Media Awareness In Social Media

1499 Words3 Pages

Media is known to be “the central vehicle for the production and distribution of information about events taking place at different levels” (Lorimer, 2012). Social media plays an essential role in creating awareness amongst the population. Awareness is the first step towards social movement and change within a society. This can be achieved through the variety of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, Snapchat and many more. These applications are used as an asset to an individual as it allows them to post pictures and videos to raise awareness within a short period of time. Pictures and videos allow news to spread quickly that is involved within and around the community. Social media sites create several advertisements,
Some people take the captured photo or the video and upload it on the Internet to share it with family and friends. However, little do they realize, a statement is being made virally to the world as it informs others about the situation. When an individual uses social media to raise awareness about a situation, they are using their freedom of speech. This is when an individual expresses their opinion or thoughts regarding a situation openly to discuss with the public. Since Canadian media are known to be strong supporters of freedom of speech, (Lorimer, 2012) the awareness of the information can be widely spread effectively. This creates a public sphere, where “people are able to discuss and consider matters of common concern and interest” (Lorimer, 2012). For example, Facebook consists of discussions that are posted based on the political, social, and economic issues. Many individuals comment opinions and thoughts under posts, which create a larger public sphere. Also, social media has the power to cover news that lacks importance in the global television news. For example, when there was an earthquake in Haiti (2010), many areas that were affected and damaged. The CNN newscast did not cover all areas, however through social media, Twitter, pictures were posted and a live blog on what happened. This picture spread widely across the world and informed many on this event (Bunz,

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