Social Media and the Mainstream Media

Class discussion on McQuail’s media policy paradigm shifts brought up important questions we should ask of the mainstream media today. One of the questions that interests me the most is what role does social media have in determining what the media thinks is important?

I think it’s evident that the mainstream media pays attention and responds to social media trends. A few examples:

-         Iranian election protests in June 2009

-         Citizen coverage of the 2008  President election

-         The mainstream media has created social network pages to engage with audiences

-         News stations report on popular YouTube videos, for example Fox 17 WXMI shared a YouTube video of a flashmob in Rosa Parks Circle

Certainly, social media meets McQuail’s concept of freedom of communication, a concept he feels is central to a communications policy model. However, I feel social media communication can easily fall victim to the spiral of silence. While social media provides an avenue for individuals to connect with niche groups, it is such a public forum that individuals can be harshly rebuked for posted opinions. For instance, if you search “Willow Palin Facebook,” you find 2,390,000 results in Google.

The mainstream news media certainly listens to social media because they report on what happens on the social networks. While this can be a powerful and useful tool for spreading information that otherwise would not be broadcast, it can also cause public relations and image nightmares for individuals, especially celebrities and public figures. 

Online Religion

Last week’s discuss of Joshua Meyrowitz’s “No Sense of Place” provoked thoughts and questions about the influence of social media on religion. While my church actively uses social media – sharing links to content via Twitter, connecting people on Facebook, and providing studies on blogs – many churches have yet to embrace the technology.

Meyrowitz tells us that “we cannot have some of the forces for social change brought about by electronic media without having all, or most, of the forces.” I interpret this statement to mean that we can’t have the advantages our new technology brings us without the disadvantages, too. We discussed this earlier in the semester in regards to Postman’s evaluation of technology allowing us to gain something, but at the same time, lose something.

Four years ago, I examined the topic of online religion in my senior thesis in Sociology at Alma College. In light of our discussion last week, I thought it would be pertinent to share some of my findings.

I conducted interviews with 12 undergraduate students at Alma College who were active participants in religious campus organizations. I asked students about their use of the Internet to further their faith. In my research, I discovered three primary themes. The following are excerpts from my senior thesis:

• Information. First off, undergraduate students’ use of religious resources online supports the Pew Internet and American Life Project’s approach to the Internet as a vast ecclesiastical library. Religion Online is the provision of information regarding doctrine, political organization, and belief. This is clearly a main appeal for undergraduate students

• Spiritual Practices. Many students used online materials as spiritual practices. This was discussed in the literature review as online religion when an invitation is given to visitors of religious websites to engage in some dimension of religious life. The students who use online religion apply it as a supplemental tool to enhance their commitment to their beliefs and campus religious organizations.

• Online vs. Face-to-Face Community. The last theme which emerged from the data depicted a tension between online community and face-to-face community. This tension revolved around the belief that face-to-face community was much more authentic than online community. The subjects each seemed to possess a personal standard of acceptable and unacceptable online religious interaction, while at the same time becoming personally involved in online religious resources themselves.

I feel these themes remain applicable to online religion today, but I believe the Internet and Web 2.0 have evolved since I completed by research in 2007. This could possibly be a continued focus of study in my graduate work.

If you are interested in reading more of my thesis, I would be happy to share it with you – all 42 pages of it. J

Internet a Communication Tool We Can’t Ignore

Jaron Lanier encourages Internet users to fight the deterministic and anonymous nature of the Internet. He recommends we “create a website that expresses something about who you are that won’t fit into the template available to you on a social networking site” (p21).

Jaron follows his own advice.

After reading the first chapter of his book, I turned to Google to tell me more about the author who has such strong philosophical beliefs about the Internet.

One of the first things I learned is his name is spelled incorrectly on our handout.

While Jaron’s website was certainly unique and creative, it didn’t tell me very much about the man other than present a list of articles. I didn’t find his website informative or helpful.

I agree that the use of social networking needs to be limited (everything in moderation, right?), and that we should think critically about our frequent use of technology. It undoubtedly does have an effect on individuals and our relationships.

However, the Internet is one of the most powerful and helpful communication tools known to man. If we don’t take advantage of the opportunity to further express our entrepreneurial spirit or educate the world about a cause near to our heart, we’re failing. We should use the Internet as a tool to share messages we’re passionate about and connect with people regardless of time or space.

And it starts with a well designed web site…even one created from a template.

Is the Internet Hindering Education?

Carr raises many questions about how the Internet and new media affect the way we think. Several of his points interest me:

•            The amount of time we spend on a web page – discouraging for someone like me who maintains a corporate blog!
•           Different thinking fostered by Internet use
•           Linear reading vs. online reading
•           Multitasking

Throughout this class, our readings have hinted toward the use of technology and web 2.0 media in classroom settings. Carr led me to ask, if the Internet overflows our cognitive load, and our ability to retain information is hindered, then should Internet use of children be limited?

We may be better off giving our kids books instead of computers.

Carr hints that our obsessive use of the Internet may even change our brains to the point that we develop ADD when “we find distractions more distracting.” Furthermore, he references a study that found “the multimedia technologies so common to the Web…seemed to limit, rather than enhance, information acquisition.”

This is especially interesting in a time when electronic text books are proposed and laptops given to students at young ages. Are we helping or hurting our youth?

Are any members of the COM641 class doing their final paper on the topic of education and new media?

Virtual Community

“Shared consciousness and collectivity”

“Members of a single social network”

“Collaborative community”

“Community building”

“Virtual community as a way to restore a ‘cooperative spirit’”

These are a few of the ways Turner describes the virtual community of the WELL from the 1980s. Virtual communities are a valuable way to bring people together in spite of geographic boundaries to share ideas, information and collaborate.

A "Simple" Social Network

Certainly for the community of the WELL, these various descriptions came to fruition. However, it is important to point out that while online gathering places can create community and collaboration, they bring together like-minded individuals. For instance, the objective of the WELL was to bring together the readers and contributors of the Whole Earth Catalog and provide a venue for those seeking a commune way of life.

Today, one could say virtual communities create chasms in society through the creation of innumerable specialty communities. While these communities create a collective group of their members, they can alienate outsiders.

The World of Warcraft fans featured in the documentary “Digital Nation” were depicted as a tight-knit community. In fact, couples even met and later married thanks to the online World of Warcraft forums. However, outsiders of this group – such as the class of COM641 – viewed the devotion of the gamers to be laughable. 

Virtual communities have many benefits, but we must be careful not to get too lost in our online worlds. It’s important to live in a reality where interactions do not merely exist with individuals with our same passions and ideas. Turner briefly touches on disagreement occurring on the WELL when he quotes several members recounting heated debates.

Everyday, we are forced to interact with individuals with different opinions, experiences and hobbies. Becoming too involved in virtual community can lead us astray from offline communities and the ability to interact, collaborate and innovate with different perspectives.

Response to Squires and Netspeak

A collaborative piece by myself, Jake Regal and John Zimmerman

Speaking from two generations of experience, we have witnessed the use of slang and variations of language in our lifetimes. For instance, from the days of Arthur Fonzarelli to Justin Bieber different slang and language shortcuts have been prevalent. Language changes and evolves over time in relation to social trends and technology.

          

We believe that netspeak is not a new phenomenon and is not a threat to the  health of the English language. By looking at formal and informal communication and historical examples, it can be seen that education has an important role in maintaining the standards of proper English.

        

There are two distinct forms of communication, formal and informal. Netspeak would be classified as a means of informal communication because it happens in the context of interpersonal relationships. Whereas formal communication takes place in business applications, academia, and the legal world. Because these two forms of communication have different functions in society, there is little opportunity for netspeak to contaminate formal communication. For instance, a client proposal would not use nonstandard spelling replacements for “you” and “are.”

Teaching and protecting the English language is still vital.

Social groups have always had their own dialects. Even though they use their own lingo, slang, and language shortcuts, they have always relied on standard English. The standard English is a common ground of communication so we maintain this knowledge in order to communicate with different social, generational, and ethnic groups. Using social group slang as an example of a prominent language, we can say with certainty that netspeak will not be detrimental to standard English.

The creation and evolution of netspeak is not a new phenomenon. In her article “Enregistering Internet Language,” Lauren Squires admits, “many features named as belonging to Netspeak have long been prevalently used in other written contexts” (2010). As previously stated, different iterations of language have often evolved out of social trends and technology. Abbreviated languages can be dated back to the use of the telegraph. This medium provided the genesis of texting because there were space and character constraints on the message. The telegraph was introduced well before the internet and has not proven to be a detriment due to standard English.

Although netspeaking is becoming a common practice, there is still a need to practice and strengthen the use of standard English. Formal education has always had an important role in teaching proper language use despite informal social influences. Education needs to maintain that role today by rejecting the practices of netspeak in classroom settings. Teachers should eliminate netspeak from the classroom and demand the use of proper English in assignments.

Written and verbal communication skills are still highly valued in the professional world. It is imperative that the next generation is taught these skills so that they can be successful communicators. Netspeak may be the appropriate dialects on the streets, but in the professional world, formal communication is the standard practice.

Netspeak can be defined as a language of the new generation but as history has shown, the standard English reigns supreme.  

Internet Language

Acronyms, new words and specialized phrases are common in our society. Walk into any company, and it will take you time to learn the lingo. A video was created at my husband’s company that showed a room full of employees around a conference table speaking solely in acronyms. Needless to say, if you were not a part of their organization, they were speaking Greek to you.

Lauren Squires admits that many of the features belonging to the Internet language can be seen in other contexts. This fact can make us more comfortable with the new terms and acronyms we have created to communicate electronically. The Internet Language isn’t a new phenomena, it is merely a new iteration what societies have practiced for centuries.

The ability to communicate online in Internet Language is important,
 but it doesn't diminish the value of Standard English and grammar.

The creation and use of an Internet Language influences our online interactions, but it will not overtake our “Standard English” language. Look at any job description today, and strong written and verbal communication skills are included as a requirement.

In our mediated world, the ability to communicate clearly is more important than ever. We must understand and be able to use Internet Language so that we can communicate with various audiences and markets. However, this doesn’t mean that we value grammar, spelling and good writing any less.  After all, when it comes to learning a new language, having a solid understanding of your own helps the learning process.

Online Identity and Community

Han states that “the act of writing…establishes Being for a subject on the Internet.” But what if you do not contribute content to the Internet and instead only lurk? Or, a more interesting question, what if you misrepresent yourself?

We got on this topic in Tuesday’s class, and the first thing that came to mind was Brad Paisley’s song, “Online” in which an online user makes himself more attractive online by using different photo and making up facts about his interests and accomplishments.

Brad Paisley - Online (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Brad Paisley, 5th Gear

The Internet has transformed the “traditional rules of membership in a community” according to Han, and I agree. Most online groups or communities allow easy entry. An individual simply shows interest in joining, clicks a couple of buttons and has access to the group’s content and members. Offline, we require presence, application and often a fee to join an organization or a group.

The new rules of community have both advantages and disadvantages. Organizations and communities are now able to connect with individuals regardless of space and time. My church views this as a benefit as they are able to share Sunday messages with individuals around the world.

Security is a concern of the new online communities. You can no longer know everyone who belongs to your community, and a stranger from across the country – or the globe - now has access to a piece of your personal information

Another glaring disadvantage is the quality of the community declines. Individuals do not have to be committed to the organization or contribute at all to be considered members of the online group. 

Unfortunately, this mentality is translating to offline organizations, too. Younger generations who have always belonged to online communities are not as dedicated to their offline counterparts. Young college graduates want to be a part of their alumni association, but don’t dare ask them to write a check or attend a meeting. They’ll contribute their thoughts online, thank you very much.

I have also observed this in my church. As a large church, you would assume the administration would have no difficulty signing up volunteers. Yet every year, they practically beg for more people to volunteer and get personally involved.

Our identities online are created by the content we post about ourselves and the communities we join. However, we must remain committed and active to our affiliations – both off and online – in order to create and maintain communities that are worth joining. 

Does Presence Matter?

Our class discussion of Adorno and Horkhiemer and their criticism of technology provoked a lot of comments in class and thinking outside of it. For my friends who read my blog and don’t get to grace the COM 641 classroom, these guys were concerned that technology was making high culture accessible to the masses.

Terrible, I know.

While I don’t agree with their criticism of technology – I’m glad I have access to high culture events that used to be reserved for the bourgeois – I do question if the use of technology to experience events alters our experience.

I’ve personally observed this at church. I attend a large church in the Grand Rapids area, and the church leaders decided to use technology to bring the message to the masses. Instead of cramming 1,000 people into a room, a single message is broadcast into 3 different “video venues.” Attendees enjoy the experience of a smaller gathering of people while enjoying the message of a gifted teacher.

I personally have chosen not to attend the video venues because I prefer the experience of watching the service “live.” Even though the only part broadcast is the message, I continue to cling to the physical presence of the experience to make it real to me. Because presence matters. Or does it?

During class this week, one of my classmates shared his experience of watching the Detroit Pistons win the NBA championship in 1990. In his opinion, he was at the game – even though he watched it at the Palace broadcast on TV while the actual game took place in Portland.

Nowadays, we often say we experienced or “saw” an event take place even though we only get the mediated version – whatever is broadcast over the TV or internet. Since our worlds are broadened to include every mediated event, does presence matter? Do we have to be somewhere for the experience?

Obviously, presence still matters. Otherwise, no one would purchase season sports tickets. After all, who wants to pay the outrageous prices to sit in varying weather? And if presence didn’t matter, we would all Skype with each other and save resources traveling to visit in person.

However, I think we often settle for second best. I’m not able to see my brother every week because he lives in Arlington, Virginia, so I settle for his phone calls, emails and Facebook posts. I would argue that it does alter the experience. Online interactions will never replace the value of face-to-face, and even though we have access to different experiences, it doesn’t necessarily mean we receive the same quality of experience.

Knowledge, Technology and AT&T

Reading Krug, it’s easy to see he’s a determinist (or in my words, a negative Nelly when it comes to technology). While I don’t subscribe to the determinist theory, I was particularly struck by his discussion of knowledge, or logos. Krug points out that we often wrongly believe technology will make us smarter, which is contrary to what AT&T wants us to believe:



Like AT&T, we often mistake access to information to be the same as knowledge. As we discussed in class on Tuesday, information means nothing until we interpret it and give it meaning. The ability to look up massive amounts of information on the Internet doesn’t make us any smarter. In fact, many argue it does the opposite. Just like the introduction of the alphabet reduced our ability to memorize, similarly search engines inhibit our capability to “know’ anything. We rely on Google to find it for us.

Krug presents knowledge to be “a process of engagement with the world.” He points out that we don’t gain knowledge by having access to books, encyclopedias, or the Internet. Rather, we must experience knowledge for ourselves. Our graduate program is built on this concept which is why we use the Socratic Method in a seminar setting instead of being tested on memorizing theories and researches.

Knowledge comes as we create meaning for the world and the many relationships we observe within it. Unfortunately for many education reformers, introducing technology to the classroom is not a solution to make our students smarter or more competent individuals.

Are there any teachers out there? What role does technology have in your teaching?

An Extension of Ourselves

In the beginning of McLuhan’s Laws of Media, he introduces the concept that artifacts are extensions of our physical bodies and mind. One of the first examples is weaponry. Instead of using our fists and teeth to fight and defend ourselves, we use guns, swords and knives. The further the weapon distances us from the target, the less restraint we have inducing violence. It makes the violence more impersonal. The Frontline documentary touched on this McLuhan concept when it featured the virtual bomber pilots. The leader of this group stresses the reality of the situation to his pilots on a regular basis, but the documentary asked, do they fully comprehend the weight of their decisions?

I thought this was an interesting concept, and I asked myself if it transferred to social media. What are some situations online where we can see a lack of restraint? I came up with several common examples :

- Cyber bullying. A prevalent problem now being addressed by schools and parents, the effects of cyber bullying have been as drastic as victims committing suicide. Are kids meaner or more sensitive than they used to be, or is the technology impacting their behavior? Cyber bullying could be due to the fact children don’t witness their victim’s reaction in person. They are distance from the consequences of their actions.


Source: isafe.org



- Online gambling. A credit card was an extension of an extension; it is a virtual representation of our money which is an extension of our labor. People gamble online using their credit cards without feeling like they are truly gambling, and they can lose thousands of dollars in the process.

- Slander. It seems like every day someone is retracting a comment they tweeted or posted on Facebook. We get a false sense of security and privacy online, and often we share information or “say” something that we quickly regret. Many college students have experienced this phenomena when they realize a YouTube video or Facebook pictures has cost them a job.

I agree with McLuhan to a certain extent that these extensions lead to a lack of responsibility for our actions. I think we still feel responsible for our actions, but it has to be made real to us. Participating in the virtual world makes us feel removed from the situation, and It can take a dose of reality to make us feel responsibility and remorse. For instance, the outcry of a community can lead someone to apologize for a statement posted online, and a face-to-face confrontation with a bullying victim can motivate us to change our ways.

Classmates, what do you think? Does technology distance us from reality? How connected do you feel to your online interactions? Do you view them as a separate world or reality? (Think of the World of Warcraft people) What other examples can you think of that demonstrates this concept?

About Me

Welcome to my blog! I've created "Musings of a 20-something" as part of my graduate communication class. I'll respond to assigned readings here, per the syllabus, but I also hope to share some insight into my life: a twenty-something employee, student, and wife.

A little bit about me:

I'm an Alma College grad. I've quickly realized this is very unique in the masters program at Grand Valley State University. Everyone else seems to be from GVSU or Western Michigan University. My small, obscure liberal arts college doesn't even seem to be on the radar. That's alright. I studied Communication and Sociology, sang in the Alma College Choir, and did college student stuff, like eat a lot of cereal and make life long friends.

I've worked at Baudville for three years, starting one day after I graduated from college. My current title is Public Relations Coordinator, and I do a little bit of everything PR, web, marketing and employee recognition. I've edited and maintained Baudville's blog for over a year now. If you're interested in employee recognition, check it out!

In my free time, I love to read fiction, go running, and hang out with my husband around our Middleville house. We like the quiet of the country, and our home is our little escape. He's also in graduate school at GVSU, so you may see us around campus before or after class. We're kinda cute.

I decided to go back to school because I think a masters degree will be important in 10 years in the working world. Many of my contemporaries went to graduate school after college because there were so few jobs available. I believe graduate degrees are going to be expected of our generation, and I want to make sure I compete in the future. Getting my masters is also a personal goal of mine to further my education, and I believe it will help me lead a marketing communications department in the future.

That's enough about me. What about you?