The Social Use of Social Media - A Blogpost by Group 3

The blog site Soshable.com has it right. Everything we know about television and advertising has changed, thanks to social networking giants like Facebook and Twitter. Even television has been revolutionized, thanks to video technologies such as YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix. Now you can hear of - or even witness - current events before they have a chance at making it to the cable news channels. So, we have finally removed the shackles of the corporate media conglomerates, right? Wrong. Businesses have just found a new way to control their audiences: convince people that they want to promote a brand image (ever seen a viral product video?).

As described throughout Soshable, we now have online communities which segment into their own particular demographics, and this, in turn, gives businesses easy-to-target audiences. More than ever before, social networking has become a means rather than an ends, and that means is called capitalism. However, J.D. Rucker - the primary, strategic voice behind Soshable - explains to businesses that social networking is not just about the numbers, it’s also about the people. And, he goes on to describe the importance of looking at how people are using social media. If it wasn’t for the fact that Rucker has a vested interest in social media, his thoughts might almost seem to be trying to benefit the online community (altruistic, even).

But, this does not mean that social media is entirely superficial. From bridging generational gaps to assisting human rights protests, social media enables a broader spectrum of content to reach a growing number of people. And, as such, social networking, is just like any other powerful entity - it can be used for freedom or for control.

Q & A

Questions:

1. Overall, do you find social media helpful or harmful to society?
• Does Shoshable seem to support or negate your position?
2. Do you think there are “wrong ways” to use social networking?
• Why?
• What are some ways J.D. Rucker might consider as “wrong” for social networking?
3. Do you think online media creates new social classes, or do online social classes merely reflect “real life”?
• Which social classes does Soshable discuss?
• Which social classes does Soshable create?

Answers:
Your answers are the answers.