Transcript
GHANA INSTTITUTE OF JOURNALISM
B.A COMMUNICATION STUDIES (TOP-UP)LEVEL 300 (WEEKEND SCHOOL)
MASS
MEDIA
AND
PUBLIC
ASSIGNMENT
LECTURER: MR. KWEKU ROCKSON
OPINION
GROUP MEMBERS
HENRIETTA BROCKE------------------------------------------------- TOJ2013018
NANA AMA ASAFO-BOAKYE……………………………….. TOP2013028
EMEFA ABLA ADJEI…………………………………………….TOPJ2013005
STEPHEN NARTEY……………………………………………….TOP2013076
ROCKSON SAPEY…………………………………………………TOJ2013045
BAABARA SAM…………………………………………………..
DANGMAA FELIX LAMBERT………………………………….
GODFRED KWEKU SEY…………………………………………………
FOLIE EMMANUEL………………………………………………..TOP201358
NEWTON OWUSU KWAPONG…………………………………. TOP2013105
INTRODUCTION
Digital developments have evolved the media landscape across the world. The wave of change
created in the traditional media in its information flow to the public has been so phenomenal.
This has brought to the fore the need for communication experts and scholars to better define
what social media is.
Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein defines social media as "a group of internet-based
applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which
allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content.”
According to Rosen (2006) social media is writing and broadcasting carried out by the people
formally known as the audience.
Kyle David Group explains social media as “the technological path of least resistance for twoway communication and distribution through a large audience who would otherwise be
unconnected if it were not for the technological medium”.
Luke Hayes also defines social media “as a group of Internet-based applications that allow the
creation and exchange of user-generated content and this content is then shared through social
interaction.
Pro Public Relations also state that “social media are online communications in which
individuals shift fluidly and flexibly between the role of audience and author. To do this, they
use social software that enables anyone without knowledge of coding, to post, comment on,
share or mash up content and to form communities around shared interests”.
Businesses also refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread
running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction
for the co-creation of value.
Social media is the future of communication, a countless array of internet based tools and
platforms that increase and enhance the sharing of information.
Social media can be defined as a two-way process that gives people the ability to communicate.
In furtherance, the phenomenon makes it possible for anyone to create, modify, and share
content with others, using relatively simple tools that are often free or inexpensive.
On the other hand, social media can also be defined as a term used to describe a variety of webbased platforms, applications and technologies that enable people to socially interact with one
another online.
Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, defines social media as “media for social interaction, using
highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based
and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.
Social media is arguably one of the most transparent and interactive modern communication
tools. It provides real time content for one-on-one communication between people from diverse
backgrounds and different geographical locations.
Social media is a new marketing tool that allows one to get to know their customers and
prospects in ways that were previously not possible. This information and knowledge must be
paid for with output of respect, trustworthiness, and honesty. Social media is not a fad, but the
beginning of the marketing revolution.
According to Joe Cothrel of Lithium Technologies, social media consists of any online platform
or channel for user-generated content. By this definition, for example, WordPress, Sharepoint,
and Lithium qualify as social media, as do YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Social media more narrowly defined includes; only channels for user-generated content, as
distinguished from platforms, which are referred to as social technologies. In this direction,
social media requires a computer or mobile device with internet access. It constitutes web-based
and mobile technologies used to turn communication into interactive dialogue between
organizations, communities, and individuals.
Hence, social media can take many different forms, including internet forums, weblogs, social
blogs, micro blogging, wikis, podcasts, transfer of text, photographs or pictures, audio, video,
rating and social bookmarking. Social Media has relevance not only for regular internet users,
but businesses as well.
According to Kaplan and Haenlein, there are six different types of social media. They are
•
collaborative projects
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blogs
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micro blogs
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content communities
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social networking sites, virtual game worlds
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virtual communities.
Social media also offers several functions such as networking, chat, photo-sharing among others.
Lietsala and Sirkunen (2008) categorize social media into eight genres that facilitate social
interaction;
•
Content publishing and broadcasting: - Here are users that produce written text or
video material to blogs, wikis, micro blogs, broadcasting such as Blogger, Twitter,
and Podcasts.
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Discussion forums: - With this, users engage friends and connect with other
individuals in other geographical settings in discussion forums, chats through sites
such as Thoughts.com, Suomi24.
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Content Sharing and social bookmarking: - Here users interact through social
bookmarking, sharing podcasts, photos or videos through service providers such as
del.ici.ous, You Tube, Flicker.
•
Social networking sites: - these are communities for social networking and
community building such as MySpace, IRC-Gallery, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
•
Joint production: Here users create shared content and edit other’s contribution in
sites such as Wikipedia, OhmyNews.
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Virtual worlds: - in this arena, users engage in immersive worlds such as Second Life,
Habbo.
•
Attachment services: - This is an individual service to aid an existing service such as
Google maps, Facebook connect.
•
Aggregation services: - This combines several elements of social media and more
traditional communication such as Friendfeed, Google Wave.
Technologies include blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall postings, email, instant messaging,
music sharing, crowd sourcing and voice over IP, to name a few. Many of these social media
services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms.
The use of social media as a form of marketing tool has taken on whole new challenges. As the
2010 Trust Study indicates, it is most effective if marketing efforts through social media revolve
around the genuine building of authority. Someone performing a “marketing” role within a
specific area or industry through providing valuable and accurate information on an ongoing
basis without marketing angle overtly associated. If this can be done, trust with and of, the
recipient of that information and that message itself begins to develop naturally. This person or
organization becomes a thought leader and value provider setting themselves up as a trusted
‘advisor’ instead of a marketer. “Top of mind awareness” develops and the consumer naturally is
influenced by the products or offerings of the authority or influencer.
There are many ways authority can be created and influence can be accomplished. This can
include participation in Wikipedia which actually verifies user-generated content and
information more than most people may realize as well as provide valuable content through
social networks, on platforms such as Facebook and twitter, article writing and distribution
through sites such as Ezine Articles and Scribed. It can also provide fact-finding answers on
“social question and answer sites” such as EHow and Yahoo Answers.
As a result of the direct impact or indirect influence of social media, marketers today are likely
or more likely to get consumers make buying decisions based on what they read and see in
platforms we call “social” but only if presented by someone they have come to trust. That is why
a purposeful and carefully designed social media strategy has become an integral part of any
complete and directed marketing plan but must also be designed using newer “authority
building” techniques.
Basically, social media is communication channels or tools used to store, aggregate, share,
discuss or deliver information within online communities. The focus is on interaction and
relationships. However, the new media on the other hand, which is a generic term for the many
different forms of electronic communication that are made possible through the use of computer
technology. The term is in relation to "old" media forms, such as print newspapers and
magazines that are static representations of text and graphics.
It also encompass the amalgamation of traditional media such as films, images, music, spoken
and written word, with the interactive power of computer and communication technology,
computer-enabled consumer devices and most importantly the internet.
Valeria Malton in an article titled The New Media published on November 18, 2007 defined
“new media as a way in which the delivery of news and information follows a many-to-many
format. This stands in contrast with the mass media that just proceeded this age of conversation”.
The Economist in an article published on November 18, 2007 titled “Among the Audience”
simply explained the phenomenon as a new culture with a characteristic of participation.
Meanwhile Business Week’s story on “Mounting peer-to-peer pressure for Comcast’’ in an
attempt to explain what the new media is, indicated that under the new phenomenon, small firms
and individuals will be competing or collaborating. Subsequently some will generate some
income from their content they produce while others will not care even if they don’t make any
money because they have other aims and objectives. This is absolutely different from the old
traditional media where a few media giants were competing among themselves for audience.
Flew (2008) defines new media “as a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part
of the 20th century that refers to on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital
device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation
around the media content. Another important promise of new media he says is the
"democratization" of the creation, publishing, distribution and consumption of media content.
Wikipedia further explained that by adding that “most technologies described as "new media" are
digital, often having characteristics of being manipulated, networkable, dense, compressible, and
interactive. New media does not include television programs, feature films, magazines, books, or
paper-based publications unless they contain technologies that enable digital interactivity’’.
New media also includes Web sites, streaming audio and video, chat rooms, e-mail, online
communities, Web advertising, DVD and CD-ROM media,
virtual reality environments,
integration of digital data with the telephone, such as Internet telephony, digital cameras and
mobile computing among others.
Use of the term new media implies that the data communication is happening between desktop
and laptop computers and handhelds, such as PDAs, and the media they take data from such as
compact discs and floppy.
New Media today can be understood as the mix between older cultural conventions for data
representation, access, and manipulation and newer conventions of data representation, access,
and manipulation.
New media avant-garde "is about new ways of accessing and manipulating information" such as
hypermedia, databases, search engines among others. Meta-media is an example of how quantity
can change into quality as in new media technology and manipulation techniques can "recode
modernist aesthetics into a very different postmodern aesthetics."
The rise of new media has increased communication between people all over the world and the
Internet. It has allowed people to express themselves through blogs, websites, pictures, and other
user-generated media.
However, the changes in the new media environment create a series of tensions in the concept of
"public sphere".
According to Ingrid Volkmer, "public sphere" is defined as a process through which public
communication becomes restructured and partly disembedded from national, political and
cultural institutions.
This trend of the globalized public sphere is not only as a geographical expansion form but a
nation to worldwide, but also changes the relationship between the public, the media and state
(Volkmer, 1999:123).
Whereas mass media "corresponded to the logic of industrial mass society, which values
conformity over individuality," (Manovich 2001:41) new media follows the logic of the
postindustrial or globalized society whereby "every citizen can construct her own custom,
lifestyle and select her ideology from a large number of choices. Rather than pushing the same
objects to a mass audience, marketing now tries to target each individual separately." (Manovich
2001:42).
In the Ghanaian context, social media has not evolved to role the media play in shaping people’s
agenda and how people rely on it for their uses, but a section of the public use social media such
as facebook in their offices, mobile phones, iPads to share their thoughts on happenings in the
media and with friends.
Lev Manovich, in an introduction to The New Media Reader, defines new media by using eight
simple and concise propositions:
•
New Media versus Cyber culture – Cyber culture is the various social phenomena that
are associated with the internet and network communications such as blogs, online multi-
player gaming. New media on the other hand, is concerned more with cultural objects and
paradigms like digital to analog television, iPhones.
•
New Media as Computer Technology Used as a Distribution Platform – New Media
are the cultural objects which use digital computer technology for distribution and
exhibition. e.g. (at least for now) internet, web sites, computer multimedia, Blu-ray disks
etc. The problem with this is that the definition must be revised every few years. The
term "new media" will not be "new" anymore, as most forms of culture will be
distributed through computers.
•
New Media as Digital Data Controlled by Software – The language of new media is
based on the assumption that, in fact, all cultural objects that rely on digital representation
and computer-based delivery do share a number of common qualities. New media is
reduced to digital data that can be manipulated by software as any other data. Now media
operations can create several versions of the same object. An example is an image stored
as matrix data which can be manipulated and altered according to the additional
algorithms implemented, such as color inversion, gray-scaling, sharpening, rasterizing,
etc.
•
New Media as the Mix Between Existing Cultural Conventions and the Conventions
of Software – "New media today can be understood as the mix between older cultural
conventions for data representation, access, and manipulation and newer conventions of
data representation, access, and manipulation. The "old" data are representations of visual
reality and human experience, and the "new" data is numerical data. The computer is kept
out of the key "creative" decisions, and is delegated to the position of a technician." e.g.
in film, software is used in some areas of production, while others are created using
computer animation.
•
New Media as the Aesthetics that Accompanies the Early Stage of Every New
Modern Media and Communication Technology – "While ideological tropes indeed
seem to be reappearing rather regularly, many aesthetic strategies may reappear two or
three times . In order for this approach to be truly useful it would be insufficient to simply
name the strategies and tropes and to record the moments of their appearance; instead, we
would have to develop a much more comprehensive analysis which would correlate the
history of technology with social, political, and economical histories or the modern
period."
•
New Media as Faster Execution of Algorithms Previously Executed Manually or
through Other Technologies – Computers are a huge speed-up of what were previously
manual techniques. E.g. calculators. "Dramatically, speeding up the execution makes
possible previously non-existent representational technique." This also makes possible of
many new forms of media art such as interactive multimedia and video games. "On one
level, a modern digital computer is just a faster calculator; we should not ignore its other
identity: that of a cybernetic control device."
•
New Media as Metamedia – New Media as the Encoding of Modernist Avant-Garde;
New Media as Metamedia – Manovich declares that the 1920s are more relevant to new
media than any other time period. Meta-media coincides with postmodernism in that they
both a rework of old work rather than a created new work. New media avant-garde "is
about new ways of accessing and manipulating information" such as hypermedia,
databases, and search engines, etc. Meta-media is an example of how quantity can change
into quality as in new media technology and manipulation techniques can "recode
modernist aesthetics into a very different postmodern aesthetics."
•
New Media as Parallel Articulation of Similar Ideas in Post-WWII Art and Modern
Computing – Post WWII Art or "combinatorics" involves creating images by
systematically changing a single parameter. This leads to the creation or remarkably
similar images and spatial structures. "This illustrates that algorithms, this essential part
of new media, do not depend on technology, but can be executed by humans."
Kietzmann et al. (2011) contend that social media presents an enormous challenge for firms, as
many established management methods are ill-suited to deal with customers who no longer want
to be talked at but who want firms to listen and engage. The authors explain that each of the
seven functional building blocks has important implications for how firms should engage with
social media. By analyzing identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation,
and groups, firms can monitor and understand how social media activities vary in terms of their
function and impact, so as to develop a congruent social media strategy based on the appropriate
balance of building blocks for their community.
A study by the University of Maryland suggested that social media services may be addictive,
and that using social media services may lead to a "fear of missing out," also known as the
phrase "FOMO" by many students. It has been observed that Facebook is now the primary
method for communication by college students in the U.S.
This phenomenon can also be said among a section of the Ghanaians particularly students and
working class in several of institutions. But in places like Europe and US where classes have
been introduced on best social media practices, preparing students for potential careers as digital
strategists, this is missing in Ghana.
There are various statistics that account for social media usage and effectiveness for individuals
worldwide. Some of the most recent statistics are as follows:
•
Social networking now accounts for 22% of all time spent online in the US.
•
A total of 234 million people age 13 and older in the U.S. used mobile devices in
December 2009.
•
Twitter processed more than one billion tweets in December 2009 and averages almost
40 million tweets per day.
•
Over 25% of U.S. internet page views occurred at one of the top social networking sites
in December 2009, up from 13.8% a year before. Australia has some of the highest social
media usage in the world. In usage of Facebook, Australia ranks highest, with over 9
million users spending almost 9 hours per month on the site.
•
The number of social media users age 65 and older grew 100 percent throughout 2010,
so that one in four people in that age group are now part of a social networking site.
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As of June 2011 Facebook had 750 Million users.
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Face book tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.
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Social Media has overtaken pornography as the #1 activity on the web.
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iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months, and Facebook added 100 million users in
less than 9 months.
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If Facebook were a country it would be the world's 3rd largest in terms of population,
that's above the US.
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U.S. Department of Education study revealed that online students out performed those
receiving face-to-face instruction.
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YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world.
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In four minutes and 26 seconds 100+ hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube.
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1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media.
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1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum.
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Indians spend more time on social media than on any other activity on the Internet.
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“In the U.S. alone, total minutes spent on social networking sites have increased 83
percent year-over-year. In fact, total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700
percent year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in
April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site for the month.”
•
The main increase in social media has been Facebook. It was ranked as the number one
social networking site. Approximately 100 million users access this site through their
mobile phone. According to Nielsen, global consumers spend more than 6 hours on social
networking sites. "Social Media Revolution" produced by Socialnomics author Erik
Qualman contains numerous statistics on Social Media including the fact that 93% of
businesses use it for marketing and that if Facebook were a country it would be the third
largest. In an effort to supplant Facebook's dominance, Google launched Google+ in the
summer of 2011.
•
Social media content is generated through social media interactions done by the users
through the site. There has always been a huge debate on the ownership of the content on
social media platforms since it is generated by the users and hosted by the company.
Critics contend that the companies are making a huge amount of money by using the
content that does not belong to them. Hence the challenge for ownership is lesser with the
communicated content, but with the personal data disclosed by the subscribed writers and
readers and the correlation to chosen types of content. The security danger beyond is the
parasitic conveying, or leaking of agglomerated data to third parties with certain
economic interest.
The History of Social Media
Social media begun in the 1930’s with The Notificator, which allowed Londoners to leave
messages for friends on “robot” message boards for a small fee. Many social media observers
have categorized the Notificator as the first predecessor of Twitter.
The social aspect of new technologies has evolved with innovation, especially ‘on the line’; from
the telephone box to wireless mobile networking. In the 1950s, technophiles used telephone
networks as rogue ways to mass communicate and the first podcasts took place on hijacked
corporate phone lines. As of 2010, mobile wireless networking penetrated 98% of the US
population.
When CompuServe became the first commercial online service in 1969, it took a mere decade
before Bulletin Board Systems became the first ‘forums’ or social communities connected on the
line. 1989-1991 revolutionized the development of media technology, as Tim Berners-Lee began
developing the World Wide Web and the first web site was built at CERN.
Throughout the 1990s, emerging tech companies and globalization forever changed the way we
communicate – with the mass adoption of forums, web search, email and text messaging.
Highlighting a few recent events in our timeline, here are two interpretations of the latest and
greatest social media sensations. Before the decade had ended, Google had indexed over 60
million pages and AOL Instant Messaging had come to homes across America.
Between 2000 and 2001, residential high-speed Internet access subscriptions doubled, making it
easier for consumer to access information on the web. Soon after, users were beginning to see the
appeal of social networking and blogging sites like LiveJournal, Friendster.com, LinkedIn.com
and Myspace.com.
By Twitter’s launch in 2006, social media networking had reached widespread popularity and
mass global adoption, following Facebook in 2004 and YouTube hitting the market by storm in
2005. The rise of user-generated content sites like Digg and Reddit (with IcanHasCheezburger
and 4chan), combined with the popularity of easy-to-use blogging services, including WordPress
and Blogger (also created by Evan Williams of Twitter), aided in the rapid development of
personal websites, shared content and online media.
Businesses quickly began to recognize the power of Web 2.0, adopting social media strategies
and hiring community managers. Virgin America experienced great success engaging customers
on Twitter, and the public relations industry started seeing the benefits of listening in real-time
for consumer response. Not too long ago, we saw the rise in fermium social media platforms and
customized services. When ReSearch.ly launched in 2010, the social media landscape had
evolved into communities connected by the interest graph.
The first recognizable social network site was launched in 1997 which is the SixDegrees.com.
The SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and, beginning in 1998,
surf the Friends lists. Each of these features existed in some form before SixDegrees, of course.
Profiles existed on most major dating sites and many community sites. AIM and ICQ buddy lists
supported lists of Friends, although those Friends were not visible to others. Classmates.com
allowed people to affiliate with their high school or college and surf the network for others who
were also affiliated, but users could not create profiles or list Friends until years later.
SixDegrees was the first to combine these features.
SixDegrees promoted itself as a tool to help people connect with and send messages to others.
While SixDegrees attracted millions of users, it failed to become a sustainable business and, in
2000, the service closed. Looking back, its founder believes that SixDegrees was simply ahead
of its time (A. Weinreich, personal communication, July 11, 2007). While people were already
flocking to the Internet, most did not have extended networks of friends who were online. Early
adopters complained that there was little to do after accepting Friend requests, and most users
were not interested in meeting strangers.
From 1997 to 2001, a number of community tools began supporting various combinations of
profiles and publicly articulated friends. Asian Avenue, Black Planet, and MiGente allowed
users to create personal, professional, and dating profiles. Users could identify friends on their
personal profiles without seeking approval for those connections (O. Wasow, personal
communication, August 16, 2007). Likewise, shortly after its launch in 1999, LiveJournal listed
one-directional connections on user pages.
LiveJournal's creator suspects that he fashioned these friends after instant messaging buddy lists
(B. Fitzpatrick, personal communication, June 15, 2007). On LiveJournal, people mark others as
Friends to follow their journals and manage privacy settings. The Korean virtual worlds site
Cyworld was started in 1999 and added SNS features in 2001, independent of these other sites
(see Kim & Yun, this issue). Likewise, when the Swedish web community LunarStorm
refashioned itself as an SNS in 2000, it contained Friends lists, guest books, and diary pages (D.
Skog, personal communication, September 24, 2007).
The next wave of SNSs began when Ryze.com was launched in 2001 to help people leverage
their business networks. Ryze's founder reports that he first introduced the site to his friends
primarily as members of the San Francisco business and technology community, including the
entrepreneurs and investors behind many future SNSs (A. Scott, personal communication, June
14, 2007). In particular, the people behind Ryze, Tribe.net, LinkedIn, and Friendster were tightly
entwined personally and professionally. They believed that they could support each other
without competing (Festa, 2003). In the end, Ryze never acquired mass popularity, Tribe.net
grew to attract a passionate niche user base, LinkedIn became a powerful business service, and
Friendster became the most significant, if only as "one of the biggest disappointments in internet
history" (Chafkin, 2007, p. 1).
History/Evolution of New Media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th
century that refers to on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as
well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the
media content.
Another important promise of new media is the "democratization" of the creation, publishing,
distribution and consumption of media content. Another aspect of new media is the real-time
generation of new, unregulated content.
The term, new media is in relation to "old" media forms, such as print newspapers and
magazines that are static representations of text and graphics. New media includes: Web
sites ,streaming audio and video ,chat rooms ,e-mail ,online communities ,Web advertising ,DVD
and CD-ROM media ,virtual reality environments ,integration of digital data with the telephone,
such as Internet telephony ,digital cameras and mobile computing
Use of the term new media implies that the data communication is happening between desktop
and laptop computers and handhelds, such as PDAs, and the media they take data from, such as
compact discs and floppy
New Media today can be understood as the mix between older cultural conventions for data
representation, access, and manipulation and newer conventions of data representation, access,
and manipulation
New media avant-garde "is about new ways of accessing and manipulating information" (e.g.
hypermedia, databases, search engines, etc.). Meta-media is an example of how quantity can
change into quality as in new media technology and manipulation techniques can "recode
modernist aesthetics into a very different postmodern aesthetics."
The rise of new media has increased communication between people all over the world and the
Internet. It has allowed people to express themselves through blogs, websites, pictures, and other
user-generated media.
However, the changes in the new media environment create a series of tensions in the concept of
"public sphere".
According to Ingrid Volkmer, "public sphere" is defined as a process through which public
communication becomes restructured and partly disembedded from national political and cultural
institutions.
This trend of the globalized public sphere is not only as a geographical expansion form a nation
to worldwide, but also changes the relationship between the public, the media and state
(Volkmer, 1999:123).
Until the 1980s media relied primarily upon print and analog broadcast models, such as those of
television and radio. The last twenty-five years have seen the rapid transformation into media
which are predicated upon the use of digital computers, such as the Internet and computer games.
However, these examples are only a small representation of new media. The use of digital
computers has transformed the remaining “old” media, as suggested by the advent of digital
television and online publications. Even traditional media forms such as the printing press have
been transformed through the application of technologies such as image manipulation software
like Adobe Photoshop and desktop publishing tools.
In addition, research shows that, connections between computing and radical art began to grow
stronger. It was not until the 1980s that Alan Kay and his co-workers at Xerox PARC began to
give the power of a personal computer to the individual, rather than have a big organization be in
charge of this. "In the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, we seem to witness a different kind
of parallel relationship between social changes and computer design. Although causally
unrelated, conceptually it makes sense that the Cold War and the design of the Web took place at
exactly the same time."
Andrew l. Shapiro (1999) argues that the “emergence of new, digital technologies signals a
potentially radical shift of who is in control of information, experience and resources” (Shapiro
cited in Croteau and Hoynes 2003:322). W. Russell Neuman (1991) suggest that whilst the “new
media” have technical capabilities to pull in one direction, economic and social forces pull back
in the opposite direction. According to Neuman, “we are witnessing the evolution of universal
interconnected network of audi, video and electronic test communications that will blur the
distinction between interpersonal and mass communication and between public and private
communication” (Neuman cited in Croteau and Hoynes 2003:322). Neuman argues that new
media will, among other things alter the meaning of geographic distance, allow for a huge
increase in the volume of communication, provide the possibility of increasing the speed of
communication that were previously separate to overlap and interconnect.
Consequently, it has been the contention of scholars such as Douglas Kellner, Callum Rymer and
James Bohman that new media, particularly the internet provide the potential for a democratic
postmodern public sphere, in which citizens can participate in well informed, non hierarchical
debate pertaining to their social structures. Contradicting these positive appraisals of the
potential impacts of new media are scholars such as Ed Herman and Robert Mc Chesney who
have suggested that the transition to new media has seen a handful of powerful transnational
telecommunications corporations who achieve a level of global influence which was hitherto
unimaginable.
Recent contributions to the field such as Callum Rymer (2009) and his recent presentation on
Wikipedia, as well as Lister et al (2003) and Friedman (2005) have highlighted both the positive
and negative potential and actual implications of new media technologies, suggesting that some
of the early work into new media studies was guilty of technological determinism whereby the
effects of media were determined by the technology themselves, rather than through tracing the
complex social networks which governed the development, funding, implementation and future
development of any technology.
Advantages of social media
Unlimited access: In many ways, social media levels the playing field for businesses as it is
accessible to anyone, regardless of company size, turnover and contacts. Social media tools are
open to anyone, whereas reaching the traditional media often requires a lot of money and a good
network of media industry contacts.
Simplicity: A high level of skill, training and specialist equipment is involved in traditional
media production. In comparison, social media channels are extremely simple to use, even for
people with basic IT experience; all that is required is a computer and an internet connection.
Global reach: Traditional media can reach a global audience but this is usually very costly and
time-consuming. Through social media, businesses can communicate information in a flash,
regardless of geographical location. Social media platforms also allow you to tailor your content
for each market segment and give businesses the opportunity to get their messages across more
widely than ever before. Indeed, once a piece of content goes viral, there is no limit to the
amount of people it could potentially reach, all at no extra cost for the business.
Contact building: Social media channels offer unparalleled opportunities to interact with
customers and build relationships, largely due to their real-time, interactive nature. Companies
can source feedback, test ideas and manage customer services quickly and directly online in a
way traditional media could not. Whereas traditional media only allow for one-way
communication, Facebook, Twitter and the likes give customers the chance to select the type and
frequency of messages to receive and send out. The business – customer proximity characteristic
of the social media outlets also allows for a more open communication process, as opposed to
simply pushing out sales messages.
Flexibility: Social media’s adaptability makes content management generally more flexible.
Information can be updated, altered, supplemented and discussed in a way completely unknown
to
a
printed
advertisement,
a
newspaper
article
or
magazine
feature.
What is more, information can be published in seconds, making it possible for businesses to
ensure that their content is always up to date – a condition
In communications, media (singular medium) are the storage and transmission channels or tools
used to store and deliver information or data. It is often referred to as synonymous with mass
media or news media, but may refer to a single medium used to communicate any data for any
purpose
Organizations and Businesses: Social media enables organizations to know what their
customers are sharing about them, it promotes the organization, humanize by not limiting
communication to traditional method or messages. It also helps organizations to acquire new
contact makes it reach a large number of audience, enables grass root movement in no time and
increase the trust of and loyalty of client or customer because it allows to share their voice
through feedback.
Social media’s adaptability makes content management generally more flexible.
Information can be updated, altered, supplemented and discussed in a way completely unknown
to a printed advertisement, a newspaper article or magazine feature. What is more, information
can be published in seconds, making it possible for businesses to ensure that their content is
always up to date – a condition to a more prominent spot in the search engine rankings.
Social media statistics are immediately measurable, whereas traditional media figures
often need to be monitored over a long period of time. With social media, businesses can test
marketing messages and approaches, gauge user responses and tweak the message accordingly.
Although many businesses are getting on board with social media, others are still a bit cautious
of completely breaking away from traditional media and embracing the social media. But can
your company really afford to ignore the social media, given its unquestionable assets?
Disadvantages of social media
Time consuming – The reason that many small organizations do not use social media is that it
can be rather time consuming. To be used effectively requires it can require a minimum of 6-8
hours a week. If an organization isn’t blogging or tweeting frequently, leaving large gaps
between posts (coughs) then a consumer may look and wonder if they will be treated as well as
your client’s social media is. After all, one of the reasons it is used is to help develop customer
relations.
Risk of negative comments – Using social media means that people are able to direct messages
towards an organization that other consumers can see and often they cannot be ignored.
The key here is how quickly an organization will respond. All organizations will receive
negative reviews but if they do not respond to them then it can be seen as poor service and it
could be difficult for them to recover.
Fraud – It is often important to monitor social media even if you are not using it yourself. It is
all too easy for someone to pretend to be anyone especially on twitter with cyber squatters all
over the place (just ask Ryan Giggs). If you do not have a social media presence, someone could
pretend to act as your business which could cause great damage to the reputation of your brand.
Takes on persona of author – The organization turns into whatever the writer/social media
manager wants them to. This can mean that an organization’s reputation is placed in the hands of
one person (often far too junior in my opinion) and this can be damaged very quickly if not dealt
with properly. It is important to get the right person or team to manage your social media.
A lack of short term ROI – It can often take up to a year before a social media programme can
start to show any improvement in sales or customer service. It is not an immediate quick fix and
it should be used with more a long term view in place. I would recommend planning as much as
possible. If your content is great and helps people you will find that the business comes too.
CHARACTERISTICS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW MEDIA
Easy Delivery of Information: Uniquely individualized information can simultaneously be
delivered or displayed to a potentially infinite number of people. Each of the people involved —
whether publisher, broadcasters, or consumer — shares equal and reciprocal control over that
content. Information is no longer controlled by the dominant class.
Ensures Easy Interaction: Interactivity is a key feature of the new media as it permits easy
interaction between the source of information and the receiver of the information. Facebook for
example, permits audiences of a radio programme to submit which topics should be discussed.
Facilitates Democracy: With the new media, people easily participate in governance and
choose their leaders holding them accountable for their stewardship.
The characteristics of the new media have made it easier for participatory democracy in
democratic countries in the world. Even in non-democratic regimes, the new media has played
significant roles in change in governments. For example, the Arab spring along northern Africa
was engineered through the new media by the social media.
THEORETICAL GROUNDINGS FOR NEW AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Uses and Gratifications Theory
Is an approach to understanding why people actively seek out specific media outlets and content
for gratification purposes. The theory discusses how users proactively search for media that will
not only meet a given need but enhance knowledge, social interactions and diversion.
It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting
and integrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds that audiences are responsible
for choosing media to meet their needs. The approach suggests that people use the media to
fulfill specific gratifications. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other
information sources for viewers' gratification.
The application of New Media to the Uses and Gratifications Theory has been positive. The
introduction of the Internet, social media and technological advances has provided another outlet
for people to use and seek gratification through those sources.
Based on the models developed by Katz, Blumler, Gurevitch and Lasswell, individuals can
choose to seek out media in one outlet, all falling within the proscribed categories of need. The
only difference now, is that the audience does not have to go to multiple media outlets to fulfill
each of their needs. The internet has created a digital library, allowing individuals to have access
to all content from various mass medium outlets.
New Media Example of Uses and Gratifications Theory
In 2007 a study was conducted to examine the Facebook group user’s gratifications in relation to
their civic participation offline. The Web survey polled 1,715 college students, ranging in
age from 18-29, who were members of Facebook groups. The respondents were given 16
statement through an electronic survey and asked “to rate their level of agreement with
specific reasons for using Facebook groups, including information acquisition about
campus/community, entertainment/recreation, social interaction with friends and family,
and peer pressure/self satisfaction.” The Likert scale indicated that one strongly agreed
and six strongly disagreed. To ensure those results were not skewed, the respondents
were also asked to complete a set of level of agreement questions to properly gauge their
level of life satisfaction.
The study ultimately yielded results through principal components factor analysis with varimax
rotation. The results showed that there were four needs for using Facebook groups, “socializing,
entertainment, self-status seeking, and information.”
Gratification Received from Use of Facebook Groups
•
Socializing: Students interested in talking and meeting with others to achieve a sense of
community and peer support on the particular topic of the group
•
Entertainment: Students engaged with the groups to amuse themselves
•
Self-Seeking: Students maintain and seek out their personal status, as well as those of
their friends, through the online group participation
•
Information: Students used the group to receive information about related events going
on and off campus.
Another theory related to the new and social media is the Diffusion of Innovation Theory
pioneered in 1943 by Bryce Ryan and Neil Gross of Iowa State University, the theory traces the
process by which a new idea or practice is communicated through certain channels over time
among members of a social system. The model describes the factors that influence people's
thoughts and actions and the process of adopting a new technology or idea.
Other theories that can be linked to social media include; Dramaturgy (sociology), Social capital,
Social media integration — Presentation Transcript and social network theory.
Social network theory views social relationships in terms of nodes and ties. Nodes are the
individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors. There can
be many kinds of ties between the nodes. In its most simple form, a social network is a map of all
of the relevant ties between the nodes being studied. The network can also be used to determine
the social capital of individual actors. These concepts are often displayed in a social network
diagram, where nodes are the points and ties are the lines.
The power of social network theory stems from its difference from traditional sociological
studies, which assume that it is the attributes of individual actors -- whether they are friendly or
unfriendly, smart or dumb, etc. -- that matter. Social network theory produces an alternate view,
where the attributes of individuals are less important than their relationships and ties with other
actors within the network. This approach has turned out to be useful for explaining many realworld phenomena, but leaves less room for individual agency, the ability for individuals to
influence their success; so much of it rests within the structure of their network.
Social networks have also been used to examine how companies interact with each other,
characterizing the many informal connections that link executives together, as well as
associations and connections between individual employees at different companies. These
networks provide ways for companies to gather information, deter competition, and even collude
in setting prices or policies.
Dramaturgy - In dramaturgical sociology it is argued that human actions are dependent upon
time, place, and audience. In other words, to Goffman, the self is a sense of who one is, a
dramatic effect emerging from the immediate scene being presented. [3] Goffman forms a
theatrical metaphor in defining the method in which one human being presents itself to another
based on cultural values, norms, and expectations. Performances can have disruptions (actors are
aware of such) but most are successful. The goal of this presentation of self is acceptance from
the audience through carefully conducted performance. If the actor succeeds, the audience will
view the actor as he or she wants to be viewed.
In a dramaturgical model, social interaction is analyzed in terms of how people live their lives
like actors performing on a stage. This analysis offers a look at the concepts of status and role. A
status is like a part in a play, and a role serves as a script, supplying dialogue and action for the
characters. As on the stage, people in their everyday lives manage settings, clothing, words, and
nonverbal actions to give a particular impression to others. Goffman described each individual’s
“performance” as the presentation of self, a person’s efforts to create specific impressions in the
minds of others. This process is sometimes called "impression management". Goffman makes an
important distinction between "front stage" and "back stage" behaviour. As the term implies,
"front stage" actions are visible to the audience and are part of the performance.
Social capital is a sociological concept which refers to the value of social relations and the role
of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term is used by different
social sciences emphasizing different aspects of the concept. In general terms, social capital is
the crux of social relations, and consists of the expectative benefits derived from the preferential
treatment and cooperation between individuals and groups.
Social Capital and Development -" Francis Fukuyama points out that there isn't an agreed
definition of social capital, so he explains it as "shared norms or values that promote social
cooperation, instantiated in actual social relationships"
Conclusion
In spite of all these laudable achievements of the new media and social media, it must be
admitted however that some stakeholders have had cause to complain about how these new
evolutions in the media are contributing to truancy, violence and technological theft in both
adults and children.
According to a report just released by the American Academy of Paediatrics on the ‘impact of
social media’, it was revealed that social media such as Facebook and Twitter, have become
nearly inescapable facets of modern life, particularly for kids and suggests they can have real
benefits and risks for children.
The report, published online March 28 in Pediatrics, says that more than half of
adolescents log on to a social media Web site at least once a day, and nearly one-quarter of teens
say they log on to their favorite social media sites 10 or more times each day. "Social media sites
according to the editor-in-chief and Chief Executive Officer of Pediatrics Now, Dr. Gwenn
O'Keeffe, “Are where kids socialize and where they connect together today," He said the kids do
not have the places or the time to hang out like their parents did. Social media allows them to
have time to reconnect. But, it has to be done in a way that's not all-encompassing," O'Keeffe
said. Younger children may try to lie about their age to get on to sites, like Facebook, that have
strict age limits, said O'Keeffe.
The report found that social media encourage kids to connect with each other and to express their
creativity. They also provide an opportunity for learning, and are a way for teens to access health
information. And, kids that have chronic illnesses can find others with their condition and get
support they might not otherwise have access to. But, these sites are not without risk, according
to the report. One of the biggest risks is cyber bullying and online harassment.
In Ghana, concerns have been expressed by a section of the public have the evolution of social
media has given the nation a bad image due to the rise in cyber fraud known in the local parlance
as ‘sakawa’.
That notwithstanding, it has also brought some level of interactivity and spontaneous feedback to
media messages in the electronic media in Ghana.
"Technology is an extension of what goes on in the real world. Bullying was around before the
Internet, but cyber bullying makes it easier," explained Dr. Brian Primack, an assistant professor
of medicine and paediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Primack also
noted that children are hardwired to experiment and push boundaries. Today's technology may
just make that easier. Primack pointed out that "sexting" is a good example of this. Sexting is
defined as "sending, receiving or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs or images
via cell phone, computer or other digital devices," according to the report.
"Kids have always wanted to look at nude pictures, and today, taking and sending a picture can
be done in a second," Primack said, adding that such pictures could come back to haunt children
years later. "We need more technology infrastructure, and paediatricians need to be ready to
intervene and help educate young people and their parents on how to be more media literate, and
how they can evaluate the types of things they're exposed to," said Primack.
Another potential risk of social media has been dubbed "Facebook depression." When preteens
and teens spend too much time on social media sites, they may begin to show classic signs of
depression, such as changing sleep and eating habits, experiencing mood swings, hanging out
with different friends or becoming socially isolated, according to O'Keeffe.
Meanwhile, Social media have been integral to the Arab revolutions and revolts of 2011. As one
Egyptian activist briefly told the international media last February, “We use Facebook to
schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and You Tube to tell the world”.
A story could be tell of a Dutch Ramon Stoppelenburg, who travelled around the world for free,
without spending any money from 2001 to 2003, because of his blog Letmestayforaday.com. His
website was his profile with which he created his own necessary network of online offered
places to stay for the night. This made Stoppelenburg one of the first people who used the online
media on a social and effective manner.
New media has also recently become of interest to the global intelligence community as it is
easily accessible electronically in database format and can therefore be quickly retrieved and
reverse engineered by national governments and media organizations. Particularly of interest to
the espionage community are Facebook and twitter, two sites where individuals freely divulge
personal information that can be sifted through and archived for the automatic creation of
dossiers on both people of interest and the average citizen. Another interest to the intelligence
community is diplomatic cables. Last year March, Wiki leaks, a non-profit media organization
dedicated to bringing important news and information to the public, published uncomplimentary
remarks about the US ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Pascual leading to his resignation in what is
supposed to be classified as information.
The social media have come to stay ad for years come it will continue to be a vital tool in the
developmental process of all Nations. It will be the main means or tool of communication which
will turn to place the world in a Global context. The factors of globalization clearly indicate that
no country that wants to belong to the comity of Nation can survive without the effective use of
the new and social media which are mainly driven by Information Communication Technology
(ICT).
The impact of new and social media on the socio-cultural evolutions of many nations both
positive and negative cannot be over-emphasized. Even though, many people of colours have
blamed down the breakdown of essential cultural practices, such as belief systems and values on
the advent of these tools in the development of many countries there is no gain saying that the
positive on socio-cultural development far outweighs the negative and therefore will continue to
shape the direction in which the world move towards integration.
RECOMMENDATION
Perhaps, what individual countries would have to do to mitigate the negative impact will be to
design their own safety net based on their aspirations as a people.
For Example as a people in Ghana, can through legislation empower the National
Communications Authority which is the body mandated for the regulation of the use of ICT to
censor aspects of social and new media that runs contrary to our belief systems. This will not be
farfetched as countries such as China, Japan and the United States of America have regulations
adherent to the use of social media and Ghana as a country will not be out of place to design its
own safety nets.
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