The use of Social Media

One of my friends recently shared friends most recent post on their blog through Facebook, which happened to be about social media, named “Retweets, Likes and Double-Taps.” My blog is all about social media so what better chance to share ideas.

The post concerns how social media is being used and what direction it is heading in, after someone posted a Facebook status about buying lunch for a homeless person. I can see where Dan is coming from when he says that this epitomises the “culture of the shallow, self-obsessed,” but I also think… what should someone be posting if not about their good deeds?

It is true that “many have lost sight of what’s truly important in life,”But I don’t think sharing an act of kindness does not fall under that categorization. If a post of that nature accumulates likes, shares or retweets, then surely that shows people DO care.

Of course there is a whole host of entirely superficial posts and tweets regarding “designer trainers, specific cuts of jean and elaborately designed tattoos,” among other things, which only serve to fuel perceptions of a lifestyle which doesn’t really exist.

BUT, there is also a plethora of conscious, thought provoking discussion which takes place on social media at the same time. It isn’t all pure ignorance out there, and it shows, simply by highlighting the problems with social media, that there is consciousness of the situation.

“The ‘relative-fame’ people are quite bizarrely able to achieve through social media platforms” says more about the audience than the people posting these things. It is the duty of the audience, as with all forms of media, to be able to critically analyze whatever it is they are digesting. Unfollowing or removing a friend is just a click away.

I can certainly understand that looking at certain things on the internet can make you lose all faith in humanity. But that just means you are looking in the wrong place. As Dan says, “Society is continuously evolving,” and social media is just one stage in that evolution. While social media may be “truly skewing the essence of existence,” it isn’t the first thing to do so, and it won’t be the last. It is just another realm of life granted to us by technology.

Facebook Corporation

We already know how social media has changed the way traditional media outlets function, but in what direction is it going?

The beauty of the internet is the complete freedom and equality it provides, which was cemented recently (for the near future at least) by a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) net neutrality vote.

However, even with net neutrality intact, we are still seeing the influence of money all over the internet. It is imperative for all businesses to keep up with social media to promote products or market themselves, and without an online presence they fall behind.

Facebook is slowly moving on from its original user oriented organic reach, to more ad based paid reach.

Their definition of the difference:

“Organic reach is the total number of unique people who were shown your post through unpaid distribution. Paid reach is the total number of unique people who were shown your post as a result of ads.”

Basically what this means is that Facebook is turning into a tool for big businesses to advertise their products to users. The vast amount of exposure Facebook can give sellers not only to millions of people at once, but specifically to people who may be more interested in their products, has turned it into a goldmine for big business.

Companies have to keep up with social media trends to stay popular and therefore stay in business.

As Jen Goldberg, a digital strategist for ad agency Wieden+Kennedy says in this VICE interview, “In the way that celebrities have to behave like brands, brands are having to behave like celebrities.”

However, these developments are not necessarily a good thing for users or for Facebook. People don’t like feeling like a commodity, and after a survey of users, Facebook has now begun curtailing ‘Overly promotional’ posts.

While sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google try to make the most of their influence and power for monetary gain, the less powerful and influential they become. They are digging up the very foundations upon which they were planted.

According to this article, the future of social media lies away from the giant corporations such as Google and Facebook. Wagner (no relation to Professor Wagner I assume) believes the future lies in smaller, more independent applications which serve more unique functions.

For example, Whatsapp, which Facebook recently purchased, for messaging, Instagram for photos, and Twitter for the news feed. “It makes more sense to focus each individually on a particular experience and make it as good as possible,” says Wagner.

The way technology develops will also play a role in how users interact through social media. You must wade through a plethora of pictures, news and updates on current social media and I believe smaller, more manageable applications like the one Wagner talks about are next in the future of social media.

 

Media Today

Welcome to my new blog, which will be looking into the future of social media and its impact on society.

The world is changing faster now than it ever has before, and this acceleration of change shows no sign of slowing anytime soon. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, have existed for a miniscule amount of time, yet are already having a major impact on the planet.

These impacts are yet to be fully realized, but there are clear pros and cons for the emergence of social media. With new creations and ways of communicating continuing to surface at warp speed, it is becoming even more important to assess and predict how these mediums influence our lives.

Nobody can argue with the fact that social media has already caused monumental shifts in communication and beyond. It has brought the world closer together, and has simply bypassed political and economical structures that have existed for decades and even centuries in some cases.

There are very few corners of the earth that social media hasn’t touched, and while it is still up for debate whether or not that is a good thing or not, it definitely illustrates the power it holds.

Social media holds so much power because they all operate underneath the ‘Coasean Floor’*, meaning that for completely free, people can work together, create and share things, and even destroy things, as we have seen with social media led riots and protests across the globe.

An perfect example of creating and sharing are ‘memes’:

This is one of the more thought-provoking memes that you will find while scrolling down your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social media feed, but I think it highlights one the negative aspects of the digital age we are entering is producing. Is our technology on the verge of surpassing us? Has it already surpassed us? What are the implications of this?

The video below discusses how new technologies may be affecting our mental health.

Social media has already changed the way we look at the world, but what does it hold for us in the future?

It probably won’t be too long before we find out…

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“Coasean floor”, the phrase coined by Clay Shirky in his book ‘Here Comes Everybody,’ refers to:

The point below which there isn’t enough profit from transactions for a particular type of activity to meet the overhead costs of setting up a traditional institution.