The Power Of Social Media:
How It Can Make Or Break Your Business
 
The popular messaging app Snapchat and its founder Evan Spiegel have been at the receiving end of the Indian social media ire since the last weekend after the alleged disparaging comments made by its founder. Twitter and Facebook were flooded with outrageous reactions of offended Indians who were united in one voice i.e. #BoycottSnapchat. But the ramifications did not stop here, it affected the brand value to the greatest extent possible with the App Store rating going down from 5 to mere 1 star. The reactions had some power, the power to sabotage a giant brand which was immensely loved by the Indian users until a day where a mere comment had the power to create a social current of Swadeshi feels producing hatred among the masses and affecting the status of the brand tremendously.

Well, the incidence aptly demonstrates what social media has come to become in the recent times, with its ability for quick mass persuasion, power to glorify or jeopardize businesses, individuals and groups and providing a platform for millions of voices to be heard, which goes unnoticed otherwise. Facebook and Twitter battles are now a thing and businesses getting destroyed with a few clicks is no joke. In this cyberspace world, a lot of credibility is built for the brand from their online presence and reviews play a significant role in deciding a brand’s presence in the market as well as their future. With its ever active users who do not forget and forgive easily, social media has become a battle ground for brands who have to play hard to survive. Trolls and memes have become the order of the day and have a huge impact on brands, mostly in building negative face of the brand, supported by statistics which suggests that UK businesses lose up 20 lakh monthly because of the same reasons. Similarly, good reviews and super engaging content can also be the sole purpose of brands’ great success, the live examples in front of our eyes would be super successful brands like YouStory, PopXo, TheLogicalIndian, TVF et cetera.

Online reputation management hence has become a handle-with-care thing, entirely depended on how people treat you on social media. Your each step is being scrutinized and can either land you up on cloud 9 or make you fall flat on your face.