The age of social media
·
Definition: what is social media?
·
Reasons for the rise of social media
o Proliferation in use of smart
phones (due to increases in material income/rise of a generation of
technology-saavy youths)
o Increasing reliance on the
internet and the increase in network connectivity in countries (e.g. in
Singapore, the government has increased the number of wireless hotspots around
the country)
·
What are the implications of a proliferation in the use of social media
and networking platforms?
o Transmission and receivership of
news
§ What does this spell for
traditional sources of news/newsprint?
·
§ What are the implications for
traditional journalism?
o Engendering societal
change/revolution
§ Role in encouraging accountable
governance
§ Role in promoting representative
governance in societies previously under authoritarian/tyrannical rule/corrupt, oppressive regimes (revolutions aided by the use of social media)
·
Revolutions in Egypt, Syria, Libya, Turkey
o Building a more cohesive global
community and breaking down barriers of communication (in terms of language,
geophysical distance, etc.)
§ Establishing of transnational
networks/global communities of shared interests and friendships through social networking
sites like facebook/instagram – through the use of ‘hashtags’, ‘Facebook groups’,
trending topics
·
Implications on a wide variety of aspects of our daily lives
o Health and fitness: sharing of
fitness tips and motivation; establishing international network of enthusiast
through the use of ‘hashtags’
o Consumption patterns: influences
the choices we make in terms of dressing and diet
·
Enable learning and understanding of foreign cultures and customs
o Through the sharing of photos and
reflections via social networking platforms twitter and instagram
o Revolutionising the way we do
business and implications on the consumer marketplace
§ Promotes the growth of
e-businesses (increased platforms on which to conduct online business e.g. sale
of clothing through instagram instead of the usual platform of a formal web
domain site)
§ Promotes entrepreneurism – impact
on small and medium/individual enterprises
·
Increase in easy to use/navigate and free social media networking
platforms on which to conduct businesses encourages the setting up of small
online businesses (e.g. home bakers, sellers of pre-loved items, sellers of
customized craft and handiworks, etc.).
·
Take advantage of the wide reach of such platforms to reach out to the
mass market as well as target audiences
§ Rise of the food blogging scene (in
Singapore) makes the food and beverage industry more dynamic
·
Many people look to social media platforms like instagram/burpple/food
blogs for recommendations on places to eat
·
Reviews may make or break food establishments
·
Implications and suggested approaches to this development
o Governments
o Traditional news organisation
o Individual consumers
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