In the global context, social media has been deployed heavily to reach a wider customer base within a short time. However, it is vital to note that this promotional approach has its pros and cons. According to an article by Garrido-Moreno and Lockett, the tourism sector has reported huge profitability levels after tapping various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others, to market their services and interact with customers. Social media has also been used to boost organizations’ global operations. Businesses that operate in the era of globalization may not perform optimally without investing in social media as a marketing tool.
For instance, according to a study by Olivas-Lujan and Bondarouk, internationally recognized organizations such as Google, Apple, and Facebook have relied heavily on social media to enhance their global HRM approaches. These companies have effectively managed to promote their brands across the world. In addition, social media as a global promotion strategy has been deployed to influence countries’ political affairs. For instance, the United States’ campaigns of 2008 and 2016 and India’s political rallies of 2014 demonstrated the extent to which social media could be utilized as a global promotion tool to determine nations’ voting outcomes. In particular, Narendra Modi’s 2014 win as India’s Prime Minister was attributable to social media whereby his followers who are spread around the globe could use Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram to offer their support.
Nonetheless, social media has its cons, which include its potential to tarnish the global image of particular companies, especially those, which produce low-quality products. Consequently, companies that deploy it as a global promotion tool are exposed to the threat of negative publicity associated with their substandard commodities. In addition, it is almost impossible to control social media content. This situation implies that any problems witnessed by a single client can reach global customers within a short time once published on social media platforms. In this case, the affected organization has no alternatives left apart from accepting its tainted image and devising mechanisms for restoring the situation.