S

Locating Social Media

Basu Mallick Koustav

Choo Jun Lin Darren

Chua Jia HwaGoh Yong-Qin

DarrelTan Jun Jie

1

Agenda

Image: http://socialnomics.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/social-media-ball.jpg2

Definitions

Media Technology e.g. internet, phone, TV

1st order of user agency (Luders, 2008)

Final meaning of the media technology develops through their actual use and social function of the technology

3

Definitions

Media form e.g. SMS, email, blog

2nd order of user agency (Luders, 2008)

Constructed from media technologies Result of interrelations between technology and

function within everyday lives

4

Definitions

Genres e.g. personal blog, travel blog, food blog

3rd order of user agency (Luders, 2008)

More specific types of the same media form Socially implemented characteristics

5

AS SUCH…Same technologies can be used for both interpersonal and mass communication

6

Characteristics

Mass Media Accessible by many

Reproduced/broadcasted to many

Asymmetrical involvement Less element of social

interaction Institutional/professional

content Function system

Personal Media Accessible by few

Reproduced/broadcasted to few

Symmetrical involvement More element social

interaction De-institutional/De-

professional content Non-function system

7

(Luders, 2008)

Personal and mass media today is blurred

Features shared with mass media: Accessibility Reproduction of content Role of users and producers

8

Interaction

Face to face, mediated and quasi-mediated interaction

Blurring between mass communication and interpersonal communication Convergence

Mediated and quasi-mediated as a continuum

9(Luders, 2008)

Network structures

Networks facilitated by personal media differs from mass media (Luder, 2008) But some aspect may have changed due to

digitalization Amount of time, emotional intensity, intimacy and

reciprocal services Strong ties = complex patterns of media use

Higher frequency and more media used Mass communication produces weak ties

But more complicated with the use of personal media within mass media

10(Luders, 2008)

Example

Latent ties May connect formerly unconnected others Turned into weak ties when interaction occurs

Strong ties Look for new and more media to communicate Communication processes migrate to personal

media arenas Shifting from latent to weak to strong tie

11(Luders, 2008)

Users as producers

Egalitarian Not mundane

Political agendas not the most important motivational factor

Pro-sumers Meeting of consumption and production technologies

12(Luders, 2008)

“‘Anyone’ becomes qualified to be a media producer and is likely to have an audience to their productions”

Encouraged by key actors in the mass media industry But institutional setting of the mass media

influences how user-created content is filtered and screened for publishing

13

Users as producers

(Luders, 2008)

The model

2 dimensional model Interactional axis Institutional/professional axis

Personal media Mediated interaction De-institutional/de-professionalized

14(Luders, 2008)

Institutionalized/Professionalized

De-institutional/De-professional content

Symmetrical Asymmetrical

15 (Luders, 2008)

Exercise 1

Personal webpage PAP Facebook

fanpage Twitter YoutubeMediacorp

TV The Straits Time

Email Blog SMS Phone call FHM

16

What is Digital Culture?

What is it? Emerging set of values, expectation, practices in

reaction to “computer-mediated forms of production, distribution and communication”

How it come about? User-elasticity of computer and Internet technology

as basis for mass and personal communication Component

Remediation, Participation, Bricolage

17 (Deuze, 2006)

Participation

Web 2.0 is an open structure Average people given the tools to archive,

annotate, appropriate and re-circulate content Participation has political dimension

18 (Deuze, 2006)

Remediation

Remix of older and newer media Newer medium diverges from older media, yet also

reproduces older medium Barrier of entry to personalizing and

individualization lowered Incorporating subjectivity and personal opinion

valued

19 (Deuze, 2006)

Bricolage

Bricoleur mixing, hybridizing materials from different sources

Highly personalized, continuous, autonomous assembly, disassembly, reassembly of mediated reality

Eg mash-up, CC Foster feeling of community, yet isolation

20 (Deuze, 2006)

How Digital Culture informs shift in media usage?

These principal components inform the way we use media

Digital Culture “accelerates” the blurring of the line between personal media and mass media

21 (Deuze, 2006)

Participation

Personification of Corporations Personal pages on

SNSs Respond and interact

with personal network

Corporatization of Self Advertisement with

profiles and photos Personal

communication resembling mass communication

Image: Facebook.com

22

Remediation & Bricolage

Remediation Blogs and Micro-blogs

(Twitter)

Bricolage Journalism: Hybridity

and Hypertextuality by both Prosumers and News Centres

Redefinition of ‘News’

23

Implications

Changing modes of literacy Encode and decode multimodal media messages of

various genres Multimodal: use of several semiotic and the way in

which they are combined Social discourses multiplied

Mass media institutions no longer exclusive storytellers with worldwide audiences

24(Luders, 2008)

Literacy and multiple discourses

Multimodal-literacy Complex mix of audiovisual-textual media

technologies Producing and deciphering meanings

Multimodal skills in interpretation and production required Knowledge of intricate and multimodal resources

required Digital divide

25(Luders, 2008)

Identity and social relations

Notion of Identity becomes reflexive and dynamic Personal media used to express the senses of the

self leads to increased sense of control Although mediated subject perceived as open and

honest and close to a ‘true self’ More symmetrical social relationships

26(Luders, 2008)

Identity and social relations

Resulting in relationships bring constantly chosen, established, negotiated, maintained and renewed

Personal media employed to establish and maintain social relation actively

27(Luders, 2008)

Individuals and smaller groups have the potential to describe and publish their interpretations of the world Result in change in power relations Mass media institutions no longer the only ones to

produce messages for dissemination

28

Identity and social relations

(Luders, 2008)

Journalism

The collecting, writing, editing, and presenting of news or news articles in newspapers and magazines and in radio and television broadcasts. (American Heritage Dictionary, 2009)

The professional selection of actual news facts to an audience by means of technological distribution methods

(Bardoel, 1997)

29

Journalism: Traditional vs Modern

Shift in editorial priorities From hard news and investigation to “scandal-

mongering…sensationalism and sentiment…masquerading in perverse guise as human interest” (Franklin, 1997)

Shift from traditional news towards cover of leisure, style and consumer affairs and stories about entertainers (Connell, 1991)

Technological change is blurring the distinction between journalists and non-journalists (Stephenson & Mory, 1990)

Progress is influenced by the ability to output news multiple mediums (Ursell, 2001)

30

Journalism: Traditional vs Modern

Blurred nation-state boundaries Multi-faceted and fragmented public Journalists are no more gatekeepers of information Change in power relations

(Bardoel, Jo, Deuze & Mark, 2001)

31

Network journalism

Across any/every medium, type or format Journalist serves as a node in a complex network People will be more active information-seekers on

subjects they are familiar with, while seeking assistance in unfamiliar areas

More horizontal communication instead of ‘traditional vertical paternalistic communication’

(Bardoel, Jo, Deuze & Mark, 2001)

32

Online journalism

4 key characteristics Interactivity Customisation of content Hypertextuality Multimediality

(Bardoel, Jo, Deuze & Mark, 2001)

33

Independent Media Centres (IMCs)

Indymedia To give activists a space where they could express their

concerns, show their interests and discuss local and global issues

2002 -> Over 80 Indymedia sites (Platon & Deuze, 2003)

Currently -> 178 Indymedia sites (www.indymedia.org/en)

Open Publishing

Asia: 12Africa: 6Oceania: 12Europe: 61USA: 56Canada: 12Latin America: 19

34

Open Publishing

News creation process is transparent Group consensus manages content Individuals provide, evaluate and comment on news Reader has influence over content production and

customisation Interaction with content producers

(Platon & Deuze, 2003)

35

Analysis and Critique

Personal media is tended towards symmetrical communication

This may not be true Could be asymmetrical quasi-interactional relations between producer and

audience Social Shaping Theory: Highlights the spiraling

relationship between consumers and technology and how they exist in a reciprocal relationship. This encourages the development of technology to be more human centered 36

Critique: Technological Determinism

Technological determinism: Technology determinism states that technology is the prime mover in societal development. It implies that societal change is inevitably predetermined by technological innovation

Examples:Facebook – does not allow one to show one ‘dislikes’ a commentSMS – use only 160 characters to send a text message

37

Critique: Social Determinism

Social Determinism – Social interactions and constructs determine individual behaviour through the arsenal of cultural factors, social preferences, customs and expectations and interpersonal interactions. The theory focuses on the human agency and choice.

Examples: How many of you guys answered the question posted

by us on Facebook? Initial reason for Facebook and SMS

38

So what is Social Media

The use of media is shaped by: User’s intention Its usage Properties of the technology

39

So what is Social Media to You?

Now, what is social media according to you?By your definition, draw a model relating social

media, personal media and mass media.

40

Where is social media?

De-institutionalizedDe-professionalized

InstitutionalProfessional

The Digital Culture

The Digital Culture

The Prosumer Cycle

41

Definition

Social Media thus is just a characteristic of the media that allows one to participate as a producer and a consumer due to the affordances brought about by digital culture.

The model generates information and will continuously improve on itself as the cycle goes on

This discounts people who do not have access to technology and hence cannot participate in this prosumer cycle intensifying the Digital Divide

42

Bardoel, Jo, Deuze, Mark, (2001). Network Journalism: Converging Competences of Media Professionals and Professionalism. Australian Journalism Review 23 (2), 91-103

Deuze, M. (1999). Journalism and the Web: an analysis of skills and standards in an online environnent. Gazette 61 (5), 373-390.

Deuze, M. (2001a). Understanding the Impact of the Internet: On New Media Professionalism, Mindsets and Buzzwords [online]. EJournalist 1 (1). Available: http://www.ejournalism.au.com/ejournalist/deuze.pdf.

Deuze, M. (2006). Participation, Remediation, Bricolage: Considering Principal Components of a Digital Culture. The Information Society, 22. 63-75.

Franklin, B. (1997) Newszak and News Media. London: Arnold.

Luders, M. (2008). Conceptualizing personal media. SAGE Publications, 683 – 700.

Newhagen, J.E., Rafaeli, S. (1996). Why communication researchers should study theInternet: a dialogue. Political Communication 46 (1), 4-13.

Pavlik, J. (1997, August). The future of on-line journalism: bonanza or black hole? Columbia Journalism Review, 30-36.

Pavlik, J. (1999). New media and news: implications for the future of journalism. New Media & Society 1 (1), 54-59.

Stephenson, H. and P. Mory (1990) Journalism Training in Europe. Brussels: European Commission.

Singer, J. (1998). Online Journalists: Foundations for Research Into Their Changing Roles. The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 4 (1) [online]. Available: http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol4/issue1/singer.html [1999, Oct.20].

References

43