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Social media and its effect on society
Social media and its effect on society
Social media and its impact on society
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The medium and the message in social media: Twitter
This essay is based on Marshall McLuhan (1967) theory, which states that the medium is the message. McLuhan states that the form of a message determines the ways in which that message will be perceived.
This is because the effects of the medium on a personal and social scale as the extension of us can result from a new scale that is introduced into our lives by the extension of ourselves and by any kind of new technology (McLuhan, 1964, p. 7). In this case, the medium could be twitter. Created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, twitter has proven to be the largest source of breaking news and social networking site. Since its beginnings, twitter is the medium
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Furthermore, (Hermida 2010b), says that an interesting aspect of twitter is that it functions as a media space where news is always present and consumed by a wide range of users. As a written and multimedium twitter has evolved from writing and pictures to sounds and moving images. According to McLuhan, the power of the message lies in the medium itself rather than in the content of the message. He believes that each medium changes human relations and relations with time and space. For instance, in the case of individuals following the tweets of people caught in a disaster, there is a sense of being there while one hears the specification of the experience from another person through tweets. One can perceive physical proximity to the incident that …show more content…
Presently, two hundred million users send upward of 140 million messages per day, 140-character musings studded with misspellings, slang, and abbreviations. Moreover, it includes harsh truths, memes and also lies. But it has become the most important public sphere for a global, inclusive audience. Therefore, social media sphere like twitter that has often been discredited or not valued as real public engagement has actually transformed itself into the most global, inclusive public sphere where the public is able to engage — whether truthfully or not — and to become more aware and reflective. The public informs the state and especially in a situation where the public is as polarized as in the case of the 2016 American elections, social media especially twitter can be a tool by which the public can still engage with each other to be better
In Nicholas Carr’s article “How Social Media Is Ruining Politics”, Carr writes about the effects that social media has on politics. In his article, Carr focuses more on the negative effect that social media has when it comes to politics. Some points that he makes about social media include specific examples like the recent presidential campaigns, how other technological advances over the years have effected politics, and the effectiveness that social media has on politics
Newspaper, radio, film, television. These are only a few of the various forms media can take. From the moment we open our eyes to the instant we shut them, we are surrounded by media and absorb the information it hurls at us in an osmosis-like manner. The news ranges from the latest terror attack and political scandals to supposed UFO sightings and scandals involving sandals. We as an audience tend to focus more on the message the media relays rather than on the medium in which it is presented to us. “What?” is asked more than “How?” The key claim Marshall McLuhan makes in his book, The Medium is the Massage, is that the form of media influences how the message is perceived. Let’s illustrate this with a scenario: it’s eight o’clock in the morning.
Whether walking down the street, at a party, or even looking through the App Store, chances are the name "Twitter ' has stood out. Twitter is a social media site that allows it 's users to post news updates in real time, socialize with other users, or even just to view the most recent events going on in the world. It can be used as a modern-day newspaper, a text-messaging service, or even a blog. In David Carr 's article, "Why Twitter Will Endure", the main topic of discussion is how long this utility would last among us. In his article, Carr clearly and eloquently expressed his views on why Twitter will endure, through the use of his own ethos and logos.
The ideas put forth in Marshall McLuhan's Media Hot and Cold, present many theories regarding the effects of media on the world. What qualifies as media, in essence, is any experience or information, imparted on the awareness of an individual and/or societies. These can be physical or nonphysical influences. TV and radio are examples of physical media. Their effects and evolution can be easily observed. However, and perhaps more importantly, McLuhan examines those nonphysical influences which can be observed in the individual and society. It is not enough to merely identify these mediums as such. What is more crucial is the perpetual waxing and waning of influence of such ineffable phenomena, whose identity and existence rely upon their interdependency
Blum identifies that a student such as Param Sharma “perform or enact” in an “ever-changing version of self” on Twitter. Param performs on his Twitter account Lavish P. to demonstrate his humor that is constantly being modified to express his humorous personality. This is related to how McLuhan argues that users of technology such as Twitter can cause users to “transform” themselves, which is what Param is doing on Twitter. The main intent of this is to gain “nimble social connections” this can be referred to as Twitter followers, because they are way of becoming socially connected quickly it is simply clicking the follow button on Twitter. Param seeks to obtain Twitter followers through entertaining them on his “ever-changing” Twitter account Lavish P that uses wealth as comedy.
Marshall McLuhan is best known for coining the phrase “The Medium is the message”. He believed that society today is centred around electronic media. On the other hand David Riesman who’s most famous book is entitled “Lonely Crowd” centred his research around characteristics of American society. What these two men have in common is that they both believed that society could be separated into three distinct phases. Riesman believed that there were three distinct character types, tradition-directed, inner-directed and other-directed. While McLuhan believed that there were three types of society which he called oral societies, written societies and electronic societies. Riesman believed the inquiries into the relationship between social structure and social character. The question central to Riesman was what type of person was being formed in the emerging capitalist societies in the developed nations. McLuhan was theorist of literature whose ideas about media and global culture stimulated discussion among social the...
Rather than walking, we have cars to help us get to places quicker. Rather than talking with people face-to-face, we call on a telephone. New technology places value on doing things quicker and easier. McLuhan also believed that what changes people is the technology itself, not the content. In Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, he proposed that we focus on the way each medium changes cultures and traditions and reshapes social life, rather than the content. He describes the content of the medium as a “juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.” (McLuhan 32). To him, focusing on the medium was important because he believed that different types of media changes the balance of our sense. We start isolating and highlighting different senses. For example, print technology highlights the visual aspect of the media, but isolates sound. However, electronic media, such as television, allows us to see and hear, and therefore, reconnects senses that have been isolated by previous media (e.g., print and radio). McLuhan expands on the effects of electronic media in War and Peach in the Global Village, arguing that electronic creates a “global village.” Because electronic media allows people
And mostly applies to our usual understanding of "message" as content or information. Assembling the two thoughts together allows society to jump to the mistaken conclusion that, somehow, the means surpasses the content in significance, or that McLuhan was saying that the information content should be ignored as irrelevant. Often people will proudly say that the medium is "no longer the message," or declare that the "message is the medium," or some other such nonsense. McLuhan meant what he said; unfortunately,
McLuhan’s work with literature and culture produced the revolutionary thought that “the medium is the message.” In other words, cultures are changed not only by the “content” of technology, but also by the technology itself.
There are several different ways in which McLuhan’s words can be interpreted. So what does “the medium is the message,” really mean? One of the simplest explanation that can be given is this; the very medium in which the message is sent through, can shape the way the receiver interprets it. But even this example can...
It is common knowledge that communication has changed over the years, but that does not necessarily mean that communication has improved. Rather, social media’s attempt to increase communication among the population may have, inadvertently, created a world where deep, intellectual conversations are a rarity. Arguably, social media has replaced confrontation with cowardly messaging, scholarly debate with meaningless quarreling, and the value of intelligence with the value of social approval. Because of social media and societal norms, the balance between pathos, logos, and ethos has been disrupted by putting more attention on emotion rather than evidence. Communication may not be the only cause for democracy’s decline, but it is undoubtedly
Social media can impact a life of an individual at many levels. On social media, each individual has the power to be influential and important. There is a freedom of expression on soci...
Some of the ideas that are central to the idea that social media is a benefit to today’s society are that social media encourages increased communication with friends and family, provides fast access to breaking news and other information, and help business attract new business and correspond more quickly with their existing customers. Increased communication is important in all aspects of life. Keeping in touch with family and friends is easier than ever before. Whether it be a Facebook post or a tweet updating friends about exciting news or being able to see a picture...
Social media has become a major epidemic in today’s society. According to millions of people have signed up on social media websites, allowing their basic information to be shared with the world wide web. Two of the biggest social media websites today are Facebook and Twitter. The new generation tends to use Twitter over Facebook, the older generation prefer Facebook over Twitter. Though Facebook and Twitter serve the same purpose and have many similarities, they both differ in many ways.
Social media can be used in our days as a very helpful tool for many things in changing any person’s life ant attitude. It has a positive impact on the society level. These media will keep the person socially active and open to all what happened in the world. Sharing the latest news, photos, finding new friends and knowing the culture. Also, it allows for millions to keep in touch with each other and update for all the new technology. And, it helps people who have difficulties in communication with others to be more socialized and stronger and develop more confidence to feel more comfortable, protected and relaxed just sitting behind a screen. “It saved me time and money without ever requiring me to leave the house; it salvaged my social life, allowed me to conduct interviews as a reporter and kept a lifeline open to my far-flung extended family” says Leonard(231).