Quantitative Analysis on Social Media Networking on Leadership and Emotional Intelligence - Research Paper Example

Customers do not merely view the online content provided on a company website; rather, they are allowed to generate and upload their preferred content as well, consequently interacting and engaging with the company and other customers. Therefore, it is highly likely that the use of social media networking can bring about favorable outcomes for organizations in terms of marketing, value creation, and having a competitive advantage over others. The following sections will then look into the role of social media networking in the society, particularly its effects on users and/or customers along with the opportunities and advantages brought about by the use of such technologies for companies.

The use of social media has been mainly associated with online content generated by users. This technological concept has been typically applied to signify different forms of media content which are created by end-users and are available to the public. As noted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2007), there is a need for user-generated content to adhere to a number of requirements to be deemed as such. It should be published on the website that is accessible to the public or on a social networking site that can be accessed by a group of individuals.

Next, the content must demonstrate a particular amount of creative effort and should be generated outside of professional practices. Exchanged content in instant messages and emails are excluded as well replications of content that already exists and content that was developed with intentions of a commercial market context. Based on economic, technological, and social factors that affect user-generated content, social media has been described as a set of Internet-based applications that allow the development and exchange of content generated by users.

 Classifications of social media remain ambiguous, although a number of researchers have relied on a number of theories that can clarify its types, such as those in the field of media research (e.g. self-presence and media richness) and social processes (e.g. self-disclosure and self-presentation), which are the two main components of social media.