With the Internet becoming the last defense of our original idealization of ‘Democracy’, people are looking to the prospect of Social Media as being synonymous with ‘choice’, something that is becoming less and less available to the public with such problems as the global economic crisis, occupation overflow and deskilling of the younger generation.
Does social media present an opportunity for people to be given choice in such realms as occupation and information consumption?
Such social networking websites as Twitter certainly seem to suggest that this would be the case. There is an overflow of recruiters and marketers all available for the general public to utilize.
A good example is @RecruiterEsq who writes a blog on law and technology who also provides career advice and recruiting help which you can find on her website.
Does the use of social networking or social media, two synonymous concepts, actually produce results?
It’s debatable.
Marketers are finding it difficult to find a share of the wider audience of Twitter and other social networking websites like Facebook are only just finding their feet when it comes to the link between business and consumer.
What is true is that the Internet is becoming a tool for the public and it is certainly becoming the case that employers are looking at the profiles of prospective employees as field research. This has birthed the professional LinkedIn.
In my opinion, social media may not be able to provide all the answers but it can certainly provide the connections. With the right connections, anything is possible. Access to professionals from different circles is made all the easier by such websites and professions must change to reflect this.
Suggested Reading:
The Internet, Democracy and Democratization
Using Social Networking to Create Job Opportunities
