Banking on Social Media

Social media benefits us in numerous ways. It connects us to friends and family, builds career networks, and provides us with an accessible platform to share our thoughts, feelings, and other material we deem worthy of notice. However, are their other benefits of social media that we are not as aware of?  As social media networks grow in both numbers and in technological development, new, more obscure gains are being drawn from social media. As social media continues to grow, will these trends fade to the way-side as have some previous online trends, or will they expand to transform our world so that it is literally at our fingertips?

There are, in fact, several other benefits of social media. Not only can we find and reconnect with old friends, social media provides us with an instant way to receive news updates, comments, questions, and pictures from around the world. Recently, however, the attention has turned to the lucrative benefits of social media. This is a claim that has been widely discussed, particularly in the ream of blogging, where some bloggers work full-time and receive ample "payments" from their sponsors and advertisers to continue posting information. The idea that social media may help people with their finances intrigued me, and urged me to investigate this claim. After some brief research, I discovered that there is a plethora of ways that people can use social media to save or even earn money. Here are a few, as outlined by web designer and blogger, Joe Porter:

• Sell items you don't need. Facebook, ebay, and Craigslist are excellent platforms on which to sell items from. There are also several local online bulletin boards and classifieds websites that can be used.

• Find items you need. Similar to selling items, social media site provide an excellent platform to inquire about where to buy certain items at better prices or with lower shipping rates. Furthermore, it allows users to get feedback about the quality and durability of items they are thinking about purchasing, helping the user to get a better feel for which products are trustworthy or not. Social media also facilitates the social cues between people, making it easier for people to decline to help or buy something than it would in person.

• Get coupons, discounts, and sales information.Websites such as Foursquare, Groupon, and LivingSocial provide its subscribers with coupons, deals, and tips to save money on various things. Also, franchise websites often provide printable coupons for their customers.

• Lower financing interest rates. As of late, it is common for finance and loan providers to execute searches of prospective loan applicants through social media networks when they apply for a loan. Though this, they can deny loans or request a higher interest rate based on their impressions of loan applicants. However, this can work to the advantage of loan applicants. By simply keeping a clean, simple profile with appropriate pictures and content, it is easy to "persuade" loan providers that you are a desirable candidate.

• Use social media to your advantage. Several websites, such as Mint.com, offers platforms for users to manage and organize their finances, as well as pay bills and create budgets. 

This is not by any means an exhaustive list, but an excellent start to understanding the way-laying benefits of social media and how to use them to our best advantage. While some benefits, as well as disadvantages, of social media seem to be rather insignificant or inconsequential right now, the applications of social media are growing at an alarming rate, and will be of great interest to social media, communication, and marketing scholars in the future.

References:

Porter, J. (n.d.). Can Social Media Help Save You Money? - joeporter.me. joeporter.me | Internet, Tech, Business and Life News. Retrieved May 4, 2011, from http://www.joeporter.me/social-media-help-save-money/

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