Recent orders
The impact of social media in the hospitality industry
The impact of social media in the hospitality industry
Presented by
Institution
Table of Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u Executive summary PAGEREF _Toc371319857 h 3Introduction PAGEREF _Toc371319858 h 4Analysis PAGEREF _Toc371319859 h 4Positive effects PAGEREF _Toc371319860 h 4Negative effects PAGEREF _Toc371319861 h 6Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc371319862 h 7Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc371319863 h 7References PAGEREF _Toc371319864 h 8
List of figure
Figure 1: graph showing facebook usage by age and gender by December 2011 …………………5
Executive summarySocial media has a great role to play in any industry today and continues to play a key part in the consumer travel experience. Consumers need to have information on various hotels and restaurants available for booking, and the ongoing engagements while enjoying their tour. The use of social media in the hospitality industry has many impacts as shown on this discussion. The analysis focuses on both positive and negative impacts of social media on the hospitality industry. The positive effects of social media in the hospitality industry include the creation of a direct brand endorsement, provision of a platform for rating and monitoring an organization, improved customer services, and introduction of cost-effective operations. Alternatively, social media has some major negative impacts on the hospitality industry. These include encouraging social monitoring, promotion of cybersmear, and loss of potential customers due to inability to cope with technological changes. Moreover, the discussion gives several recommendations on the appropriate ways that the hospitality industry could follow to prevent social media challenges.
Introduction
Service industries today mainly rely heaving on social media in order to reach out to customers. The hospitality industry is one of the growing sectors that have utilized social media for customer satisfaction and attraction. The hospitality industry is a business sector that specializes in delivering direct services to customers. This industry offers quality customer services through various marketing features available in the current business environment. Most common examples of firms under this industry include restaurants, tour guidance, and flight attendances among others. The hospitality industry has also realized this fact and adapted to the currently used social media services to introduce different changes in their marketing and communication. In addition, the engagement of the hospitality industry in the social media has enabled constant communication with potential customers hence creating a great impact on their business operations (MobileMarketingWatch, 2012). The advancement in technology has sophisticated the concept of social media making it have both negative and positive effects on the hospitality industry. The following discussion focuses on the most crucial positive and negative impacts of social media in the hospitality industry.
Analysis
The positive effects of social media in the hospitality industry include the creation of a direct brand endorsement, provision of a platform for rating and monitoring an organization, improved customer services, and introduction of cost-effective operations. Alternatively, social media has some major negative impacts on the hospitality industry. These include encouraging social monitoring, promotion of cybersmear, and loss of potential customers due to inability to cope with technological changes.
Positive effectsThe first positive effect of social media on the hospitality industry is the creation of a direct brand endorsement. Social media is an example of technology description that facilitates interaction, creation of user-friendly contents, and collaboration between businesses and customers (Forest Time, 2013). Joining peer-to-peer networks enable industries share resources and contents in the network that can be accessible by other peers directly. The most interactive social channels like FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace and Google + have enabled many hospitality industries create social endorsements through customers engaging with positive peer influencers. Travel companies ensure total representation in the appropriate social media channels. Active online monitoring enables a company gain insight into new products and visitors. Most people who visit certain restaurants say their friends inspired their holiday choice and travel plans through comments and photos posted on social media channels. The following strategy has acted as the source of competitive advantage especially when customers participate online through praising a certain place.
Facebook is the most commonly used social media channel and statistics show that by December 2011, this social channel had more than 20 billion active users as represented on figure 1. In addition, studies show that almost 70% of companies in the hospitality industry that have invested on social media, especially Facebook receives a high number of customers who claim to have been referred by their friends. The above information shows that social media networks foster collaboration and relationships (Facebook, 2011).
Figure 1: graph showing facebook usage by age and gender by December 2011. Source: FaceBook, 2011)
With the adoption of Information technology, many restaurant businesses have moved from the traditional ways of serving the customers to the more advanced methods. Information a technology has brought about opening of more businesses around the globe because different people can view different hotels in almost all parts of the world. Delays are eliminated within the restaurants with the introduction of online services. Customers can order for their dishes and pay using online means, and customers can still enquire for home delivery services saving time and cost of travelling to the hotel. Technology enables the business restaurants to get a quick response from the customer that assists in improving their services to fit the needs of the consumers. Most restaurants utilize the software that allows customers to place orders online in order to reduce errors, use of fewer phone lines and promote their products using the communication channels like the emails and Facebook.
Secondly, social media affects hospitality industry positively through providing a platform for rating and monitoring the progress of a company. In the present world, most businesses have their own websites and social media profiles where they allow visitors to give feedback on their services. An online generated customer feedback has a higher credibility and more acceptable than the information received from a face-to-face encounter. Most hospitality companies have FaceBook or Twitter accounts where people like or post their views on how they perceive their services. In addition, social network users speak of specific services offered by a certain company making others connected stay informed about new strategies in the market and adopt them. The use of such social networking sites also enables managers to manage their companies effectively by following customer recommendations as long as they are positive (Stelzner, 2010).
Thirdly, the use of social media in the hospitality industry acts as a cost-effective means of engaging and interacting with potential customers. Social media channels form one of the cheapest methods of advertising a business. The method is termed cheap because it does not entail big amount of cash in designing posters, organizing for road shows, or paying media stations to advertise your business. The method only requires a company to create a social networking account through the internet and invite a few friends. It happens automatically that friends of friends join the group or page and big network created out of it. Industries get direct access to active users without any extra cost. A social media page that offers an easily accessible, appealing and straightforward network gives customers a chance to participate and like it even before visiting the real restaurant or hotel (Weed, 2011).
In order to ensure total customer satisfaction, most hospitality industries have introduced innovative customized networks that prompt customer services. The positive review by online customers has a great significant to the growth of a hotel and travel industry. Moreover, restaurants can easily invite potential customers because most people post about their travelling plans on social media networks. The presence of social media in the hospitality business not only creates profit avenues but also assists in creating a global competitive advantage.
Negative effectsOn the other hand, social media has some negative impacts on the hospitality industry as discussed. To start with, active involvement in social media encourages social monitoring. Social media technologies facilitate online functioning that composes social networks. Since most adults participate in social networking, research has shown that network monitoring is an important business function offering valuable user information concerning wealth. Computer experts have come up with specific data software programs that monitor any social network content. The information collected by these programs reveals various marketing strategies used by other businesses to attract visitors. Direct competitors make use of this information to destroy the image of a particular company by hiring stokers who post bad things concerning the company. In addition, such network monitors retrieve messages sent by specific companies to specific prominent customers. Competitors take this opportunity and restructure messages to give distorting information that would make such customers gain a bad reputation of their visiting hotels (Stanisic, 2013).
Secondly, social media networks promote cyber-smear in the hospitality industry. Most companies have a way in which employers communicate with employees through social networks created by company management. Sometimes employees use such sites to talk inappropriate language or share confidential information. In addition, there are some social networking channels that promote harassment of hotel employees for example, stainedapron.com or bitterwaitress.com. Foodservice workers use such networking channels to post their frustrations and anger, an action that force employers to monitor them. Social networks are formed to promote good relationship between employer and employee. Despite the high popularity of social networking activities, most hospitality companies prefer not engaging in the online environment because it makes them more comfortable in workplaces (Forest Time, 2013).
On the other hand, while social media attracts potential customers to hotels and tourist attractions through peer-to-peer networking it also has a negative effect on the business operations. People exeunt managers seeing many likes from all corners of the world, only to be disappointed by the number of customers that turn out on a weekly basis. For instance, most have their own Facebook pages and Twitter handles that have millions of followers. These followers always post good things about a company, swearing how they will travel to the destination, but fail at the long run. An organization that depends only on customer reviews and online booking faces a huge surprise because most people who visit such places only come to like their social networks after enjoying the company services (Stanisic, 2013).
According to Stanisic (2013), the use of social media in the hospitality industry affects their operation negatively when some companies fail to implement the necessary changes. Social networking requires an active user interface where there is constant a 24 hour communication between the company and the client. New hotels have the capacity to introduce advanced technologies because it comes along with the facility design, but older hotels have such limitations. Customers like a networking channel, where they ask questions and get immediate responses. Hotels that have rendered their social networks dormant get many negative surveys from customers and eventually loose most potential visitors (2013).
Conclusion
The current increase on the number of internet users has made social media the best channel for businesses to advertise and attract potential customers. As seen from the above discussion, social media has both positive and negative impacts in the hospitality industry. Majority of hotel bookings and advertisements are made online, but the nature and effectiveness of online social networks used determine the eligibility of the process.
Recommendations
The following recommendations would assist in minimizing unwanted cases associated with the use of social media. Firstly, managers in the hospitality industry have a duty of ensuring they utilize social networks effectively, in the correct manner to attract more customers. Companies can avoid these challenges if they make follow-ups of their social channels to avoid cases of social monitoring and cyber smear. Secondly, companies should employ tough software systems that in order to prevent hackers from accessing information. Finally, the hospitality industry should engage in as many social media networks as possible. This enables the company convince customers with another site in case they receive a bad reputation.
ReferencesForest Time. (2013). Social Media & the Hospitality Industry. Retrieved from:http://smallbusiness.chron.com/social-media-hospitality-industry-37599.htmlFacebook. (2011). Newsroom. Retrieved from:
http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22
Mobile marketing Watch. (2012). Infographic: The Impact of Mobile & Social Media Within the Hospitality Industry. Retrieved from:http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/infographic-the-impact-of-mobile-social-media-within-the-hospitality-industry-23911/Stanisic, G. (2013). The impact of social media and technology within hotel industry. Retrieved
from:
http://goricastanisic.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/280/Stelzner, M. (2010). Social media marketing industry report: how marketers are using social
media to grow their business. Retrieved from:
http://www.Whitepapersource.com
Weed, J. (2011). Hotels turn to social media to connect with travelers. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/business/19hotels.htm
Racial Discrimination Projected by the Media Industry
Racial Discrimination Projected by the Media Industry
Student’s name
Institution
Course code
Professor’s name
Date
Introduction
Over the years, many interactive social media platforms have been invented to facilitate communication and connection between individuals from different parts of the world. Most of these platforms are dominated by young people in society. Some of these social media platforms include but are not limited to Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp, and telegram. Like most young people worldwide, social media has become a crucial part of my life and daily routines. Not a day goes by without me accessing and using at least one social media platform. I am more drawn to the YouTube, WhatsApp, and Twitter applications. I find them fascinating, helpful, entertaining, and educative as well.
Moving forward, I see myself incorporating and exploring a wide range of social media platforms depending on how useful they will be to me, my interest, and my objectives. Social media has a lot to offer to its users, and it is practically impossible to exhaust all the contents it offers. I aim to identify the platforms that align with my identity and interests, tap the most out of it, and experience significant growth. I believe social media is key in enabling deep and meaningful connections between people in different geographical regions. By allowing individuals to share their interests, pictures, places of interest, and videos, social media align people with similar characteristics together and enable them to converse and help each other grow in their identified fields of interest.
As much as social media has brought people together and created a small world, I feel like it has drawn individuals far from their physical surroundings. Since the onset of social media platforms, most individuals have disconnected from the physical world. Convincing individuals to get off their gadgets and focus on their surroundings, family members, friends, and neighbors is quite challenging in the modern world. In addition, social media has seen many people lock themselves indoors and avoid physical contact with the outside world. For this reason, they fail to recognize and appreciate the beauty of their environment (Carlson et al., 2017). I understand that this aspect of social media has worked to the advantage of Covid-19 eradication since it allows for communication with no physical contact. However, it poses other health risks like obesity and damaged eyesight because it limits their movements and overworks individuals’ eye muscles, respectively.
My opinions regarding social media and its effects have shifted throughout the semester. Through evaluation of social media and a dive into its significance in various aspects of life, this study has enabled me to appreciate their role in our lives and the positive impacts it has had on society in general. Furthermore, I have discovered that some platforms like YouTube and Instagram have helpful programs that help individuals adopt healthy lifestyles through healthy eating habits and regular in-house exercises (Gündüz, 2017). Therefore, there is no need to worry about lifestyle diseases or long indoor period stays. I have also learned that information can be manipulated to drive a user’s narrative to portray to other users globally. Therefore, many people, things, or events propagated through social media platforms are sometimes exaggerated and unreal. This manipulation has contributed to some of the issues experienced in society. The media has contributed to the racial discrimination issue and has drawn media users’ attention for a long time now.
The links between the media and the racial discrimination
The issue of racial discrimination has been in play for over decades now. The emergence of the media has magnified the tension surrounding racial discrimination (Tynes et al., 2019). Social media has contributed to the issue both positively and negatively. However, the negative impacts of social media on racial discrimination are strongly felt in society. Racial discrimination has captured my attention because it affects many people in society directly and indirectly. We live in a mixed-race society, where people from different races meet and interact daily. Racial discrimination occurs when members of a certain race get treated differently compared to members of another race. The African American race has proven to be the most affected by racial discrimination and the media propagation of the same.
Media exposure of African American People to Discrimination Risks
The media expose African American people to the risk of getting discriminated against more. Individuals hide behind their gadgets and send discriminatory messages towards people of color in society (Carlson et al., 2017). Perpetrators of this awful act use social media platforms to convey discrimination and hatred towards people of color because they know it is difficult for the authorities to trace and punish them accordingly. Some individuals go to the extent of threatening the lives of people of color through social media platforms. This action compels other platform users who share the same ideas to make stereotypical comments about people of color publicly and shame them for their identity. Studies show that 60% of young African American youths have reported cases of racial epithets.
Monetization of the Issue by Media Houses and Platforms
some media platforms and houses use the racial discrimination narrative to promote themselves and increase their viewer ratings (Tao & Fisher, 2021). These actions are wrong and unjust to people of color. More often than not, black people fall for the traps of the media and agree to work for or with them because they believe these media houses are looking out for them. After achieving their objectives regarding the narrative, media houses and platforms tend to dispose of their African American facilitators and ignore them completely. The naivety of some African American individuals bars them from protecting themselves against such advances from social media houses and platforms.
Graphic Presentation and Display of Black Bodies by Media platforms
Most media platforms tend to be insensitive when it comes to the content they display on their pages. They expose the public to graphic content that is likely to cause trauma. The realization that these media houses actually target black people when posting such graphic content is devastating. I can’t help but wonder why people behind the media platforms would subject individuals as human as them to such mental torture. They are inconsiderate of how black people feel when they see the bodies of their own mutilated or videos of other black people being tortured or handled brutally (SIMMONS & LECOUTEUR, 2018). Such disturbing images are likely to shake a black person or have long-term effects on their mental health.
Impacts of Racial Discrimination Propagated by social media on the People of Color
Online racial discrimination leaves many black people feeling insecure and unsafe in their various locations. The constant death threat and bullying because of color cause black people to question their safety and their loved ones’ (Matamoros-Fernández & Farkas, 2021). Furthermore, it also makes them lose their sense of belonging in society. Discriminatory acts and comments displayed on social media platforms leave many black people feeling demoralized and inferior in the community. This feeling translates to a lost sense of belonging. Consequently, such individuals, especially young people, fall into depression and engage in drug and substance abuse as a coping mechanism.
Long-term Effect of Online Racial Discrimination
Discrimination against black people affects their performance, efforts, and contributions to the development of society. The loss of self-esteem and a sense of belonging bars them from participating in societal development projects. As a result, areas dominated by black people stagnate development-wise and deteriorate over time. Furthermore, racial discrimination is likely to affect the economy of a given country. Discrimination against black people means denying them opportunities in the market. Therefore, they cannot contribute to the economy through their wages (Chan, 2017). Consequently, the economy underperforms and lags compared to other economies that offer all genders equal opportunity in the job market.
Measures to adapt to Combat the Online Discrimination Issue
Media platforms need to develop ways of tracking individuals who propagate racial discrimination in society through their pages. When caught, such individuals should be punished according to the law. In addition, the government should also jump on board and establish policies under which media platforms must comply. These policies should incorporate and prioritize the rights of black people using various media platforms. Media houses or platforms that fail to adhere to regulations imposed by the government should be penalized, suspended, or shut down depending on the level of their offense and negligence. Media platforms should also create segments specifically for people of color to express themselves freely with no fear of discrimination.
These actions by the government and the media houses will motivate the black community to come out of their hiding and feel safe to interact with people freely through different platforms. It also restores a sense of belonging to them because they feel cared for and loved. Protecting against discrimination gives black people power and the desire to explore their creative side, discover their potential and work towards achieving their goals. The general society could benefit from media literacy because people will know the various platforms, their importance, and the need to treat other users with the utmost respect. For this reason, most media platforms will achieve a race-neutral platform that allows individuals to be themselves and be free to communicate their minds.
References
Carlson, B. L., Jones, L. V., Harris, M., Quezada, N., & Frazer, R. (2017). Trauma shared recognition and indigenous resistance on social media. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21.
Chan, J. (2017). Racial identity in online spaces: Social media’s impact on students of color. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 54(2), 163-174.
Gündüz, U. (2017). The effect of social media on identity construction. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 8(5), 85-85.
Matamoros-Fernández, A., & Farkas, J. (2021). Racism, Hate Speech, and social media: A Systematic Review and Critique. Television & New Media, 22(2), 205–224. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476420982230SIMMONS, K., & LECOUTEUR, A. (2018). Modern racism in the media: constructions of “the possibility of change” in accounts of two Australian “riots.” Discourse & Society, 19(5), 667–687. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42889222Tao, X., & Fisher, C. B. (2021). Exposure to social media racial discrimination and mental health among adolescents of color. Journal of youth and adolescence, 1-15.
Tynes, B. M., Willis, H. A., Stewart, A. M., & Hamilton, M. W. (2019). Race-related traumatic events online and mental health among adolescents of color. Journal of Adolescent Health, 65(3), 371-377.