuring out how to teach critical thinking is a struggle all its own.

People Stay Connected for Longer Periods

One undeniable benefit to using social media is the ability to stay in touch with those who matter most to us. Even before the pandemic last year prevented almost all of us from physically seeing or visiting friends and relatives, it was common to lose touch.

In the generations before social media existed, old high school and college friends might stay in touch for a year or five after parting ways. However, inevitably, they would drift away from one another. Soon, they would lose touch altogether, or talk once every year or so.

The use of social media has allowed distant family and friends to remain connected to one another. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have seen each other more than once a year. It’s easier than ever to arrange meetups or day trips with friends and family, as they’re just a Facebook message or Twitter DM away.

Businesses Can Build Stronger Public Relations

Let’s shift our focus to the business benefits of social media and discuss how these platforms can help businesses build better public relations. Many older companies could do with a lesson on how to use social media responsibly. However, the more savvy ones know how to work the platforms for community engagement.

A social media presence can allow businesses to respond to consumer complaints and requests much faster than a traditional helpline. It also makes it easier to partner with other local businesses and charities for community drives and other local events.

Plus, through careful construction of their social media persona, businesses can relate to their potential ideal customer. This makes it easier for them to market to their target demographics, rather than waste time casting too wide of a net.

Products That Lack Reach Can Hit New Markets

Picture this: You’re a budding entrepreneur with a new product or service that you can’t wait to get out to people. You try applying for funding or advertising with bigger firms and companies, but can’t seem to make any inroads. As a last-ditch effort, you focus all your energy on advertising your products on social media.

An influencer takes an interest in your product and partners with you for a kickback. Now, you’re flooded with more orders than you ever could have imagined. Meanwhile, the more traditional methods of advertising and increasing your reach failed.

In many respects, social media is an equalizer for businesses. It allows smaller companies to gain a following and traction that a larger business might simply buy.

Social Media Puts a Finger to the Pulse of Trends

Another great benefit to social media marketing for businesses is that it puts your finger on the pulse of your potential clients. The trend cycle moves quickly on social media. Especially if you work in fashion or beauty.

So, if you can have ready access to what’s new, now, and next with your ideal clients, why wouldn’t you use it? By keeping track of the pulse of the trends, you can ensure that your company’s on top of what your people value the most.

Social Media Can Save and Improve Lives

Despite all its many flaws, social media has the capacity to save and improve the lives of its users. It can allow budding artists and entrepreneurs the chance to build their platforms and their businesses. It can also allow those who struggle with mental health issues to reach out and find support from each other.

Much has been stated about the negative mental health impacts of social media. However, sometimes, seeing a motivational picture or a precious screenshot of a cute dog can give you a reason to keep going. Having a set community where you can be yourself without judgment can give you a soft place to land when the outside world proves cruel.

Plus, as anyone who’s contacted a suicide helpline before will know, you can expect to be on hold for quite some time. On hold, during what could be an emergent situation. By reaching out to their support network on social media, someone who could be in imminent danger can receive much-needed help. 

Above All, Social Media Is a Tool

The biggest thing to keep in mind about using social media is that it is a tool. An incredibly powerful tool that has motivated hatred and kindness, education and misinformation, business and people in equal measure. Despite its potential for abuse and the desperate need for further regulation of these platforms, social media can still achieve good things.

Unconvinced About the Benefits of Social Media?

Given all the negative press, it’s understandable to be unconvinced of the benefits of social media. However, when a tool is capable of making people more connected, more civically active, and more sociable than ever, it deserves its online presence.