Is Social Networking a Boon Or Curse For a Corporation?

Social networking has created a great revolution in theand interact with customers.
internet world. Most netizens have an account inOn the downside, social networking sites are hit by
popular social networking sites like Orkut, Facebookannoying worms, AdWare, and phishing attacks. It has
and MySpace. They live in their own world by formingbecome a hacker's paradise. Recently, the anti-virus
a community and friends group, and organizing eventsfirm Sophos has done a study on social networking,
among themselves without caring that their activitiesaccording to which, "63% of system administrators
and personal details are probably being accessed byworry that employees who share too much personal
others. Most of them are on social networking sites forinformation on social networking sites will put their
the social aspect alone.company's IT infrastructure at risk. A quarter of these
Due to the availability and accessibility of socialbusinesses also report that they have been the victim
networking sites, many employees have taken it as aof spam, phishing, and malware attacks via sites like
default way to contact with friends, colleagues andTwitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace."
business associates. When networking comes toEverything in the world has two sides, just as social
organization, productivity is reduced as employeesnetworking has both a good, and a bad face. All
concentrate more in keeping in touch with friends anddepends on how well you make use of it.
making new ones. So Banks, BPOs and most ITOrganizations can increase their productivity through
companies have banned social networks in theirsocial media by allowing their employees to learn new
workplace.ideas, discuss various issues and interact with clients.
But creative companies like ad agencies and internetSocial networking offers the best platform to reach a
companies do not block networking sites as theirtargeted audience. Social networks are not the only
employees can make use of social media to get newgateway for viruses; scams and malware attacks still
ideas, learn more about all kinds of stuff and makearrive by mail as well. We can conclude that social
money through social interaction. Servicing companiesnetworking is great boon for corporate to extend their
are also using social networks to reach their audiencehands worldwide and reach every corner of the globe.