The social economy: Unlocking value through social technologies

The social economy:unlocking value through social technologies.


There are many benefits and risks associated with using digital media, depending on who uses it, how it is used, why is is used and what it is used for.


Individuals in South Africa mainly use social technologies like Whatsapp, Mxit, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook in order to hear about the latest celebrity news, communicate with each other and post pictures of their whereabouts. Individuals are more vulnerable to the risks of social media because they are less likely to understand the consequences of posting online. They tend to post more personal items like phone numbers or location- this is the perfect target for criminals (rapists/murderers). Keeping our private information to ourselves is critical because putting it on the internet can cause stalking, fraud and illegal activity. Digital etiquette is important in order to have safe relationships online.

On the other hand, social technologies have changed the way we, as individuals, live, for the better. we are now able to communicate with distant relatives and friends over social media platforms like Facebook, twitter and whats app, we are able to access the latest news from around the world and to access information for assignments and homework online from our mobile devices. Social technologies have made our lives  lot easier. We no longer have to send out letters or smoke signals to get the attention we need. As time goes on, more and more people are able to access social media- In South Africa, the number of instagram users increased from 680000 in 2013 or 2.68 million in 2015. (Fn24tech, 2015)

Corporates have benefited largely from the use of social technologies in the sense that it has opened up a huge opportunity for advertising above the line platforms. For example, companies like apple are now able to use Facebook as a social site to advertise their latest product releases and specials and send them viral. Companies can use users information like age and sex to advertise to their selected target market for example, Ultra music festival can have sponsored pages that pop up on teenage Facebook users' news feeds because they have a target market of ages 18-24.

Although there are many advantages of having access to social media, in business, There are the risks of fraud and identity theft and it is therefore important that businesses  protect their private information. the fact that 90% of companies use technologies that benefit them shows that the benefits outweigh the risks. In South Africa, Corporates use LinkedIn as a main source of business activity, depending on the business of course, and their target market.

Finally, communities also benefit largely from social technologies too- mainly because social media is the most simple and real time way of communicating. For example, a neighbourhood or complex could have a Whatsapp group to alert the people around them if there are any strange people roaming around, like a neighbourhood watch. This could save a lot of robberies and theft from occurring.

In conclusion, If the digital citizenship is practised, the internet can be a relatively safe place- with millions of people benefiting from all the blogs, social networks, wikis etc.
26.8 people in South Africa have got access to the internet and this number continue to grow every month (htxt.africa, 2016).