Response to Classmate 5
kentucky79
samplepostandrelpy.docxJohn Blike Generation Like
John Blike III posted Feb 16, 2018 11:47 AM
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What is your opinion of social media? Does it empower or exploit?
Social media is a double edged sword, on one side people have the ability to connect and interact like never before, the other is the open books that our lives have become. Once we post anything, it is out there, possibly forever, once that button is clicked we have no control who could eventually see it. Even if we have the highest security settings in place, there is no stopping another person from taking a screen shot and sharing a post we thought was secure with the rest of the internet. Aside from our posts, what we “like” or hashtag, or retweet, all becomes a data point that can be gathered and sold to companies for advertising purposes. So every post we make and every “like” we have could potentially be used to exploit us. A simple Google search of a person’s name usually contains there Facebook, Linked In, Twitter or Instagram accounts on the first page or two, a potential employer will perform that search, and if anything pops up that could be a red flag, a person could lose out on an opportunity. Is social media really worth the kind of money that investors are paying?
Social media, like anything else is worth what people are willing to pay. That being said, I think that social media is worth every penny. Looking at Facebook, their ability to not only gather copious amounts of user specific data, but also distill the data, sell it to companies, and give those companies a place to advertise is amazing. Social media is the only outlet that can provide such services. Compared to traditional methods, social media’s approach is miles ahead.
Explain what “Like”ing someone’s post on Facebook means to you.
I feel that “liking” a post can have a few meanings. The meaning I most frequently “like” with is that I actually enjoyed the post, whether it is a picture of a friend’s child or a post about some recent successes, I genially “liked” what was shared. The next meaning, one I seldom use, is to let the poster know that I saw the post. This type of “like” goes is usually an article posted by a parent or sibling, sometimes tagging me. The final type of “like” I have seen, but do not use, is the “like” because of the poster. Some people will “like” every single post by another person, no matter the content. I have seen this mostly with parents to their children and with spouses to each other. I think that “likes” should be meaningful, and I try to only give them when I truly did enjoy the post. Does knowing others “Like” what you “Like” influence you? Explain.
Knowing others like what I like does influence me. Having a commonality hits on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, with belonging and even safety. Belonging is simple, I like this idea, and you like this idea, so we are the same. The safety comes into play when someone likes something that could be controversial. If someone posts an off the wall article that the earth is flat, a person that may believe that could and been afraid to share that, could now feel safe knowing that others share their opinion, even though the earth is most definitely spherical. How do companies use social media to advertise?
As I said before companies use social media to advertise based on user specific data gathered by the social media outlets. It is wonderfully efficient and impactful. Data gathered is presented to companies and the companies can choose what type of user to target. Social media is really a one stop shop for gathering potential customers, getting their opinions and having a place to advertise based on those opinions.
Is social media empowering or exploiting teens?
I think that social media should be used with caution by teens. It is great for them to have the ability to connect with the world from their phone, but I think that the risks they take on can outweigh the benefits. I coached high school baseball, I have always warned my players that everyone around them had a video camera in their pocket, and the power to release any video to the whole world. Thankfully I have never had any issues with my kids, but my brother who work at a high school did recently have an incident where a student’s life was changed by social media. The student was attending a basketball game against the schools bitter rival, the student’s team won on a buzzer beating shot, and the student section flooded the court. A reporter form a local new outlet recorded the celebration and posted it out Twitter and Facebook. In the video the student is seen making a gesture to the other school’s students. The video made its way around the school and eventually to the principal, and the principal was forced to remove that student from their extracurricular activities from the remainder of the year. This was an extreme case, but it is not uncommon.
On top of that, the amount of bullying and the access that potential predators have to teens on social media, can make it a dangerous place.
Do Kids think they are being used? Do they care?
It has not been that long since I was a teenager, so I do remember a little about how I used to feel. Going off of that, I doubt I would have thought that I was being used, and even if I had, I would not have cared. Many teens think they are invincible, nothing seriously bad will happen to them, that kind of thing only happens in other places. So as a teen I would not have thought that a post I make could come back to bite me, or that a picture I take could be used against me, even by a peer. Personally, I am glad that this sort of social media did not exist when I was in high school and college.
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· View profile card for Donna Zuiderweg
Donna Zuiderweg
2 hours ago
Hi John,
I shared similar thoughts to yours in my post. Particularly, I also think that teenagers are being exploited and I think they pretty much know it and really don't care. In fact, I feel like this is true now for most people who choose to interact with social media. There's been enough news coverage and information out there about how social media is a marketer's and data miner's dream; how everything you do is being tracked and monitored. And yet, most of us disregard that information because of the enjoyment we get from participating with social media. Not to mention the fact that we all have a tendency to believe that something bad will NEVER happen to us - it will only happen to some other person.
Donna
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