Today’s young adults live a life caught between two worlds: the physical realm of human interaction and the digital universe that sits just a mouse click away. This is an age in which entire relationships are formed over online digital platforms, and a single person’s opinion can be broadcasted worldwide in a matter of milliseconds. Lately, the freedom of expression that social media has given young adults has provoked interesting behavior among users of such social media platforms as Facebook and Twitter. The term “slacktivism” was coined as far back as 1995 by Dwight Ozard and Fred Clark as an expression of doing something in support of an issue or cause that requires minimal personal effort (Kain, 2012), and is now used to describe this new behavior; where everyday activists have taken their causes to the Web in search of exposure and support, and users have found a passive way to support the causes that they claim to believe in. Every day, hundreds of new slacktivist-oriented pages and videos sprout up across Facebook and Twitter, and slacktivist supporters rush to “like” the cause and pass it along to other friends in their network. This, however, is not the only form of slacktivism. It is also evidenced in the statuses of the numerous members of the Facebook and Twitter community. The role of the “status update” and the “tweet” has evolved from reporting a person’s physical activities, into a platform for launching whatever propaganda a user deems worthy of sharing with his or her social media community. It would seem that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are providing users with a false sense of ego, and that this – in turn – has contributed to the monumental rise of slacktivism and consequential degradat...
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The essay by technology reporter for the New York Times, Jenna Wortham, titled, “It’s Not about You, Facebook. It’s about Us” discusses the idea that Facebook has helped shape emotions and now leaves its users emotionless. Although Wortham brings in several sources she does not support these sources with statistics and her personal feelings stand in the way of getting her main points across. In addition, she has a weak conclusion that leaves readers trying to grasp the actual message that Wortham is attempting to convey. Wortham fails to effectively support her thesis that society feels that it can not live without facebook.
In Clayton Pangelinan’s essay, “Social Networking: Why It’s Really So Popular”. She gives insight to how people crave social interaction whether it be in person or online. Pangelinan explains how everyone wants to feel acknowledged and connected. Although it is true that social media is used to fulfill a need for validation, it does not mean that everything one does on social media is not genuine. When utilized positively social media can play a huge part in developing social movements.
Jacob Silverman’s writing documents the significant price that users of social media pay for their constant online connection. Silverman argues that people have left the Silicon-Valley companies to take not only charge of their lives but also shape their behaviors. Moreover, Silverman looks at how social media has destroyed people’s lives; while people pretend to be happy on social media, the reality is that they are indeed unhappy in real life situations. He argues his ideas on the destruction of social media in a total of thirteen chapters that range from the ideology of social media to social media rebellion. The other section includes the notion of engineered to like, ‘pics, or it didn’t
Fife’s article discusses the importance of pop culture, particularly Facebook, in the study of contemporary literature. Instead of shunning Facebook as inferior to scholarly texts she praises it for the affect it has on a user’s rhetorical analytical skills and the complexity between individual profiles. Fife, a professor, explains the experience her students have during an assignment in which they must analyze Facebook profiles. Even her tech savvy millennials are apprehensive about this assignment because “[Facebook] is just a straightforward communication tool.” (Fife, 558) However they began to realize how
“Social media, a web-based and mobile technology, has turned communication into a social dialogue, and dominates the younger generation and their culture. As of 2010, Generation Y now outnumbers Baby Boomers, and 96% of Gen Y has joined a social network” (Qualman 1). Social media now accounts for the number one use of the Internet, and this percentage is rising bigger every day (Qualman). As a consequence, people are becoming more reliant on social media, which has a led to a number of advantageous as well as unfavorable effects. The world is more connected today than it has ever been in the past, and this is all because of growth in technology. What has yet to be determined though
Corvese argues that although slacktivism allows the public to be informed of an issue it does little to help the cause. Slacktivism is known to be a “Satisfying and convenient for the individual to show concern for an issue, those in need of support received little benefit” (Corvese 600). Pictures through social media informs viewers about current topics but the likes and shares that the viewer has provided no benefit to the cause. Although a minority of people don’t help the cause that they share over social media the majority in reality do. Thanks to research people know that those who claim they support an organization through social media are just as likely to donate to that cause as people who don’t. In addition, they are also twice as likely to donate their time to the cause compared to those who don’t proving that slacktivism is not just a lazy form of advocacy but an effective form to garner support from the
Social networks and the rise of social media campaigns continue to dominate mainstream media. Their aim to primarily network has evolved into a medium to protest political or social agendas, and amplify minority voices (Kim, 2014). The driving force behind a social media campaign now resonates in the power and participation of digital activism (Hill, 2013). This new wave of activism encourages people from global channels to be advocates of change within society, by triggering awareness, accountability and open democracy (Ramon Gil-Garcia & Sandoval-Almazan, 2014). With this idea in mind, the question proposed is: In what ways did the hash tag #BringBackOurGirls promote online activism and help push the story into mainstream New Zealand media? This literature review analyses specific keywords such as digital activism, slacktivism and identifies the role of media ownership between New Zealand and its
With the rise of social media within the past few decades, it has become an important aspect of everyone’s lives more than ever. Everyday, million and millions of people are engaged in some sort of social media. They spend countless hours texting, calling, or just browsing the internet to look up some random stuff. Social media plays an important role in how everyone live their daily lives; as whatever exposure the social media shows influence anyone. Social media dictates what individuals should and shouldn’t do; it is able to pressure anyone to follow the “norms” set up by the society through social media.
In addition to this primary source, a variety of articles that discuss the use of rhetoric on social media, as well as the use of social media in a political context, will be addressed. Many articles may discuss social media and its implications on society, and privacy, but fewer deliberate the effects social media may have on impacting citizen’s political perspectives. The use of language on social media, especially in younger generations, tends to be rudimentary and as a result may not be adept at representing the issue. This tends to leave the discussion open to personal interpretation and often leads to misinformation. By looking at the use of rhetoric on social media in general, as well as the use of social media for political discussion, I intend to develop and support this theory.
The correlation between the development of youth and social media has become blatant. Although few of the consequences are favorable, the majority have displayed a negative impact. The drive social media can implement on youth is exceptional. The pressure and strain social media can place on our youth is an enduring force which leads individuals to question themselves as a person and feel inclined to fit a norm expressed in media and social media of our society. The underlying force social media can play in the lives of the youth is astonishing and is a force that must be dealt with and controlled, for it not only holds the power to give an individual strength, but also to break them down.
The influence of social media becomes less attractive as it creates an outlet for Millennials to become self-absorbed and self-conscious about achieving perfection. For example, the viral popularity of a graduation speech called, “You Are Not Special” which directed students to “Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so that the world can see you” serves as a justification of this criticism (qtd in Stein). Millennials “want constant approval,” but also enjoy believin...
Rainie, Smith, Schlozman, Brady, and Verba (2012) present that social media is starting to become a feature of political and civil engagement for many Americans. Rainie concludes this finding from analyzing a survey that asked users about civic engagement using social networking sites like Twitter. They found that 60% of American adults use social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, 39% of them have done at least one of eight civic or political activities with social media. The demographic that uses social media for civic activities the most were younger social media users that ranged from age 18-29 years old. They concluded from the survey that younger users were more likely to post their own thoughts about issues and encourage others to take political action while older users were more likely to stay
We live in a world that has become addicted and dedicated toward social media and it is driving America’s youth into the ground. Teenagers and adults are so wrapped up in social media that is runs their lives every day. Constantly people are checking their phones for the latest on social networks. They have to see pictures, tweets, statuses, comments, likes, and the list goes on and on. Social media is becoming the focus point in the modern American society that it is beginning to control people’s social skills, communication skills, and their livelihood.
Social media can impact a life of an individual at many levels. On social media, each individual has the power to be influential and important. There is a freedom of expression on soci...