As a leader in the 21st Century, I want to know what technology Research Paper

As a leader in the 21st Century, I want to know what technology decisions to make - Research Paper Example Because of the massive reach of social media, firms regard it as an effective tool for driving relevant messages. From an internal communications point of view, social media allows employees to efficiently manage the exchanging of both professional and personal messages. Through social media, corporate culture has been further enhanced. From an external communications perspective, social media is used by firms to directly interact with their target customers in a less costly manner through the personalization of advertising messages. Therefore, in comparison to traditional forms of media, such as television and radio, marketing professionals prefer social media due to its wide audience reach and flexible nature. In this paper, we examine the relevance of leadership techniques in driving the effectiveness of social media, both internally and externally. As such, the discussion is divided into three parts: (1) look closely into social media as a business tool; (2) delve into the forms of leadership techniques, and (3) analyze the connection between proper leadership techniques and results-driven utilization of social media. In the end, this paper aims to justify its thesis that the effective use of social media in business depends on the leadership styles of leaders in a company. Research: Social Media and its Emerging Relevance in Business Overview of Social Media Social Media is defined by Wright State University (n.d.) as â€Å"an interactive, specifically online, community that builds and enhances relationships between individuals and groups based on interest, occupation, and demographic measures while delivering viable information to such individuals and groups.† Human communication, in this sense, is made more efficient through social media. The increasing use of social media by businesses has been underscored in numerous studies. D’Angelo (2010), in his academic paper entitled â€Å"Social Media Community Management: Implications for Busines s Communication Curriculum,† highlighted that 91% of the top 500 companies the U.S. used at least one social media tool in 2009, an uplift from 77% in 2008. There was also an increase in social media use by small businesses from 12% to 24% between December 2008 and December 2009 (D’Angelo, 2010). Moreover, Harvard Business Review Analytic Services (n.d.), in its newly released survey with top U.S. corporations, claimed that more than three-quarters (79%) of the 2,100 organizations surveyed said that they are currently using social media channels (58%) to launch social media initiatives (21%). As Stelzner (2009) discovered in another study, business owners are more likely to use social media marketing (90%) than employees working for a business (81%). In terms of their actual use of social media, sole proprietors and owners of businesses of 2 to 100 employees mentioned that they have been doing social media marketing for years while 72% of marketers have either just star ted or have been using social media for only a few months (Stelzner, 2009). These data indicate that the rise in the use of social me