The Social Networks in Society Today
Social networking sites play a major role in how we build and reflect on social relations with individuals that share common interests or social ties. This paper will discuss how social media spread information, how social media advertise practices that could invade privacy, and how social media allows for rapid communication during crisis events.
Remember how missing children used to be advertised? Milk cartons, police printouts, or flyers posted almost anywhere, now amber alerts come directly to our phones as a notification. There have been times where a Facebook post about a disappearance of a person and details surrounding the missing person, by the end of the day, the post had been shared thousands of times. It is not in the number of individuals who saw the post, but the networks of individuals. Social media has definitely changed the way we receive news, most of the time, social media is as fast as most regular news stations. 78.5% of social media reports polled social media to check for breaking news. Most journalists use Twitter more than any other social outlet to gather information for their stories. According to Willnat and Weaver, journalists to keep us informed and monitor competition, by checking for news and seeing what other news organizations are doing, use social media. At one point in time, we had to use newspapers, news reports on TV, or the radio to get the last news. Now, the ability to instantly record and share news directly to phones as they happen, like shootings, natural disasters, bombings, or any type of other news, reach social media before the news crew can make it to the scene.
Once news is posted, many readers to their network of friends share it, the spread of news grow due to the number of people who shares posts. The negative side of how social media spreads information can have a costly consequence, so you have to be careful with what you say and do on social media as it can have a negative impact on you, especially if you are in the public eye, like your job. Social media enables the spread of unreliable and false information. 64% of people who use Twitter for news say that they have encountered something they, “later discovered was not true,” and 16% of Twitter news users say they had tweeted or posted a tweet they later discovered to false. Spread of misinformation quickly, especially after an incident can lead to speculation and error in a proper investigation. People use social media, like Facebook, to create and spread fake news, because no one can verify if the information is true or not. Once the unreliable or false information is out, it cannot be taken back, and this can have a dangerous affect, causing further fueling of disagreements between individuals, bullying, or mental health issues, just to name a few.
Social media sites advertise practices that may constitute an invasion of privacy. From social medial sites, simple algorithms can determine where you live, sexual orientation, personality traits, and signs of depression, even if users put none of this data on their social media profiles. Your personal information, including phone number, email address, and social security number is worth a lot of money to bad guys and companies so they can sell products and services that are in high demand in your area
There are many different ways to protect your privacy, like limiting the amount of information you share online, turn on private browsing on your computer, don’t use the same password for more than one site, set up special codes that can be sent to your phone when you login, and turn off location services when using certain sites. Choosing not to participate in social network does not mean that people will not be able to find things about you, we just need to think differently about what privacy means. Be careful about what information gets posted or you will give identity thieves and stalkers the information that they require to cause harm.
Social media also allows for rapid communication during crisis events. When there is a crisis, it affects the public and that is where social media comes into play. It enhances the effects of communication by providing a powerful tool for building trust among people. Emergency managers can establish their social media presence as their source for public information during a natural disaster. Regular monitoring of social media serve as an early warning system that helps first responders identify any pending disasters. It can also offer ways to track the course of a disaster and how it affects the public. Social media can also damage the credibility and ability to earn trust because of unauthorized use of its platform in a crisis situation. The public’s views and responses could be negative and immediate corrections may be necessary. The public can negative opinions about how the first responder managed the disaster, creating a post disaster public relations crisis. The goal in how social media affects the public is to integrate with traditional communications channels. Platforms must be equally supportive in how they relay messaging and responses to the public during a natural disaster. There must be mutual understanding of both the advantages and disadvantages because it can be matter of both life and death.
In conclusion, social media can have both positive and negative effects. Social media connects people, it has provided people with more access, and quicker, to information than they have ever had before. Through social media you can publish anything and write anything you want and everyone can have a chance to view it. Small and large businesses have grown in selling of their products, increasing more opportunities. The negative effects of publishing false information can have a dangerous effect to someone personally or the public, leading to cyber bullying, mental health issues and increased tension. Social media adds an element of speed to a crisis situation; it also makes messaging difficult and often times the public demands real time information. We as human beings are social creatures that thrive off other people. Social media is what you make of it, both online and off you get what you put into it.
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