locating social media
TRANSCRIPT
Locating Social Media
Social Media – Dr. Giorgos Cheliotis ([email protected])
Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis ([email protected])2
Quiz: do you know your social web?
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CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis ([email protected])3
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis ([email protected])4
What is social media? (1 of 2)
Personal Media Mass Media
TelephoneLetterPostcardPersonal media sharing*
Print mediaTVRadioRecorded media
Interpersonal Communication Mass Communication
Mediated Interaction pre-Internet Quasi-mediated
* Sharing of personal photos, videos, music collection, etc.
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis ([email protected])5
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis ([email protected])6
What is social media? (2 of 2)
Personal Media Mass Media
TelephoneLetterPostcardPersonal media sharingEmailIM 1-1 ChatIM 1-1 A/VTexting 1-1
NewspaperTVRadioRecorded mediaOnline deliveryMobile delivery
Interpersonal Communication Mass Communication
Mediated Interaction in post-Web 2.0 Internet Era
Social Media
BlogWikiForum/Mailing listChat roomSNS1
Content sharingCommentingTagging/FilteringSocial IMSocial TextingMORPG2/VW3
Hybrid Mode
1. Social Network Site (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)2. Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (e.g., Warcraft)3. 3-D Virtual World (e.g., Second Life)
Convergen
ce
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So… what is social media?
Increased symmetry in interaction
Potential for and encouragement of two-way communication and reciprocal behaviour
Interaction situated within the context of online social networks
Ties created and maintained between ‘alter’ and ‘ego’ through symmetrical interaction
De-institutionalization of media production
Rise of the amateur producer, or ‘prosumer’
Convergence of technologies and media forms
Leading to destabilization of personal/mass media dichotomy
Blurring of private and public sphere
As a consequence of all of the above
Social media is mediated communication characterized by:
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Social implications… Online social networks complement and support offline ties
Latent ties can be converted to weak ties; weak ties can become stronger One’s circle can be expanded beyond what is possible offline Potential for increase in total social capital
Mediated communication increasingly important in daily life Requires new skills and adaptation to online communication norms and codes Higher cognitive load caused by management of multiple online and offline
identities and parallel communication through various channels Poses new challenges for education, socialization, the digital divide, administration
and law enforcement
Challenging dominant power structures and state control Bloggers, user conversations and online forums challenge information monopoly of
state and mainstream media Nearly insurmountable challenges for state censorship
Changing relationship to cultural and media environment UGC usurps the cultural dominance of creative industries Rise of a new folk and remix culture Valorization of the amateur producer and remixer
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Business Implications Consumer information seeking behavior has changed
Information from friends in social network more trusted than marketing department
SNS can be used to spread valuable information on new products or misinformation Marketers try to leverage SNS – but can be easily shunned by consumers
Content sharing and reuse becoms integral to user conversations Users desire to communicate through found media and UGC Control over distribution and framing of digital content is compromised; internet-
savvy content producers bypass intermediaries and freely appropriate found media Attempts by firms at leveraging UGC for marketing purposes or as inputs to
production (crowdsourcing) have mixed results
Growing and responding to one’s community becomes critical Internet startups focus increasingly on building successful user communities Novel technology and venture capital not enough to tap the social web Dinosaurs add social features to capture audience (that is now clearly not anymore
merely ‘audience’) Pressure to assume more open and allow for third party extensions and user
modifications Corporate communications must be perceived as honest and authentic
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Legal and other risks
Account hacking and identity theft
Privacy and social blunders
Inappropriate content and subversion
Copyright infringement
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Some practical advice ;-) Use strong passwords and if necessary a password manager; do not use the
same password on every site and do not share your passwords with anyone Avoid ‘friending’ strangers or giving away sensitive information via email or
IM Do not follow shortened URL’s from sources you do not trust
Think twice before every post you make online, even if it is on your ‘private’ profile; avoid offensive comments altogether; observe and follow community etiquette
Do not get agitated by nasty comments and repeat grievers (trolls) Maintain multiple ‘alts’ if you want to have more personal conversations Reveal only as much information as you need to about yourself; if more info
is required than you feel comfortable with, fake it, or better, leave the site
Do not post material created by others unless permission to copy and post is explicitly granted and you give attribution (or if you are confident that your use is ‘fair use’)
Including a link to the source is also good practice Avoid posting content that could compromise the privacy of others or offend
Switch on location-based services on your mobile phone only when you need them
Remember that everything you send, even in 1-1 communication, can be forwarded and made public; do not store sensitive data on your phone, it is easy to lose
If you manage your own community, establish and enforce rules of conduct Provide users with tools to filter poor quality content or report inappropriate
content Comply with regulations on resolving copyright infringement claims Reward pro-social, cooperative users and blacklist repeat offenders
Security
Privacy and
etiquette
UGC
Mobile
Users
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A new digital culture
Participationkeywords: engagement, democracy, public sphere, collective action, social capital
Remediationkeywords: remix culture, appropriation, active audience, meaning-making, transformative
Bricolagekeywords: DIY culture, found objects, serendipity, remix, mash-up
Social media operates in a digital culture that is characterized by:
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Something is going on in the daily lives of media users worldwide that makes them (us) accept the fact that reality is constructed, assembled, and manipulated by media, and that the only way to make sense of that mediated world is to intervene and thus adjust our worldview accordingly—which in turn shapes and renews the properties of media, more closely reflecting the identity of the remediating bricoleur instead of the proverbial couch potato.
Deuze, 2006
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis ([email protected])14
Participation
We have come to expect a sense of participation
A resurgence of a folk culture?
Result: a more active citizenry?
Or disconnection from each other and from ‘traditional’ forms of collectivity?
An increase in ‘social capital’?
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Remediation
Every new medium diverges from yet also reproduces older media (Deuze)
Do social media users value their own voice more than anything else?
Mass media is reproduced but also recontextualized by individual users
Not an opposition to mainstream media and tradition but an individualization of the message?
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis ([email protected])16
Bricolage
The creation of objects with material to hand, re-using existing materials and incorporating bits
and pieces (Hartley)
Assemblage and tweaking in lieu of ‘originality’
Bricoleur contrasted with the (mythical) engineer
Creating a sense of connectedness with people and things online
But fostering also social isolation?
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis ([email protected])17
Credits and licensing Frontpage photo by the tartanpodcast (license: CC BY-NC) Global Web Index infographic by TrendStream. Arpanet photo by the Computer History Museum and Wikimedia Commons (public
domain) Lolcat photo creator unknown, hosted by ICANHASCHEEZBURGER.COM Crowd photo by davidChief (license: CC BY) iPod photo by jakerome (license: CC BY-NC) Bricolage photo by Tinkerbots (CC BY-NC)
Original content in this presentation is licensed under the Creative Commons Singapore Attribution 3.0 license unless
stated otherwise (see above)