The Internet And Social Media

Weber highlights the dual position of mass media, which operate both as transmission vectors and as actors. The philosopher argues that the emergence of media monopolies, especially in television, transformed information into “pre-formation” (Phillips, 2011, p.170). Indeed, journalists and reporters used to process raw data, analyze it, and provide their readers with more or less relevant keys to enable them to form their own enlightened outlook on the content presented. With the advent of information technologies, the focus has shifted towards less analysis and a larger volume of “news”: “Transparency here would equate with immediacy of meaning and accessibility of comprehension” (Phillips, 2011, p.163). News TV channels offer a constant loop of raw data over raw data. They provide only superficial critiques of the material that they offer to their viewers: ”as you say, not so long ago the notion of information ‘implied a process of alteration’: it was developed to take into account the inevitable aleatory effects of space and time in the transmission of data.” (Phillips, 2011, p.170). Social media has intensified the thirst for fast circulating, humongous volumes of material, which is doubly mistaken for information and transparency: “it [social media, author’s note] can stimulate the expectation that ‘then’ is

“Contrary to the idea that social media creates a polarizing “filter bubble,” exposing people to only a narrow range of opinions, 70 percent of Millennials say that their social media feeds are comprised of diverse viewpoints evenly mixed between those similar to and different from their own. (American Press Institute, 2015, p. 3)

The internet is our modern source for news media; the importance of the newspaper has not only declined, it is in a sense, obsolete. We now turn to the internet for opinions, news, and entertainment. Even though the way in which we consume information (PBS) has changed, the importance of an unrestricted and watchful media has not changed. (Magleby, Light, & Nemacheck, 2010)

Postman (1987) claims that television is an evil that destroys the purpose and complexities of public discourse. He argues that important issues are oversimplified and drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Chaffee and Metzger (2001) confirm this assumption by remarking the evolution of print and radio into television and television into new media. Establishing the similarities between Postman’s chief complaints about the television medium and the new media then rearing its ugly head. Chaffee and Metzger indicate the shift in the denotations of mass, media, and communication. With technological advancements, it is impossible to ignore the new media and its impact on modern culture.

Nowadays, there exist several different forms of media that help keep society informed and updated with the current events. Ronal Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski write about a relatively new but emerging form in “Liberation vs. Control: The Future of Cyberspace”. Whereas, Brent Cunningham addresses a more traditional form in his “Re-thinking Objectivity: Columbia Journalism Review”. In each piece, the authors analyze the process that information is composed and presented to the audience. While Cunningham agrees with Deibert and Rohozinski that the information that is presented to the viewers should go through a filter, they disagree with the level of trust that viewers should place in the information that the government makes accessible to them.

John Dewey’s concept of a “public,” (sic) as a group of individuals who together are affected by a particular action or idea, which was introduced in his The Public and Its Problems, is not dead. This definition is vague and broad enough that it is adaptable to societal changes. The variety and sheer volume of the “public” has grown exponentially with the changes in technology and transportation. These changes have eliminated boundaries and made the transmission and receipt of information almost instantaneously. Kruckeberg and Tsetsura (2004) asked: “is today’s communication “revolution” more accurately a “reformation” in which each person can be his or her own journalist within a global milieu of interactive multimedia?” (p. 85) Comparing the reporting on two historical tragic events illustrates the answer to this question.

The world has become a much smaller place thanks in part to the creation of the internet. Now, we are able to communicate and interact with larger and more diverse groups of people than we were able to in the past. We are no longer confined to the physical space which we occupy, but we are free to become members of a global community. Thus, we are exposed to various people, cultures, identities, and conceptions of the human that we were ignorant to previously. At the same time, the internet also drastically revolutionized our relationship with the media. As discussed by Henry Jenkins in his book Covergence Culture: Where New and Old Media Collide, the relationship can no longer be accurately described as one between “media producers” and “media

The internet, and the abundant social media platforms it contains, enables us to post our own thoughts and words for it to be viewed, not only by our neighbors from across the street, but also by people from all crevices of the Earth with a wifi-connected device. Being linked together, in this way, can lead us to feel a strong bond with those who post or tweet daily updates of their lives we get to see so often. Even if we do not directly exchange messages with them and form close friendships; through a sense of fraternity, we tend to heedlessly believe statements they claim. However, entrusting our opinions, more often than not self-formed, to faceless commenters tends to dampen our ability to form educated judgements for ourselves. Surely those anonymous individuals are inclined to establish their own biases. Not to say that there is anything wrong with that, but for us to blindly rely on the string of characters displayed on the monitor in front of us without doing a good bit of research on the subject at hand first? Absent-minded actions like this is slowly becoming what is typical from a sizeable amount of social media users. Throwing out bold accusations we have not done a good amount of examination does not exercise proper critical thinking. Just because they choose to share particular snippets of their lives does not mean most of their notions are based upon well-informed conclusions.

We’re at a pivotal point in modern history; the world is changing faster than it ever has before. People can communicate on a level in which our ancestors couldn’t have imagined.

The rise of social media creates powerful new opportunities to communicate with colleagues, distributors, customers and the world. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and others are the emerging core of digital reputations both for Red Lion and its employees. Because social media can blend personal and professional lives, it’s important to exercise caution in using social media both at work and outside work.

The internet and social media instantly connects individuals anywhere in the world with each other. This instant connection can be beneficial to nurses in the workplace. It enables quicker communication between staff and is an unlimited resource of information for nurses and patients. The downside is that nurses have to be careful of what they put online. Social media can be a great tool to improve patient care when used appropriately.

Both traditional and new media provide information, news and messages to inform us happenings around the world (UK Essays, 2013). Regardless of if it is the newspaper, magazine or Facebook, e-magazine, all types of media are able to relay information and entertainment.

There are now many social media companies around today, in which most are available for users and companies around the world 24/7. Some of the main ones being Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Whether a healthcare organization is supports unions or is against them, it should have a policy on unionism, and this policy should be communicated to its employees. Fried and Fottler (2015) explain that a positive labor-management relationship begins with this policy. A unionization policy will often include policies concerning wages, benefits, hours and conditions of employment, which Gamble (2011) says are the most common reasons for unionization. With clear policies and procedures regarding unionization, an employee can find the information they need regarding the most common reasons for unionization and proceed through the correct channels for change. A policy also shows that management understands that each employee is important and deserves respect and that time and thought goes into employee relations (Fried and Fottler, 2015). An employee can also see and understand the implications of unionization with a clearly outlined unionization policy (Gamble, 2011).

There is something in us that creates a desire to connect with those around us. A primal instinct to share a story or life changing event. This however has exploded into something never seen before with the introduction of the internet. With the growth of so many ways to connect there are of course challenges also tied to it. Questions of Accessibility, credibility, and how or what is influenced weather positive or negative. In short, we reflect on how it is affecting us.