4
Paul-Jordan Robinson
400205434
CMST 1A03
September 27, 2018
Media’s effects on current events
In todays society, information on current events are vastly available through social networks and news platforms. From a click of a button to a swipe right, humans in today’s era are more educated and exposed to whats going on in the news, popular culture and world events than ever before. The ongoing technology boom in the 21st century has allowed us to have instant access to information from all over the world. Social media outlets such as instagram, facebook and snapchat have turned sharing information into billion dollar companies. Advancements in the internet has allowed people to express their social, political and every day views in a simple way that can be viewed and shared world wide.
Social media has rapidly become a part of most humans daily lives. It makes interaction and communication between individuals and groups faster and more convenient than face to face interaction. When used properly and for the right reasons, social media has had a major impact on the world. The platforms are used to promote social, business or political awareness
and develop International relationships. An example of when social media was used as great tool in educating the world on current events while raising awareness was in the summer of 2014. The ALS ice bucket challenge took over social media and had everyone from celebrities to elementary school students participating. The concept involved social media users donating money to the ALS charity while making videos of themselves dumping buckets ice water on themselves and nominating friends and family to do the same. The challenge played a major role in spreading awareness of the disease and raised over $110 million towards the charity. To put into perspective how much of and impact social media has had, ‘after three months it had resulted in 1.2 million related Facebook videos and 2.2 million Twitter mentions’. With the ability of sharing videos on social media, it promoted awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease many might not have know existed and in need of funding.
The speed of social media is another key factor in educating people about world events. Within seconds, media platforms are updated to spread news and information on current events. This feature gives the users or viewers instant news and alerts that can be very beneficial to citizens in emergency situations. Media has changed the way we learn about and react to natural disasters. In 2011 Haiti experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the island affecting over 3 million people. The news of the disaster was broadcasted instantly and emergency nonprofits organizations used social media to their advantage and called on rescue efforts to help aid the citizens. The Red Cross Associations from around the world took to twitter to seek out donations and within half an hour became the top trending topic, reaching over 60,00 donors only a few hours later. It was their media campaign that issued the most successful text-to-donate campaigns in history. By the end of the week the use of text message donations and social media helped to raise more than $8 million in relief and $32 million within the month. Technology and media does not only inform us about concurring events but it gives us an opportunity to become involved in these world events. As well as influence peers to take a stand in our increasingly social society.
The evolution of the Internet has changed the way we access our daily media and has revolutionized how we communicate in our society. The original intent of the internet was to send short messages between two terminals that only expert coders would be able to use and understand. Today, however, any individual has the power and capability to upload and share information. With the rise of mobile communication, more than half of the population of North America has a smart phone with instant access to the internet. We have developed into a society where we use this resource in almost everything we do. In a simpler time without internet, when an individual wanted to be up to date with the news, they would have to walk down to the local store and buy a copy of the paper reporting on the events from the previous day. Fast forward a few decades and we are now more educated on world events and what is going on in our community than ever before. With just a tap or a swipe on our 6inch device we have access to any news source from anywhere in the world.
Times have changed and social media it has become such an integral part of how we communicate in our day to day lives. People post about everything from what they had for lunch to sap-chatting clips from concerts in real time. The advancements in technology and the birth of social media has allowed us as nation to become more educated on current world events. Raising awareness for diseases and providing natural disaster relief are just some examples of how social media has played a key role in providing people direct information on what is happening around the world.
Bibliography:
Bouchacra, Manal. "Social Media's Undeniable Influence On World Events: What This Means For Business." Sendible: Social Media Management Software. N.p., 13 May 2015. Web. 27 Sept. 2018.
Hendricks, Drew. "3 Ways the Internet Has Changed the World “ And Created New Opportunities?" Small Business Trends. N.p., 07 July 2017. Web. 25 Sept. 2018.
Livingston, Geoff. "5 Social Media Lessons From the Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort." Mashable. Mashable, 20 Jan. 2010. Web. 25 Sept. 2018.
"How the Internet Has Changed Everyday Life." OpenMind. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2018.
Roesler, Peter. "6 Ways Social Media Changed the World." Inc.com. Inc., 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2018.
