Mrs. Mahjabeen Aydeed Habeeb Koya Thangal

1. Promoting Corporate Communication through Online Social media: a study based on business Professionals of Kerala Mrs. Mahjabeen Aydeed Habeeb Koya Thangal Research Scholar Junior Librarian Dept. of library and Inf. Science Dept. of Commerce and Management Studies University of Calicut University of Calicut mahjabeenhabeeb@gmail.comhabeebifra@yahoo.com

2. Introduction In recent years, social media has become most important for social networking, content sharing and online accessing. Business community use social media and social networking websites as a tool for gaining deep customer insight and to facilitate consumer influence. Social media is a phenomenon that has transformed the interaction and communication of individuals throughout the world. In recent times, social media has impacted many aspects of human communication, thereby impacting business In this context a study based on the utilization of social media platforms by the business professionals for corporate communication is necessary.

3. Aim of the Study • To analyse the usefulness of social media as a tool for professional communication among business professionals. • To find out the mostly accessed social media platforms by the business professionals. • To assess the role of social media for communication between the business professionals. • To explore the issues concerning the use of social media by the business professionals.

4. Methodology of the study The present study focuses on the utilization of online social platforms by the business professionals. Both primary and secondary data are used in the study. Primary data was collected from the business professionals of Kerala through questionnaires. The sample of the study included business professionals from different types of business undertakings. Simple random sampling method was used to generate 73 business professionals to form the part of the study.

5. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONSUse of social media for professional activities (N=73)

6. Frequency of visiting professional networks (N=49)

7. Level of experience in using social media (N=49)

8. Extent in which social media promote communication(N=49)

9. Persons communicated regularly through social media (N=49)

10. Trustworthy of information from social media(N=49)

11. Use of different social media for business purposes (N=49)

12. Preference of social media by business professionals(N=49)

13. Ways in which social media promote professional communication (N=49)

14. Main Issues in using social media(N=49)

15. Conclusion Social media has changed the way most of us communicate and collaborate, not just personally but professionally as well. The emergence of social media platforms has dramatically altered how business professionals share information.. A good number of the business professionals trust the information obtained from social media. Face book seems to be the most depended by the large majority of the business professionals followed by YouTube and twitter. Majority of the business professionals responded that they depend on social media because it is an effective platform to exchange professional ideas and interests. Rapid spread of long kind of information is the issue concerning the use of social media by a good number of professionals.

16. Thankzzzzz…