Social Media

 Social Media

1. "How has the online landscape transformed the dynamics of public opinion formation and communication strategies?"

    I believe social media has had both positive and negative impacts on human connection and general communication. As for opinion formation and communication strategies I believe there have been more negative impacts. I have a few reasons why I say this...

    1- Algorithm: As the internet watches your every move, it is going to recommend targeted posts, videos, ads, and more. This leads any social media user to be in their own world surrounded by like-minded people. Though this may sound ideal, this leads individuals to become for extreme in their beliefs, and even develop negative feelings towards others who do not think the same. A sort of hive mind, or tribe mentality.

    2- Misinformation: Whatever sounds more interesting, will gain more engagement from social media users. In some cases this means spreading misinformation in order to gather this attention. Misinformation can also be used to spread rumor or bring other people/groups/companies/etc. down, and form mass amounts of hate around those people. 

An interesting article on misinformation! LINK (yale.edu)

    As I was brainstorming what to write for the communication strategies part, I reflected on what I read in the "Social Media in the Workplace" case study. I believe this case study shows both the positive and negative impacts, one of the positives being when Laura went to talk to her employee Nick, he was seen on LinkedIn but he was "searching for potential new people to take over for Stephanie when she retires." (Mazer) I believe there is a balance to social media, as it is a beneficial strategy for companies to use for outreach reasons. But another point in the case study it shows workers becoming distracted from work, showing that in some situations, communication relies heavily on content seen on the internet. 

2."What are the potential implications for society, democracy, and interpersonal relationships?"

    As stated before, social media can manipulate and change some peoples opinions, usually to whatever is related to content they view consistently. For society, this can lead to some gatekeeping behavior. For democracy, social media is an outlet for propaganda and campaign information, sometimes these opinions can be extreme and cause arguments and drama online. For interpersonal relationships, a lot of conversation now relies on what people have seen on the internet instead of other topics. 

Sources

    Ceylan, Gizem. “How Social Media Rewards Misinformation.” Yale Insights, 31 Mar. 2023, insights.som.yale.edu/insights/how-social-media-rewards-misinformation.

    Mazer, J. P. (2019). Communication and social media: Understanding and managing communication challenges in a networked society. Oxford University Press.