Social Media Revolution
In a short summary, the clip “Social Media Revolution 3” shows how much social media has changed not only a person’s personal outlook but it has also changed how the world works today. Many businesses use social media to locate their next employees and target their audiences and schools no longer offer just the traditional learning course wherein students have to be in a classroom. The clip also utilized statistics that would compare social media to a real life fact such as the volume of people who prefer purchasing virtual goods to real goods and those who would prefer to buy something they saw online. It also shows viewers a little preview on how different each generation today. Interesting facts were also used in the short clip like some parents name their children after Facebook or the famous sample name “John Doe” in some webpages and how Dracula is depicted now in the modern age. The clip also shows a glimpse on how some countries such as China find the influence of social media to affect the country’s performance thus their decision to ban Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube.
When I watched the clip, I was stunned by the statistics used in comparing particular statistics such as the followers of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Britney to the population of Sweden, Greece and Australia and how it was presented in estimating the number of people who use it for a particular process such as how many businesses use LinkedIn in hiring for new employees. At first I thought the numbers are just made up but considering my current lifestyle and how many times social media has been applied to almost everything I see, it’s quite easy to believe the numbers. I could even agree to the statistics that noted that those who have been exposed in online learning course perform better than those who go to schools. For Barlow and Thomas (2011) they see that social media is the improved version of knowledge management as it enables consumers to use social networking platforms to reach their intended audience and to continuously update a particular product or commodity by basing it from opinions from the targeted audience who have used or acquired the service or product .
Applying this concept to online higher education courses, students can easily contact their professor at real time through the use of social networking sites and immediately get a response. This would also enable students to feel less frightened in approaching their professors and immediately go back to work once the comment is sent. Professors may also be able to use social media to see the comments of students regarding classes and create interesting changes for students to easily grasp important topics and theories. Students also have the power to control how much time they would spend on each class to fit in their day-to-day activity. The downside of social media on education, however, would be the open use of the internet that may cause students to be distracted from their studies and forget they are studying while at home. Also, as compared to traditional learning on where students can easily grasp concepts through real time interaction with their professors, students who undertake online learning may only be able to review a pre-recorded class and may not get their questions properly discussed by the professor. Social media may also form a misunderstanding especially in online posting and cause chaos between the student and the professor.
In the end, it would depend on the person on how much social media would define his or her life. Would he allow it to control everything he does or would he also utilize traditional methods in understand important concepts and day-to-day activities. For me, it is better to use social media in moderation as too much of it may cause complications that cannot easily be resolved by just simple diplomacy of talking. Traditional learning and living may be boring at some point but it does wonders for one’s health.
References
Barlow, M., & Thomas, D. (2011). The Executive's Guide to Enterprise Social Media Strategy: How Social Networks Are Radically Transforming Your Business. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons.
