Which one do you like?
There are many choices of social networking site in Internet World. People now will not choose and create account on the social networking site they like but create account in several social networking sites. Why? I think is because of trend. Everyone now use social networking site to interact, share information, spread rumors and more. Social networking site is also a place which gather people around the world which cause big impact when there are rumors or bad news spreading in the sites.
“In my book, I argue that there digital tools are simply, well, tools, and social change continues to involve many painstaking, longer-term efforts to engage with political institutions and reform movements." According to this statement, writer believes that digital tools have the power of involving people in political issues through social network sites. People now discuss anything in social networking site, they use social networking site as a tool to influence people. Let's take cyber-utopians as an example. As what have mentioned in the article, cyber-utopians summon up social revolution. Utopians used social networking site to influence the Utopians to start social revolution. Why they got a chance to do so? The reason is simple, because social network site gathered large amount of people.
With social networking site's features, cyber-utopians can upload pictures, videos and words to influence and convince people and people will tend to believe everything on social networking site but not real-world. In my opinion, people will listen and obey what cyber-utopians posted up online is because almost all of the people involved themselves in Internet and they have take it as one part of their life. When someone exposed too much on something or it is something they are similar with, they will tend to involve and join the revolution. There is one case from a secondary school in Klang Valley, let's call them School A. School A's student are unsatisfied with their new canteen's food and price, they created a group in Facebook to protest and invited almost all of the students from School A included ex-schoolmates. This has become a biggest issue among all the students and parents and of course the creator of this group has become "The Father of Canteen". This is not a big issue until the creator created this group to protest. Everyone is concerning about this issue even students from other school. This shows that social networking site is influential and also shows social networking sites can lead to protest activity and cause revolution.
"The recent history of technology strongly suggests that today's vogue for Facebook and Twitter will fade as online audiences migrate to new services." I strongly agree with this statement. People use to use Facebook to interact with friends by posting wall post, sharing what is their dinner tonight or sending vegetables to friends through Farm Ville in Facebook. But soon, it will brings online users to a new service. What kind of service? Protesting maybe? Influencing people to join their revolution maybe? Who knows if social networking sites will become a exhortation tool instead of communication tool?
Facebook and Twitter have give online users a best place for people to communicate and it has attracted a large amount of audiences to join this big social world. By taking this as advantage, people can call up people to join their revolution or protest activity easily. And the best thing, people in social sites are easier to influence compare to people in reality. Not to say people are easier to get influence, but people hardly differentiate the right or wrong things in social sites.
Great post there!
ReplyDelete"People in social sites are easier to influence compare to people in reality." No doubt, it is true that the power of social sites could be overwhelmed. In reality, how would they join the protest or revolution? It is unimaginable. But compare on the using of social sites like Facebook, they can immediately attract many people to join, doesn't matter whether the person in interester or not. Therefore, from the cases mentioned in the article has clearly shown that they have just misused the usage of social media as the communication channel but definitely is not a place for them to organize this kind of protest.
I agree that people are easier to influence in social sites but I dont think it means they'll definitely get influenced. Posts are up on Facebook or Twitter because it can reach to people easily. But taking it serious or not is all depends on the reader itself.
ReplyDeleteRevolutionaries is not something light, the readers should be wise enough to know which steps are supposed to be taken which are not. =)
Well, that's just my opinion. I do agree that it has an impact, maybe just not when it comes to something BIG like Bersih 2.0 =) Nice post anyway!
Hey there Pei Jie! In my opinion, this is a well written post. It's different that you agree with the author that the social platforms are the cause of revolutions. It's nice that you managed to put up a relevant and local example to support your point.
ReplyDeleteBefore that, I do agree on your point that social media have the power to gather a large crowd of people together. I still stick to my beliefs that these social functions are merely for communicating dissatisfaction we feel. A tool for voicing out to get someone to pay attention to us.
However maybe it's because of the misuse of the netizens that things go out viral and out of control that people start seeing Facebook and Twitter as causes of revolutionaries. I think misinterpretation and misunderstanding is one of the most complex issues online will ever present to us.
Maybe it's because of such misunderstandings that people get upset and outrage and start to have a war online which generates to revolutions. A tool that was made for expressing ideas can be easily misread by others which leads to protest against each other. Maybe this case of wrong perception and action are the cause of such perception that Facebook and Twitter as revolution tools.
What do you think? Liking this post and cheers!
Nice post! It is really a worry that it would create a chaos if most of the user in facebook are being influenced.A social networking site should be a relax and more fun sites for people to communicate than argue for freedom and groups for certain policital objective. IT should be control and lead the user to back to a natural way of using social networking site correctly.
ReplyDeletegreat post here! I agree with you that "people in social sites are easier to influence compare to people in reality". It is because they are connect to each other for certain purpose like friends, family members, people with same interest, classmate and so on, and you approve their friend request because you think that they are friends and some how you had trust in them so it is easier to influence people in social sites. But then easier to be influence doesn't mean taht people will definitely get influence, people still know what is right and what is wrong and they judge base on the moral velue, social norm, culture and so on.
ReplyDelete