Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

Social media has become a pretty big part of society today. Everyone normally has some form of an account to update, making their most personal thoughts public. While it may seem crazy that jobs are sorting through Facebook for potential employees, it makes a lot of sense. A resume or application will note the person's highest points, but no one really knows what they're like until someone taps into some of their most personal details. They can say they're hard workers and offer a reference that will agree, but that doesn't necessarily make it true. "Candidates tend to value referrals from their connections on Facebook more." (Light, 2011) Which is honestly true. Facebook friends tend to be more honest than those hand picked and potentially more useful. Because essentially everyone uses Facebook, it'll be hard to compete with one of the top social media platforms. Job listings are definitely still prominent, but Facebook has the means to work just the same. Essentially people do go to social media to speak on how much they love certain brands. Instead of figuring out a giant PR scheme, it'd be easier to find the people that genuinely enjoy the product and use them as sales opportunities. Consumers being used as brand ambassadors seems to be a smart tool and potentially cheaper for the company as well. "For the ambassadors, it’s often a labor of love more than a paying job. Rewards include product samples, gifts, discounts, and token cash payments." (Armstrong & Kotler, 2011) This is a good way to spread the word about product references and grow as a company. Planting people that enjoy your product on social media to endorse it. This can be seen all over instagram, with celebrities and those with a lot of followers being sent free products to endorse. Skinny mint tea, being one of the bigger names to do so, as well as the waist trainer trend.