ASSIGNMENT #2 – post #1

POST #1

Pose a question that you will answer with your social media strategy and posts.

The question that I would like to answer with my chosen social media strategy and subsequent posts is how effective social media advertising can be when exploitative of user insecurity. Does utilising social media as a platform, a medium known for promoting falsity, with the intent to evoke feelings of inadequacy truly bolster sales performance? 

In the same vein as what I had discussed in an earlier post and with this question in mind, ultimately I would like to examine the association between self insecurity and social media use. Individuals who have extreme desires to comply with social pressures, which through preliminary research I have found to be particularly existent within the younger age bracket. Individuals such as these tend to turn to excess and overcompensation when doubtful and brands utilise this self-doubt to their avail. According to Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, Kathleen Clarke-Pearson and Council on Communications and Media, using social media is among the most common activities of today’s children and adolescents. Within the past five years, the number of adolescents using such sites has increased dramatically. However, due to their “limited capacity for self-regulation and susceptibility to peer pressure” (O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011), they are seen as at risk. 

In order to combat this I would like to first better understand it, is it a truly effective sales methodology? What are the ethical considerations of preying upon the vulnerable/insecure?

How does this form of advertising utilise social media as a vessel to encourage individuals to make purchases due to feelings of inadequacy? Furthermore, should this marketing in which exploits insecurity for profit have a place on social media as a platform?