Growing Importance of Virtual Trust
We all know that social media creates extensive networks that connect millions of people worldwide. However, how do these virtual links reflect real life connections?
Virtual trust is growing. People are more willing to seek and take advice from other users online, whether they know them or not. For online shopping, 72% of people trust online reviews, and people more than ever are becoming comfortable with review or posts from strangers.The influence of social media over recent years has grown to include not just more people, but more kinds of people. People typically association popular social media sites with younger generations, but in fact, last year the fastest growing demographic on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ was 55 and older. With the increase of trust in virtual relations and all these people getting webbed in the social media loop, it makes sense for companies to get in there and get the competitive advantage.
In a study by Cogent Research, 90% of high net worth investor groups look at social media to make investment decisions, and of those, 70% have made changes because of it. Social media is changing the way people invest, and it is working. The younger digital natives, the ones with heavier reliance on social media, are becoming wealthier. However, many companies do to include virtual networking as a main part of their strategy. Too many companies still think that social media is just another game that reflect the immaturity of the younger people. They pass it off as a fad. Unfortunately, they are blocking a direct channel to the community. Instead they could take advantage of these direct networks and share information online, strategize where to publish it, leave readers thinking about their products, provide costumer service, collect reviews and criticisms, and most of all, form strong connections with suppliers, clients, and employees. It is still unclear for some how fast and prominent the social media network is influencing society, but that may change in future years.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/salesforce/2014/09/17/social-media-influences-invest/