Social Media

Technology has come a long way since the beginning of time: where language was developed, to telephones, televisions, the internet, and social media. As Mike Laurie (2009) explains in his online article “7 Technologies Shaping the Future of Social Media”, technology has allowed our lives to be easier, allowing us to use less effort to complete a task. In “Technorati Top 100” a list of top social media sites are listed listing “The Huffington Post” as number one. Yet, what are these sites motivations? Often we have to take a deeper look into the development of social media, the uses, and the incentives behind them.

The strengths and limits of social media, when thinking about democracy, is that it allows people to have freedom of speech. Blogging allows people to not only see what is happening all over the world, but also allows them to spread their opinions on the government, social happenings, and much more. These media’s help emerge new ideas because everyone has a voice that can easily be heard. People are able to communicate with each other, support certain ideas, and deliver them over a wide spread audience. One example of this is twitter, where one person can tweet an idea, and that idea can be retweeted over and over indefinitely. Another example on twitter is trends. If people use trends repeatedly by putting a “#” symbol before their idea, it will link together all people talking about the same trend. Then the discussion can be headlined over trending topics; allowing more people to comment on the current hot issues conversed. Social media with its positives also bring negatives. Some of the negatives to “the freedom of speech” on social media sites are bullying, partiality, lack of courteous attitudes, prejudice, and lack of honesty or truthfulness. The real question is does the positive effect of democracy through social media, outweigh the negative effects it may have on society?

When dealing with “spin” and the media it is always crucial to remember that there may be motivation behind ones opinions or web based media. In _Perspective on Justice_ by Doris Provine (2010) Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner wrote an article called “New Media and Internet Activism: From the ‘Battle of Seattle’ to Blogging”. In this article they described the internet as “[. . .] a contested terrain, used by Left, Right, and Center of both dominant cultures and subcultures in order to promote their own agendas and interests” (Provine, p. 237). When dealing with media it is important to look at everything objectively. A popular saying is “do not believe everything you read”. A person never knows what truth is behind things said, and how much things were changed or omitted to make ideas or agendas appear right.

In my opinion, both media and technology are important in dealing with justice. As we saw in Egypt, the media allowed citizens to speak out against their current dictator and force him to step down. It allowed them to communicate not only with each other, but the world anonymously and effectively. As Khan states, “[t]he new internet subculture that has erupted around ‘blogging' is particularly deserving of analysis here, as bloggers have demonstrated themselves as technoactivists favoring not only democratic self-expression and networking, but also global media critique and journalistic sociopolitical intervention” (Provine, p. 235). I have also personally been influenced by media since childhood. Often you are taught what is right and wrong by not only your parents, but the cartoons you grow up on. For example, you may watch Mulan where you learn that being brave and oppressing women, based on their sexuality is wrong. Justice in the media is displayed from cartoons, to movies, to television shows, internet, and much more. That is why it is important to remember that there sometimes are political and other motivations behind media outlets, and they can sometimes shape your opinions and help cultivate your beliefs.

Overall, social media has many benefits and many negatives. Technology forms the future and brings people together helping them display their opinions in a democratic fashion. Yet, it is important to constantly keep in mind that there may be motivations behind what people post, say, and display. Technology is important for the future of many nations, helping to provide justice to people who may not have it. Technology and social media is crucial because it has the power to display what is right and wrong to a large audience, while changing basic needs and perspectives.



REFERENCES

Provine, D, Chapple, R, Gray, K, Sefiha, O, & Walker, M. (2010). Perspectives on justice. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

IMAGE REFERENCES

Atagana, M. (Designer). (2011). Social media bandwagon. [Web]. Retrieved from http://memeburn.com/2011/01/social-media-before-facebook-and-twitter-infographic/

Biojobblogger, . (Designer). (2010). Social media tidbits and insights. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.biojobblog.com/articles/social-media/

Jacob, S. (Designer). (2010). Tweet. [Web]. Retrieved from http://technorati.com/blogging/article/trouble-deciding-who-to-follow-on/