Saturday, 19 April 2014

Casestudy

Topic

The impact of new and digital media on social networking sites such as Facebook

The reason I picked this topic is because there has been a major developments made, and changes on the website over the years. Most people around the world also has access to Facebook through different sources of technology. Some countries don’t have access to social networking sites or have strict policies over the internet, or even control policies. It allows people to express their views and opinions, as it says “what’s on your mind” which allows audiences to express what they are feeling, and allows them to feel more engaged and welcomed. Furthermore, it allows people to feel open minded and free, as they are able to post whatever and allow other people to remain updated. Citizen journalists post updates onto Facebook, in order to spread the word of what they’ve seen, and Facebook is a source they spread news through.
Articles

Primary sources
Facebook – as it is part of the internet, it’s an empowering tool. The audience is able to express themselves freely and communicate with people across the globe, through chat, inbox and even on each-others walls. They’re able to post as many pictures and videos as they like, there isn’t a daily limit or any restrictions as to what can be posted up. Facebook has privacy settings which means people can hide their profile from people, given them a security point. People are able to consume information from Facebook and also post information whether it be about themselves, something they heard over the news or saw.

Twitter – this is one of Facebook rivals, and it is said that we’re shifting from a 24 hour cycle to a 140 character one, as most people are using Twitter. However, it limits people from expressing themselves as they aren’t able to post full sentences. People are able to post tweets to news institutions forming citizen journalism, allowing news to be told by audiences. Audiences are taking over the jobs of people who are journalists, therefore institutions are being affected, as journalists wouldn’t have any value for the qualifications they have obtained, as anyone can become journalists. Live updates are given through Twitter by people. 


Smart phones - People are now able to access Facebook through their smart phones, this is through apps or even visiting the web page through the internet on the mobile phone. So, when they are on the go they can keep everyone updated about what they are doing. Whereas, years ago this feature wasn't available and people could just use Facebook on a desktop or Laptop. Now we're able to access social networking sites on all types of technological items - iPad, Mobile phones and tablets. 

Arab Spring – The Facebook revolution first occurred in Tunisia where citizen used Facebook to generate awareness of the corruption in society. Facebook allowed citizens to challenge the dominant ideologies, as they were able to post up comments and inform an activist group about the events occurring.

London Riots – Facebook was a key source for the London Riots, as gangs used this as a way of communicating with one another, it helped them form bigger groups in which looted shops. It was a fast and effective way to talk and get quick responses back from, as well as gangs using Blackberry Messenger as another way to communicate, by sending out broadcast messages about the event. Also, Facebook was the source in which everyone was informed about the London riots, and several pictures/videos of the event were being posted up by citizens, showing the damage which was created.

Theories
Hegemony - Leadership or predominant influenced by one nation over others.
Hegemony is formed by people on Facebook, as it was used during the Arab Spring, as a way of communicating with the activist and get information passed on. It was also used during the London Riots, to form bigger groups and inform people what they are doing and giving them places to meet to loot shops. 

Uses and Gratifications - Blumer and Katz 
Surveillance e.g. news - people are able to find what's happening around the world instantly 
Social Identification e.g. sharing similar experiences as somebody else, and thus identify with them.
Escapism for instance, not doing there daily routines escape from problems, e.g. through internet, social media
Entertainment e.g. sharing there pictures, videos, images and updating it, the banter journalists have
Cultural transmission (cultural ideologies and values - Cultural Imperialism)
Pluralism
Marxism 

1. Has new and digital media had an impact upon ownership and control of the media institution(s) involved in your case study area?  Explain in detail any impact and what exactly has changed.
New and digital media has had an impact upon ownership and control of the media institutions, as the audiences are up to date with the new technological items, therefore them being able to use social networking sites such as Facebook upon this. The fast development of technology has allowed users to have different ways to connect. Technological items such as iPads, Smart phones and tablets allow audiences to download the Facebook app, and stay up to date and connected at all times. Social networking sites allow audiences to be aware of what is happening, and allow them to become more connected with what’s happening, and get new updates. People are able to freely express themselves without any restrictions or limitations. Facebook has changed over the ways, in terms of layout and the way people connect with each other, there has been many developments which enhances how audiences get their news, as now every live update or new thing another user does, it is updated on the news feed.
As you can see, Facebook population is the 3rd highest, and in terms of market capitalisation it is the 5th highest, but in terms of employees it has 3.2billion, this is from 2011, which still is a lot of people, suggesting that a lot of people are signed up onto Facebook and are regular active users.

2. What impact has there been on the way in which the audience now consume the media products/ texts involved in your case study?  How does it differ from what went before?  Consider (SHEP)
There has been an impact on the way audiences consume Facebook, and that is a positive impact, as now because of the amount of  technological items available, audiences are able to access Facebook through different sources, when they are on the go. Which links to Sherry Turkle “alone together” as well as Al Glore “Empowering tool” due to Facecbook being available through apps and on the webpage. Audiences use there smart phones and iPad’s to communicate with one another and pass around information about the news, or give their own opinions. Audiences are becoming the producers and consumers of news, and giving their own viewpoints and sharing it on social networking sites such as Facebook – people who do this are known as citizen journalists.

Furthermore, this differs from what went before, as audience didn’t have access to Facebook through apps on mobile phones or iPad’s, they were just limited to have it on laptops and desktops. Also, audiences didn’t use social networking sites such as Facebook to get news from or post news onto. Technology wasn’t developed, and as desktops and laptops were the only way they could get quick fast access onto Facebook, they were only ever able to access it in the evenings or their free time. This influences how audiences involve themselves with society, as of the new ways they can communicate with each other and share things easily. Also, there mobile site have been redesigned, allowing people to access Facebook from any mobile browser in more than 70 languages. 

Mark Zuckerberg:
“Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission – to make the world more open and connected."
"There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected, to give everyone a voice and to help transform society for the future"
Al Gore:
"An empowering tool"
Aleks Kroteski:
"The web is more than a reflection of society; it is inventing society"
"The web mirrors the hierarchy of the real world"
"The web is like a tool box or protest"

3. What impact has there been on how the media institution now has to produce the texts and the way in which the texts/ products are distributed and exhibited?  This should involve a detailed textual analysis of at least 3 texts to demonstrate the point.
There has been a major development of new media, and it has a huge impact on the way traditional media, such as magazines produce and distribute texts, this is with new media forcing institutions to conform to its evolution, this is done to keep audiences interests. Manipulating the actual content of magazines, institutions have responded to new media in terms of how they promote and exhibit their products, converging the traditional print platform to e-media. Magazines have grown majorly as they have websites, social networking accounts and smart phone apps.
Facebook has said that 700,000 more people will join it, as well as its total users in the U.S being 127,000,000. 65 million users also have access to Facebook through their smart phones. As well as Facebook adding over 200 million users in the less than a year. Furthermore, if Facebook were a country it would be the worlds 3rd largest country, and 50% of the mobile internet traffic in the UK is for Facebook.
300,000 people join Twitter sending more than 44,481 tweet per minute and 64 million tweets per day. “Twitter, which has experienced tremendous growth in both mobile and PC-based visitation, attracted 4.7 million mobile users in January, up 347 percent versus year ago”. With free signing up, all of the sites have to compete with this and try not to charge customers for using their websites.
Ipod applications downloads hit 1 billion in 9 months.

YouTube is the second largest search engine on the web and 50% of YouTube 300 million users use it at least once a week. As well as Youtube being the 4th most visited site in the world.
The Biggest Shift 55 Interesting Social Media Infographics

4. Is the size of the audience any different now than before the impact of new and digital media (or has the pattern of usage changed)? E.G. consider for the impact of new and digital media on TV broadcasting the change in audience ratings for programmes as a consequence of the deregulation of TV.  (Prior to deregulation audience figures could be 20m+ for Eastenders etc to a situation today where, due to the massive number of channels now available, audiences are vastly reduced and fragmented).
The size of the audience is different now than before, and this is due to the impact of new and digital media. There is a lot of services which allow users to communicate through, such as Twitter, MySpace, InstaMessage, Whatsapp and Bebo there has been a big shift in the amount of users signing up onto Facebook. The new development of technology has created a big demand for products such as smart phones and iPads, through these users are able to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and communicate effectively on the go. Users are using social networking sites such as Facebook more frequently as they have access to it.
How Many People Use Facebook 2013 (Update- 3 October 2013) Infographic
This shows how many users there were on Facebook in 2013, it is an estimation of how many friends an average Facebook user has. As well as, how often and how active the users are on Facebook. Users are able to add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college.
This graph shows from 7th January 2006, till 1st January 2009, how Facebook has grown, and how many users are active users of Facebook, it has grown rapidly over the years, making Facebook more known, and having more people on Facebook and using it daily, this is all because of the new technological items, that are now available for people to use. This allows people to be able to use Facebook on the go, instead of using it once a day, they can use it more than once a day on their smart phones or iPad’s. As they are both smaller and easier to carry around, rather than a Laptop. Also, internet connection won’t be required if within the peoples data plan they receive unlimited internet, or even a bundle with internet. Whereas, on a laptop they would require an internet connection.

 This graph shows how Facebook is doing over a 3 year period time among other social networking sites. You can see, in 2012 Facebooks net mobile internet ad revenue share worldwide was 5.4% and it grew to 21.7% in 2014, whereas Twitter, was at 1.5% in 2012, and is steadily growing to 2.6% now in 2014. 
5. Who are the primary target audience now and has this changed?  Who was it before and how do you know? 

 AGE: A study done by Pingdom in 2012 showed that 65 percent of users on Facebook are 35 or older. The average age is just over 40 with the largest group aged 45 to 54. A comparison with Pingdom's previous study, done in 2010, showed that the average age of the Facebook user increased by two years. Only 14 percent of Facebook users are under the age of 24.
GENDER: 60 percent of Facebook users are female and 40 percent are male. Also, 57 percent of users have completed some sort of college education; 24 percent have completed either a bachelors or graduate degree. A Pew research survey found that 63 percent of male Internet users were actively on Facebook; 70 percent of female Internet users actively use Facebook.
http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/target-market-facebook-16289.html
Since 2006, anyone over the age of 13 with a valid e-mail address could’ve become a Facebook user. Facebook’s primary target audience is more for an adult demographic than a youth demographic. Youths were at a point active users of Facebook, within the age of 18-24, as there were able to contact each other quickly and communicate, steadily 25-34 year olds are becoming active users, as well as 35-44 year olds, as it allows them to talk to family abroad and keep in contact.
Facebook’s primary audience is 18-24 year olds, as there is 248 million people within this age group who are signed up onto Facebook in 2011, however it is also 25-34 year olds, as they are 210 million users of this age group.


6. How have the audience responded to the changes?  Is there more customer choice?  Is there evidence of a more pluralistic model?  What evidence do you have to support this?
Audiences are becoming more active, and always wish to stay updated with what is happening, hence them having the Facebook app, on their smart phones or iPad/Tablets. Facebook is one of the most viewed website by audiences, despite there being other social networking sites such as Twitter. There is a pluralist model as audiences are able to create their own fan page/group and interact with other users, and get other users to become more active and keep them up to date with what that group/fan page has to offer. Audiences make fan pages for their favourite celebrities and like to inform other people about what’s new with their lives, making them citizen journalist and posting up latest gossip and trends.
At the start of 2011 Facebook had 585million users and then by the end of 2011 it had over 800+ million users, the rapid growth within a year of 37% shows how fast people got to know about the website. The primary audience of Facebook of 18-24 year olds, are able to communicate and notify others what they are up to, which hits upon the creator Mark Zuckerberg’s target, of wanting to make a social networking site for people to communicate through effectively and fast. 
7. What concerns/ considerations are there (if any) for the media institutions involved in your case study as a result of the impact of new and digital media? (e.g. deskilling or multi-skilling of the workforce/ decline in workforce etc)The concerns for Facebook within the media institution is that there are disadvantages for people who have fully qualified and worked for their jobs – journalists. They are affected majorly, as citizen journalists post up on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and then audiences don’t watch the news from T.V making sky news lose an audience, as well as online newspapers such as the guardian. This leads to a decline within the workforce, therefore the owner of NewCorp Rupert Murdoch won’t be making a sufficient amount of money, as audiences wouldn’t wish to pay for news channels such as Sky, therefore the business not making money, which could lead to them not running in the long-term. Also, as audiences can get news which is edited or a biased view, from Facebook or Twitter, by citizen journalists, it makes it more reliable and believable, as journalist on sky edit the news or only post news which would make it big, and they don’t show anything good happening, and make that a big success worldwide, therefore being one-sided. Facebook has to increase its workforce in order to keep up with demands by audiences, and to keep them informed. Audiences are becoming involved with these services and products that are on offer, and making them socially aware what’s happening, and making it easier for them to get news. Citizen journalists are taking over, all recordings made are posted upon social networking sites such as Facebook, and as it is posted up fast, audiences are receiving news quickly, as if a person records a car crash incident, on their smart phone, they would be able to post it up quickly, as they would have Facebook app on their mobile phone.
http://www.cre8ivecommando.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/infographic-facebook-statistics.jpg
8. What are the political and social implications of the new technologies and the methods of their consumption?  E.g. moral panics etc?
Politically and socially the implications of new technology has become a high demand within society, as the sales of smart phones has been increasing rapidly and ipad’s/tablets, as well as them having access to social networking sites like Facebook. Politically making people get more freedom and away from stresses in life, which links to Katz and Blumer escapism, as they could go onto Facebook to get away from everyday stresses. Furthermore, socially people are able to interact with other people, and make new friends, before they meet them in person, whether it is friends or friends or someone they may not know. Furthermore, moral panic was caused as people were contacting each other to make gangs for the London Riots, as it was all of a sudden, and people were communicating and updating with where to meet up and what is happening. As well as, the Arab Spring, as live updates were given and Facebook was the source which allowed people to become more aware about it. Moreover, it could be a positive factor, as it has shaped higher education of audiences as predicted, as people refresh there homepage and news feed constantly to see if there have been any changes or updates being made, that may be relevant to them. 

9. Consider the effects so far, and possible effects in the future, on media institutions involved in your case study (media production). 
The effects which can possibly effect the future, would be the new technology, and as Rupert Murdoch said “the world is changing and newspapers have to adapt to this” it suggests newspapers have to create apps and move on as the world is changing, therefore not having paper copies of newspapers anymore. Also, newspapers have adapted as some news have made app’s such as Sky News, and mostly have an internet page such as the guardian, others have a paywall on them, and aren’t free. The decline in newspapers have made technology to increase and improve, institutions such as the guardian have more audience opposed to paywall newspaper sites such as telegraph, as the guardian allows people to receive news for free, and because of technology people are able to view it when they are on the go and most news is similar therefore people wouldn’t want to pay for it. As they could download apps as well, also some news on T.V has to be paid for, people have to pay monthly subscriptions, such as for SKY news’ whereas BBC news is free, and hence why more people watch BBC. Furthermore, people are able to get news through Facebook, as everyone updates there statuses with the latest news, and celebrities post up what they are up too and if they are releasing a single or film. Also, as Twitter has now updated and has become more like Facebook, and taken features of it, it could mean in the future people turn over to twitter, opposed to Facebook due to Twitter being released after Facebook, and as celebrities use it more.  
10. What issues may there be regarding media effects and /or regulation/ censorship as a result of changes due to new and digital media?
The issues regarding media effects, regulation and censorship as a result of changes due to new and digital media is that because of censorship Facebook has been censoring images more, but Facebook censors images which don’t require to be censored. Also, this could be a sense of safety as Facebook is watching users and what they are up to, and making sure they aren’t doing anything which shouldn’t be done. However, there is a lot of freedom on Facebook, as people can post what they like to and this could cause moral panic – Stanley Cohen, as people can view anything upon social networking sites, such as explicit or pornography images. People are able to create groups and fan pages on Facebook, and others are able to post comments and provide information and allow people to interact with each other through on fan pages/groups. During the London Riots, groups were formed to allow people to communicate with each other, this was a private group therefore it was only the people who the host included. This also allowed other people to get involved, and the people within the group to include other friends they may know, so friends of friends.
11. Are there any cross-cultural factors and /or effects of globalisation involved in the impact of new technology on your case study?  E.g. the internet has been said to be ‘globalising culture’ through its promotion of the English language.

Facebook has become a global social networking site, and one which people use to communicate with each other on a regular basis, and share information through. Facebook has become a global village (Sherry Tukler) – as audiences are coming together as one, as of the information which is being passed around. Also, in terms of social networking sites Facebook may have more users than Twitter, however they may not be active users. There are some cross-cultural factors, such as the functions they offer – Twitter offers retweeting which Facebook doesn’t offer, but it is a form of agreeing, and liking which Facebook offers of liking. 
12. Consider theoretical perspectives in relation to the impact of new/ digital media in your case study.  E.g. Representation of certain groups as a result of changes, Marxism & Hegemony, Liberal Pluralism, colonialism, audience theories etc.
Hegemony is the leadership or predominant influenced by one nation over others. If Facebook was a country it would be the worlds 3rd largest, and it is one of the leading social networking sites. Hegemony is formed by people on Facebook, as it was used during the Arab Spring, as a way of communicating with the activist and get information passed on. It was also used during the London Riots, to form bigger groups and inform people what they are doing and giving them places to meet to loot shops. Furthermore, the Hypodermic needle theory which was one of the earliest ways of thinking about how the mass media influences audiences. It was developed in the 1920s and 1930s after researchers observed the effect of propaganda during World War I and events like Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast. The Hypodermic Needle Theory is a linear communication theory which suggests that media messages are injected directly into the brains of a passive audience. It suggests that we’re all the same and we all respond to media messages in the same way. Therefore, all the information shown on Facebook by citizen journalists are viewed by audiences and they are taken in automatically, due to the amount audiences spend upon social networking sites. People believe that the mass media has a powerful effect. Parents worry about the influence of television and violent video games. News outlets run headlines like ‘Is Google making us stupid’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto led teen to kill’.
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