APA Social Media - Why Broadcasting is Obsolete

8/14/2019 APA Social Media - Why Broadcasting is Obsolete

1/9

SocialMedia 1

Runninghead: SOCIALMEDIA:WHYBROADCASTINGISOBSOLETE

SocialMedia:WhyBroadcastingIsObsolete

KrisHaamer

BalticFilmandMediaSchool

EnglishCompositionII

ProfessorThurlow

June14,2008


2/9

SocialMedia 2

SocialMedia:WhyBroadcastingIsObsolete

Broadcastmediahaveinrecentyearsincreasinglybeencriticizedforaperceiveddecreasein

thequalityofinformationtheyprovide,broadcasttabloidization,irrelevance,andmoregenerallyfor

theconcentration

of

ownership

(Bromley,

2001,

p.

2).

However

there

are

more

optimistic

alternative

models(Goh&Foo,2007,p.137)withimplicationstowardsbetterqualityinformationandan

increasinglymeaningfuldiscourseaccessibletomoreandmorepeople.Theseviewscouldbebroadly

describedasbeingintherealmofsocialmedia,andgenerallyadvocateusingtechnicalinnovationssuchastheInternettoengagepeopleinamoretransparentconversation.Asasuperiormodelof

communication,socialmediawillincreasemediationqualityandleadtobenefitsinseveralareas

overthetraditionalbroadcastingmodel.

FailuresoftheBroadcastMedia

Concernsaboutthemedia,andmediacriticismisnotnewintheliterature.Asearlyas1920,

Lippmann,writingaboutthepowersandfailuresofthepressinhisbookLibertyandtheNews,deliveredthenotionthatthenewscolumnsarecommoncarriers.Whenthosewhocontrolthem

[...]determinebytheirownconscienceswhatshallbereportedandforwhatpurpose,democracyis

unworkable.Publicopinionisblockaded(pp.56). Morerecently,Baudrillard,oneofthemost

ferventmediacriticsofthecentury,withmoreeloquencedescribedtheprevalentmediamodelas

"speechwithoutresponse"(1981,p.172).

Contemporarymediacannotbeviewedseparatelyfromtechnology;toagreatdegreeitis

andhasbeendependentontechnologicaladvances.Becausebroadcastingmediamodelsbythe

natureoftheirtechnologyaredependentonsomeformofonetomanyorfewtomany

communication,Baudrillardisrighttocriticizethemediaonthegroundsthattheyfabricate

noncommunication(p.210)asthisisindeedatechnicalgiven.However,whenworkingwith

MacLean,inhislaterworksin1985,Baudrillardfurtherexpandedhiscritiqueonthelackof

conversationin

which

he

perhaps

better

described

the

downfalls

of

the

contemporary

media

by

statingthatthepresentarchitectureofthemediaisfoundedonthis[]definition:theyarewhat


3/9

SocialMedia 3

finallyforbidsresponse,whatrendersimpossibleanyprocessofexchange(1985,p.577).Thislack

ofpossibilityforconversationiswhythebroadcastmodelisobsolete.

Socialmediamodelsontheotherhandarelessdeterminedandallowformoreflexibility.In

2008,forthemostparttheyincludehighlytechnologicalimplementationsofmediationonthe

Internetplatformwithconsiderableparticipatoryaspects.ThesearesitesontheInternetwhere

essentiallyeverypersonbecomesthemedia.Thediscussionoverbroadcastmediaseemstofollow

fromthetypesofquestionsBaudrillardposeswhatelsedothemediadreamofbesidescreatingthe

eventsimplybytheirpresence?(1994,p.38),inwhichthemediaareseenassomethinglargeand

unusualthatbythesolevirtueofitspresentscreatesillusionsthatfoolthepublic.Thediscussionin

therealmofsocialmediahowever,ismoreprogressive.Inessence,whereeveryonebecomesthe

media,beingmediatedisverycommonplaceforeachperson,andtheeffectsofbeingmediated

couldbeanticipatedtobelesspronounced.

Whileaccordingtosomeauthors,forexampleRheingold,thecontemporaryinstitutionsof

themassmedia[...]havecommoditizedthepublicsphere,substitutingslickpublicrelationsfor

genuinedebate(2000,p.29),socialmediaimplementationscanbeexpectedtohaveintrinsicallya

greaterdegreeoftransparency.Becausetheyarecreatedbythepeopletheirexistencedependson

peopleactivelyparticipating.Effectively,thesocialmediaversionofthepublicsphereiscontrolled

bythepeopletoamuchgreaterdegree,thanthebroadcastingversionofthesphere.Thereforethe

scopeforaccessanywhereandforanyoneforanyneedacrossdevicesandplatforms,andeven

independentof

location,

is

that

much

greater

for

social

media

than

for

broadcasting

media.

Thevirtueofgivingmorepowertothepeopleiswhyfromapoliticalperspectivesocial

mediaismoredemocratic.Followingfromthepremisethatmediasetthepoliticalagenda,more

accurateinformation,transparencyandparticipationinthisprocessofeveryconversationbenefits

everyone. Moreover,fromapsychologicalviewpoint,researchsuggeststhatitismorenaturalfor

peopleto

discuss

information

socially

on

the

Internet,

rather

than

to

passively

consume

media

createdbybroadcasters;accordingtoarecentMorganStanleyreportmorethanhalfofthetop10


4/9

SocialMedia 4

Internetsitesbyusagearesocial,andtheusageoftelevisionisdeclining(MorganStanley,2008,pp.

812).

Broadcast

of

Socialize?

Someofthebenefitsofsocialmediaareselfevident.OnerecentexamplewastheChinese

earthquakeintheSichuanprovinceonMay12,2008.Thenewswasbrokennotonmainstream

mediabutreportedly(Bradshaw)bylocalChineseintheearthquakezone,onTwitter1,asocial

networkingsitethatletspeoplepostshortmessages.IntheTwitterrealmeveryoneisabroadcaster.

BecausethesocialnatureofTwitterandwiththehelpofmachinetranslation,thenewsreached

peoplearoundtheworldbeforeglobalbroadcastmediawasabletotakeupthestory,andmuch

beforeEstonianbroadcastmediawasabletocopythestoryfromtheglobalmedia.

Byreferringtosuchexamples(astherehavebeenothersimilarcasesthathavetakenplace

aroundtheworld),onecanthinkofthesocialmediamodelasacombinationofmediaandsocial

relations.Becausenewscreatorsareaccessiblethroughemail,chatapplications,andtheirsocial

networkingprofiles,

it

becomes

easier

to

ask

any

questions

and

get

instant

feedback.

While

this

was

possibleinnewspaperstroughmailinletters,thebarriersofentryaregreatlyreducedtroughthe

speedofcommunication,andhighvisibilityofthenewscreator.Peoplecaninteractdirectlywiththe

newsbroadcasteronthegroundtroughservicessuchasSkypeandFacebook2;thelatteralso

providesaprofileforthepersonsowhatoneissayingcanbequalifiedagainstpreviousexperience

andcommentary.

SocialmediaispossiblebecausethecommunicationplatformusedtheInternetis

technologicallysuperiortobroadcastingintheareacommunication.Butfurthermore,intheareasof

mediaeconomy,whilethebroadcastmediaeconomicsrelyonimpreciseevaluationstoprovidethe

audiencenumberstotheadvertisers,socialmediaimplementationscanmakeuseoftheirhigh

technologicalbaseandthevirtuesoftheInternettoproducedetailedandaccurateinformationfor

1ForafurtherexplanationoftheTwitterservice,pleaseseetwitter.com

2ForanexplanationofSkype,seeabout.skype.com,forFacebook,pleasegotofacebook.com


5/9

SocialMedia 5

theuseoftheadvertisers.Thenatureoftheconversationandactionsoftheparticipantsallow

advertiserstooffertheirgoodsandservicesattherighttime,andtakingintoaccountpersonal

preferences.Thisdegreeofprecisioncreatestrustfortheadvertiserstoplacemoremoneyintothe

media.Moreover,

as

the

Twitter

example

illustrates,

the

bulk

of

the

job

of

producing

journalism

can

bedonebyusualpeople,cuttingdownonproductioncosts.

Inadditiontoeconomicalbenefits,thespeedyandpreciseanalysisofmediacontentmade

possiblebycomputertechnologycanbeutilizedforotherbenefitsasimportant,butperhapsless

apparentatthefirstglance.Havingprecisestatisticshelpspeoplevisualizetheircommunication

streams,andasapartofthoseinformationstreamsnewscanbeincreasinglyaccurate.Totakeone

example,theNewsStation3websitewhichisatrendleaderinthesocialmediaspaceinEstonia

producesstreamsofanalyticaldataforeachnewsitemitindexesfrombroadcastnewsprovidersas

wellasindependentproducerssuchasblogs.Thesiteprovidesstatisticsaboutmanymeasurable

aspectsofnewssuchaslocations,organizationsandpeoplementionedinthenewscontent,and

theirpopularityinmedia.

AsinNewsStation,otherwebsitesinthesocialmediarealmwillbeabletoanalyzethe

mediaandproducestorytimelineswhichprovidealivevisualizationofhowthestoryisbeing

created. Forexample,onecouldseeapressreleasebeingreleased,thecoveragebeingwrittenbya

certainpersonatPostimees,andthecoveragebeingwrittenbyacertainpersonatripev,charted

inorderofappearance;onecouldcontactthosepeople.Onecouldseelivetheotherstoriesbeing

spawnedin

response,

as

well

as

opinions

being

created

in

the

blogosphere.

Thereareclearbenefitstosuchandopenapproach.Clearvisibilityofconnectionsbetween

newsmakers,newscreators,andotherplayersinthestorywouldmakeitincreasinglydifficultfor

partialinterestsandpublicrelationstocontroltheenvironmentandpassconstructednews.Clearly

identifiedpersonalitieswouldincreasepublicrecognitionofnewsmakers.Easyaccessto

3Pleaseseenews.station.eeforfurtherinformation,availableinEstonianonly


6/9

SocialMedia 6

newsmakerspersonalopinioninmediasuchasblogs,andothernewsinvolvingthatperson,and

commentarywouldallowpeopletounderstandthestorybehindthestory.

Furthermore,clearlyidentifiedlocationswouldemphasizetheaspectsparticulartotheplace

ofthenews,whilestillretainingglobalavailability.WhileNewsStationisalreadyproviding

geographicvisualizations,takingthistechnologytomainstreamwouldcreateemotionalconnections

andinvolvepeopleinthenewstoahigherdegreethanplaintextpublications.Onewould

understandhowspecificregionsinthecountryarecovered.Forexample,thestatisticsofwhether

newsstoriesconglomeratemoreoftenaroundbiggercentersuchasTallinnandTartu,andtowhat

extentsmallerplacesarecoveredwouldbecomeclearlyvisible.Combinedwithlocationaware

devicessuchastheiPhone,socialmediawouldallowpeopletoaccessnewsrelevanttotheir

location.Whetherthisisinformationaboutatrafficjamonthenextintersectionoranoticeofthe

partythatwilltakeplaceinthecluboneisdrivingpast,willdependononespersonalpreferences.

Byusingallthesetechnologiesinanopenmanner,socialmediacanineffectprovidethe

typeofinformationthatusedtobethedomainofgovernmentormediastatisticsbureaus.

Combinedwithspeedandeaseofaccess,socialmediaatthedisposalofeveryconsumeratevery

momenttomakedecisionaboutthecontentoftheircommunicationsmighthaveconsiderable

impacts.Bythattoken,itistheabilityofmediatocreateopenspacesforpeopletodiscuss,andthe

abilitytoprovidethetoolsfordiscussion,thatqualifythequalityofmediainthesocialmediarealm.

Suchopenspacesforconversationandcomputertechnologieshelppeopletoincreasethe

qualityofthemediatheythemselvesproduceandconsume.Peopleputnewsintocontextbytagging

theinformationwithkeywordsandbysuchactionsmakethatpieceofinformationmorecomplete

forotherpeople.Moreover,toanextentatthecurrentstateofdevelopment,butincreasinglyinthe

future,thetechniqueallowscomputerstohaveabetterprogrammaticunderstandingofthecontent.

TheideasoftheSemanticWeb(W3)thattieinwiththesocialmediamodelexplorehowinformationin

these

open

spaces

can

be

queried

and

mashed

up

in

different

complex

ways

to

produce

added

value.


7/9

SocialMedia 7

Forexample,emergingSiliconValleytechnologystartupssuchasFreebaseandPowerset4useacombinationofsocialparticipationbythepeopleandcomputeralgorithmstoallowuserstoask

complexquestionsthelikeofWhatwerethenamesofKarlMarx'schildren?andallowtheuserto

getaclear

listing

with

names

Laura

Marx,

Eleanor

Marx,

Jenny

Longuet

(Powerset)

and

pictures.

PowersetcanbeaccessedoveraniPhone,whichinessencemakestheinformationportable.

Becauseoftheideaofinformationportabilitythesocialmediamodelhasnoprerequisites

forprominenttelevisionchannelssuchastheBBCorprominentnewspaperssuchastheNewYork

Timestobethepremieredestinationbecausetheyhavethemeanstobroadcastcontent;onthe

contrary,conversationcantakeplaceacrossdifferentchannelsindependentoftheirsizeandwealth.

InsimpletermsthismeansthatconversationisnotrestrictedtoPostimees,ripev,TV3,orany

otherchannel;thecommentsonemakesatPostimeesbecomeaccessibletroughripev,TV3,and

viceversa.Theconversationdoesnotnecessarilyhavetobefragmentedanddiscontinuouswith

eachcampclaimingitsterritory.

Conclusions

Todaypeoplearoundtheworldareincreasinglylikelytobeactivelyparticipatinginthe

conversationonsocialnetworkssuchasFacebookandTwitter;insteadofpassivelyconsumingthe

news.In2008,Facebookpassedthe100millionusermark(MorganStanley,p.10);ifitwerea

country,itwouldbethe12thbypopulationsize.Troughsiteslikethese,andtroughsocialmediain

generalpeoplebecomepartoftheconversationbecausetheyarenotsecluded;theconversationis

portableandaccessiblebyeveryoneandeverywhere.Theabilityofanyonetomakethenewswill

givenewvoicetopeoplewhovefeltvoicelessandwhosewordsweneedtohear.Theyare

showingallofuscitizen,journalist,newsmakernewwaysoftalking,oflearning(Gillmor,p.12).

Socialmediatechnologiescreatepossibilitiesforincreasedpublicunderstandingwhatis

happeningintheirsocieties.AroundtheworldservicessuchasTwitterallowfastercommunication

4ForanexplanationaboutservicesprovidedbyFreebaseandPowerset,seefreebase.com/helpand

powerset.com/aboutrespectively


8/9

SocialMedia 8

ofnewscontentandcommentary.Someinstitutionshavetakennoteofthesepossibilities;theUK

governmentusesTwittertohaveaconversationwithcitizens.InEstonia,theNewsStationwebsiteis

revolutionizinghowmediacanbecontextualizedandanalyzed.AndtheEstonianForeignMinistry

usesSecond

Life

to

communicate

with

its

virtual

tenants.

In

all

examples

social

media

models

bring

benefitsovertheirbroadcastcounterparts,andtheexpectationisthattheyincreasemedialiteracy

byprovidingabetterunderstandingoftheconnectionsbetweenplayersonthemedialandscape.

Whiletheideasaroundsocialmediamodelsmaybeimmatureandindevelopment,theyare

activelybeingexperimentedwith,andasthevariousservicesmentioneddemonstrate,thereare

severalmeasurablequalitativebenefitsthatthesocialmediamodelbringstotheforefrontofthe

discussion.Whiletheremaybecriticisms,onecanrememberwhatthemediavisionaryMarshall

McLuhanoncesaidthestudentofmediasooncomestoexpectthenewmediaofanyperiod

whatevertobeclassedaspseudobythosewhohaveacquiredthepatternsofearliermedia,

whatevertheymayhappentobe(McLuhan,p.216)


9/9

SocialMedia 9

WorksCited

Baudrillard,J.(1994).SimulacraandSimulation.AnnArbor:UniversityofMichigan.Baudrillard,J.,&Levin,C.(1981).ForaCritiqueofthePoliticalEconomyoftheSign.NewYork:Telos

PressPublishing.

Baudrillard,J.,&Maclean,M.(1985).TheMasses:TheImplosionoftheSocialintheMedia.NewLiteraryHistory,577589.

Bradshaw,

P.

(n.d.).

OJB.

Retrieved

June

12,

2008,

from

http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2008/05/12/twitterandthechineseearthquake/

Bromley,M.(2001).NoNewsisBadNews:Radio,Television,andthePublic.NewYork:PearsonEducation.

Gillmor,D.(2004).WeTheMedia.NewYork:O'Reilly.Goh,D.,&Foo,S.(2007).SocialInformationRetrievalSystems:EmergingTechnologiesand

Applications.Philadelphia:IdeaGroupInc.

Lipmann,W.(2007).LibertyandtheNews.NewYork:PrincetonUniversityPress.McLuhan,M.(2001).UnderstandingMedia:TheExtensionsofMan.NewYork:RoutledgePress.

MorganStanley.

(2008).

InternetTrends.NewYork:MorganStanley.

Powerset.(n.d.).RetrievedJune13,2008,fromhttp://www.powerset.com/explore/go/Whatwere

thenamesofKarlMarx'schildren%3F

Rheingold,H.(2000).TheVirtualCommunity.Cambridge:MITPress.W3.(2008,June10).W3CSemanticWebActivity.RetrievedJune14,2008,from

http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/

Documents

APA Social Media - Why Broadcasting is Obsolete