**6. Discussion**

The above findings show that each social media platform plays a role as identified by Kwayu et al. [3] and Piskorski [17]. In addition, they show that although each platform plays a role they collectively function as a system. This highlights Omotosho [8] argument that small businesses are failing to use social media platforms due to lack of continuity with platforms for business purposes. Thus, it underscores the importance of understanding social media ecosystem and its role in forming continuity with platforms for business purposes. Changes in one platform can affect how the whole ecosystem works. This is a significant finding as it shows how an ecosystem enacts a strategy for a small business. It further signifies the synergetic effect of co-existing social media platforms in an organization. This extends Hanna et al. [1] research on ecosystems by explaining why people use different social media platforms in simultaneity.

Second, these findings show how contexts overlap and interact with each other thus creating a narrow path for small business to enacts its strategy. For example, there are different types of social applications that transfer money abroad, however they function differently. As explained above, some apps transfer money but they charge a percentage which can reduce or take off the profit margin hence making the business meaningless. Therefore, although there is an abundance of social media applications, the choice is limited due to the multiplicity of overlapping contexts such as business context and geopolitical context. All of these factors affect business in their totality. Walsham [38] suggests the use of IT in sub-Saharan Africa is recent and its associated with mobile phones and social media. This explains why I have to use a combination of internet banking (UK) and social application (Wave) to send money to Africa mobile wallet (M-Pesa). Thus, not one social media can navigate different contexts on its own. It is a link of different social applications that creates an ecosystem that enables to carry out business financial functions. Thus, this paper contributes to literature on context and ICT4D (information communication technology for development) research by showing how the digital divide exists between developed and developing context [39]. This insight is helpful to assist digital inclusivity especially for less developed countries which are left behind with widening

#### *Social Media Ecosystem and Its Influence on Small Business Strategic Practices DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95058*

inequality that is created by digital companies such as GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple). Furthermore, the digital inequality (i.e. rural – urban, developing and developed) is exacerbated by neglect of research on social media and its influence on small business even within context of developed world [40].

Third, the findings show the importance of social and material arrangements in supporting small business strategies. As much as a single platform embodies a structure that can enable or limit a function, an ecosystem of social media platforms enacts a structure which creates an emergent strategy. For example, if Facebook opens its marketplace to other countries, this will influence our strategy because it will afford us with a new market from Facebook. Thus, any change in social or material arrangement as explained in the finding enacts an emergent strategy. Hence, this study enhances our understanding of Orlikowski [12] proposition that enactment and emergence are complementary to embeddedness and appropriation of technology structure. It enhances this understanding by showing where embodied structure plays a role and at what point enactment of structure becomes dominant.

In practice, the findings in this paper have the following significance.

Through highlighting the importance of soft infrastructure, this study shows the importance of synchronizing development of soft infrastructure. The misalignment of soft infrastructure between the developed and developing world exacerbates the digital divide that exists between the two. Synchronization of soft infrastructure will enable small businesses to grow and be able to access global markets with seamless effort. This will be successful if stakeholders and policymakers create conducive environment for use of social media for business activities among entrepreneurs and small businesses [8]. The policy holders and stakeholders will be in a better position to do this if they take a holistic view of understanding the social media ecosystem.

Second, this paper underscores the importance of strategizing practice for small business. Strategizing is a dynamic, iterative, interactive and continuous social process [41]. Social media platforms are dynamic, and they change continuously, thus small businesses need to constantly practice strategizing processes as business strategy is enacted continuously depending on changes that are happening in the social media ecosystem. Thus, what is right or what functions today might not be the same tomorrow. Therefore, small businesses that want to develop agility, which is required to successfully adopt and implement digital transformation need to have a continuous strategizing practice.
