Reflections on Social Media Use

My name’s Annie, and I’m in my third and final year of a Bachelor of Communications in Advertising.
Personally, I extensively and regularly use social media as a tool for procrastination. Dead set, I spend a majority of  my free time perusing social media at my leisure.  I’m certain that is unsurprising for a majority of people in my digitally savvy generation, so that assuages my feelings of guilt at the fact that my first thought when I wake up isn’t ‘I wonder what productive and helpful tasks I can do today to better the lives of others’ and is instead ‘I wonder what’s happening in my newsfeed’.

Professionally, I have thus far had little use for Social Media… though I have ‘liked’ my employers webpages on Facebook.

The social media tools I have on my devices include LinkedIn, YouTube,  Skype, Viber and DropBox, but the ones you are most likely to find me killing time on are Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram.

 My Experiences on Facebook:

Facebook is responsible for my ability to know the relationship status of any one of my friends at any given time, and responsible for me going over my Mobile Data cap every. single. month. Mostly I use this social media as a very positive tool for connecting and interacting, both locally, with events, group messages, and dodgy tagged photos.  Having moved around a fair bit, I find Facebook an excellent way to remain in the loop with friends overseas, as well, and share their accomplishments, excitements, and brags, although it can make the relationship feel  a bit superficial overtime.
I also find it a great way of connecting with buisneses, in example, I recently put my iPhone through the washing machine (Genuis, I know) and the LifeProof case it was in, saved the phone. I made a status tagging the company, announcing that LifeProof saved my device, and LifeProof replied mentioning they were glad to have helped me in my undoubtedly traumatic time.
Facebook is super great, and unless every single person I know (and were likely to meet) migrated to a different site, I never see myself removed from it.

 My Experiences on Instagram – @annastar93

Instagram is my be all and end all of awesome time wasting, interacting goodness. I follow celebrities, brands, chefs, athletes, and most importantly; many many attractive people… it’s a feed of pretty things, people I love and things which I enjoy, which in short is a personalized aggregated newsfeed which is perfectly tailored to my interests. I use Instagram mainly as a tool of exhibiting my own narcissism, but it has positives as well.
My housemate and best friend is doing an OE in Poland and constantly updates her Insta with photos of the scenery, the food, and the activities she gets up to, which helps us share her expereiences, and feels like she isn’t so far away.
Professionally, I follow my employer on Instagram, but don’t have a professional account that I manage myself. Instragram enables sharing moments, as well as enabling you to interact personally with brands… you know they’re only a Direct Message or tagged comment away.

 My Experiences on SnapChat – annastar93

SnapChat is something I use sparingly, as it is very data heavy, and often a bit repetitive (they’re only so many drunken updates you can get from your friends…) My  Snap chat is comprised of people who are only on my cell phone contact list, therefore I’m only getting updates from the people I genuinely care about and want to hear from. SnapChat is an excellent way of sharing fleeting experiences,  but I feel that SnapChat would be hard to utilize in a professional manner, because of the brevity of the time you have to convey a message effectively.

I find that the greatest benefit of all social media is the ability to remove geographic boundries from relationships, and the biggest downfall that you must delete all apps before exam week to make sure you stand a chance at getting some study done.

How have new digital technologies changed the way journalists do their core job and communicate with their readers/listeners/viewers?

The job of a journalist was one as simple as reporting a story in to fit a column of a newspaper. The journalist was told to simply report an event, tell the audience what to think on an issue. Times have changed. Digital technologies have facilitated every citizen with a video camera and a social media account to become a journalist. Changes in Digital technologies have forced journalists to adapt to change the way they do their job, and the way they communicate… journalists no longer simply report, journalist have a whole raft of responsibilities.

Digital media technologies have changed the ways journalists must publish. Journalists don’t get a break; they must be constantly scavenging, combing media for a scoop. They  now work within a community and get stories, opinions, footage, and events in real time, from the perspective of the people. Journalists now work from outside their office; the physical news room and print production is no longer a necessary tool for getting the news out. More and more people are accessing news media on their computers, tablets and smart phones, so journalists are having to adapt their stories to be post-able online, and use social media to stumble upon or discuss breaking news outside of work hours.

Before this new-media platform was constructed, journalists were essentially divorced from their readers or viewers. (Jericho, 2012) Digital technologies have fundamentally challenged newspaper and magazine production; in the era of personalization, audiences want journalism to be accessible, as well as local to their interests. Journalists therefore have to communicate in a way that makes a story relatable, and graspable.

Journalists engaging on Twitter

 Twitter is possibly the greatest example of technological and communication adaptation in journalism. Journalists must update, comment, and stay relevant in a digital age where news is constantly streaming, and limitless. Twitter to journalists, serves to share the news. Journalists jump on trending hashtags and popular topics to link articles and use 140 characters to report a full story.  Articles on online and print media often end with the journalist signing off their name with their Twitter username

Similar parallels have been seen in the Public Relations industry; before new media, audiences were told what to think, now they are invited to say what they think, in much the same way journalists have had to adapt, PR managers are also finding that their work is a a forum for interactive discussion, where readers, experts and journalist can engage, talk and argue.

Despite the adaptation, I don’t feel as if journalists are the ‘all powerful, all-knowing’ source of world affairs that they once were. With new digital technologies, an everyday citizen (TWITIZEN!) can become writer or recorder of the news with little more then a video camera and basic word processing skills. The deputy editor of the online Guardian, her self stated that “Digital has … created a more leveled world, where responses can be instant, where some readers will almost certainly know more about a particular subject than the journalist, where the reader might be better placed to uncover a story.” (Viner, K. 2013) Digital technology has facilitated the ability for every individual to share news with others.

 

REFERENCES

Jericho, G. (2012). Journalists all a Twitter. In The Rise of the Fifth Estate: social media and blogging in Australian politics (pp. 222-267). Retrieved from http://webpac.canberra.edu.au/record=b1688007~S4

 

Viner, K., (2013) The Rise of the Reader: Journalism in the age of open web The Guardian, 9^th October 2013, Retreived on 14/11/13 Retrieved from:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/09/the-rise-of-the-reader-katharine-viner-an-smith-lecture

Referring to Jurgensen & Ray (2012), how are digital technologies affecting (in positive and/or negative ways) users’ privacy?

Here in Australia, we have no right to privacy, with digital technologies, it is easier than ever to obtain information about others. Jurgenson & Rey argue that privacy and publicity coexist together at the user’s discretion, and that we do not challenge the notion that our lives are becoming more public,  yet people maintain the desire to control the information that others know about them.. The act of concealing and revealing information online can be described as a ‘fan dance’ ; the decisions of what is chosen to be revealed and concealed, at what time, and to whom, all actions done with the knowledge that with just a click, another may see information about you.

The changes in publicity and privacy online have had some adverse negative effects on how we view our own privacy. Everywhere on social media we see teenagers and adults posting photos, statuses and video content announcing where they were, what they were doing, who they were with and what they were eating. We are seeing our society begin to evolve to live in a ‘celebrity idea of public life’ (Jurgenson & Rey 2013,) broadcasting ourselves to the general public, under the impression that when we are posting on these platforms, that we are still maintaining some privacy.

In one particularly famous example of a ‘fan dance’ approach that  devalues our privacy  is the workings of WikiLeaks. “WikiLeaks keeps it’s information partially concealed – that each time a leak fades from the headlines, attention is restored by the release of a new set of documents.” (Jurgenson & Rey 2013,)  Whilst this technique is highly effective for the website itself, the privacy and integrity of those involved in the leaked stories is then put at risk, not just once by one set of documents, but instead becomes increasingly threatened with each additional story.
“…social media and other digital technologies are eroding our once-valued privacy and creating a new cultural movement of mass publicity” (Jurgensen & Rey, 2012)

Digital technologies and their associated lack of privacy has also  had positive impact in our society. We are certainly more aware of our online identity, with social media in particular facilitating user-controlled disclosure of personal information…

Everyone must see how cool I look at a BAR on a SCHOOL NIGHT. Except my parents. Not my parents.

Publicity in digital technology can be a positive thing in legal senses;  CCTV and mindless social media engagement can prove a watertight alibi, but this has also worked in the reverse. People have become so unwary of their publicity online, that it can incriminate them. Earlier this year in Stuebenville Ohio, two high school teens assaulted and raped an inebriated teenage girl at a party. When taken to court, the boys denied the rape allegations, saying that it was a consensual and sober act. However, text messages, status updates and images of the two boys dragging her out of a room posted to Instagram , and a video of one of the attackers talking about how ‘Dead Wasted’ she was and she wouldn’t ‘be able to feel it’ posted to YouTube contradicted their pleas of innocence. The boys were persecuted, and it became known as The Case that Social Media Won.

“the most private of moments may be captured in text, photograph and video, and put online.” (Cohen, A. 2013)

I personally feel that publicity overrides privacy one hundred percent. People are far more preoccupied with  showing the world who they are and what they are doing, rather than simply reserving that for the close few who may actually care. You can’t get famous if you’re private 🙂

How do People use social networking services to construct their identities, and how do social connections form part of these identities

Identity is the characteristics that determine something, in self, identity is what defines us, and is created and influenced by life experiences, environments, culture, family and relationships. One portrays their identity in their face-to face life through the clothes they wear, the way they present themselves, their actions, words and the mannerisms in which they behave. The formation of identity offline is all made by the observer, the viewer who puts together the idea who we are by making inferences upon our identity.

In the digital age, with every social networking site requiring you to create a profile, online identity is made and manufactured with our own control about how we present and project ourselves. We can be authentic and truthful about ourselves, or skew and exaggerate and falsify ourselves to become less factual and more anonymous, omitting parts of our existing real-life psychical and personal characteristics. Through the use of themes, personal bios, photographs and liked or favourite pages available for view to our audience we are able to put forward the parts of ourselves that we wish to be known.

Social connections online can be what forms the decided identity of the user. Whether adjusted due to the involvement in a community of interest, the age group looking at the profile or the maintenance of existing offline connections, the online social connections impact the way the a user may create an identity online.

“ Identity may be elaborated in terms of the network, the node being relatively unembellished but resonant with meaning through its connections with selected others” (Livingstone, 2008, pp403)

In the studies and interviews conducted by Livingstone, it was found that the younger generation were more preoccupied with the personalization and customisation of their profile pages as a way to communicate themselves and project their identities, whilst the older teenagers preferred a plainer template, for the actual social connections would already know them enough to have an identity for them. That being said, it is human nature to try and project an image of oneself which fits in with the ideal image of who and what one would like to be.

“In order to be (some identity), one must act like (some identity). In order to not be (some other identity), one must not act like (that other identity” (Burke, P. J. Reitzes D.C 1981, pp90)

The downfall of the ability of constructed identity, does allow for complete anonymity on the internet. This anonymity can be used to extract information from other users, to bully or for more sinister acts. We may communicate with another user regularly, building a certain trust and relationship with said user, to find out the users identity was constructed and misleading, leaving us hurt and mistrusting.

Our online identities are constructed, changed and altered for the gratification and reiteration of our offline identity. We will always project what we find most flattering and balance opportunity and risk when deciding what to post online.

References

Livingstone, S. (2008). Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: Teenagers use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New media & society, 393-411.

Peter J. Burke and Donald C. Reitzes The Link Between Identity and Role Performance Social Psychology Quarterly , Vol. 44, No. 2 (Jun., 1981), pp. 83-92 Published by: American Sociological Association retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3033704

How do the affordancess of a networked media culture (hyperlinks, multimedia, sharing, etc) enhance online communication?

A networked media culture of hyperlinks, multimedia, and sharing enhance online communication in a number of ways. The idea of sharing pictures,  a ‘viral’ piece of media, ideas, videos, and pieces of information to link to other information has allowed what was normal online communication to become ‘hyper communication’.

It was one thing to speak of or describe a hilarious, thought invoking or powerful piece of work to another person, but to have them experience the same one can enhance a connection both with the piece and with the person you are sharing it with. It can become an inside joke, a point of discussion or just a way of communicating an emotion that you do not have the words for yourself.
In example of emotional sharing, the KONY 2012 video that was shared on social media platforms, email and video sharing sites shows the power of a thought invoking piece and the speed at which the World Wide Web allows people to make their passionate emotions viral. The video by Invisible Children created outcry, anger and sparked passion for those to help child soldiers. Multimedia sharing allows us share not only our emotions, but the materials that invoked these feelings.

An image of protest on KONY 2012, these young people from varying locations all drawn together for their united passion, sparked by the KONY 2012 video.

Sharing online also allows us to stay in close contact with those we already know. In order to keep in touch with family who are not in close  geographical proximity, or not present at the time, one would send out school photos, and lengthy Christmas cards full of updates upon their lives. Now with sharing through social media, friends and family can maintain an informed idea of what is happening. Sharing photos, statuses and videos keeps people in the know about each other’s lives. Studies have been done on how online communication and networking have changed and enhanced our relationships. This sharing of moments enhances our existing connections and communications by keeping things present and up to date, but also by creating a non-exclusionary way of maintaining contact. 

A networked media culture allows us to share information, our thoughts, and our opinions quickly and efficiently. Reading a Newspaper used to be a private event, reading a scholarly paper was done in leisure time, and these were only discussed with those in your local area. Now, social media and email allow us to share links to articles, blog posts or scholarly papers with invitation for further communication and discussion, preventing the reader from independently having to locate information themselves. This allows us to have discussion or argument on a piece with people who are outside of geographical proximity, and can even permit us to make friends online with like minded people.

Adapting a paper for online use, the benefits that it offers to it’s reader ready by John Temple

“Hyperlinks are not causing this shift alone, but the networks that are built up of hyperlinks allow for it” (Halavais, 2008 pp48)

An example of this can be found through political support groups on Facebook, who discuss their similar feelings toward things related to government and policy. These groups are made up of people nation-wide who share links, articles and research  done upon their parties, and their opposition. They share not only a mind set, but they share information with each other which is enabled by the affordances of the multimedia culture.

 

A networked media culture has enhanced online communication in a number of ways. You can keep in contact, share information, emotion, news events, personal stories, and your opinions, all simultaneously.

References

Halavais. (2008). The hyperlinked society: Questioning connections in the digital age. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press.

Hinton, S., & Hjorth, L. (2013). Understanding social media. London: Sage Publications.

Suberhmanyan. K, Greenfield. P, (2008) Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships, The future of children, Vol 18,#1, Spring, (pp 119-146)

Harris.P, (2012, March, 14) Kony 2012 organisers plan massive day of action across US cities, The Guardian, retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/13/kony-2012-invisble-children-day-of-action

 

The joy of DML.

Class. FIguring out site. How do I embed references?