3. There are always concerns about new technology. In your view, what are the possible benefits and problems attached to social networking, particularly on the Internet? ( 12 marks)
In regards to social networking on the Internet, there are many benefits and problems which make social networking a balanced platform in the media. Moreover it can be convincingly argued that social networking poses benefits to the audience, as they can make friends, join pages and groups and can interact with the content, such as question polls and can be liberal in what they post, comment and do on their social networking profiles. Yet, social networking does also have its problems, in that paedophiles and rapists can stalk young girls and prey on children. As well as this, other concerns may be that accounts such as Facebook accounts can be hacked and fraud could occur. Many sceptics of social network also argue that it dumbs down the audience and is a place where users mindlessly stare at a screen for long periods of time and are narcissistic, as they take pictures of themselves and take pride in themself.
Firstly, one such problem of social networking would that it is a platform for paedophiles and rapists to prey on their victims, as users openly share their contact information therefore allowing paedophiles and rapists to target young girls who are vulnerable . As seen with cases where grown men have stalk young girls into having sex on sites such as Facebook.
Another problem surrounding social networking would be that it allows fraudsters and hackers to infiltrate users' information, as public Facebook accounts which have less security allow anyone to have access to the users' contact details, such as name, email address, location and date of birth. In effect, this breach of security may result in a moral panic, as the audience would be unable to trust sites, where the security is not not safe.
Most importantly, it can also be argued that social networking is a social problem, as parents may have oppositional readings to these sites, as children may be hooked to these sites and may spend a lengthy amount of time on Facebook for example. By spending a long time on Facebook, the audience may feel that social networking is dumbing down audiences such as teenagers, as they are more concerned with what their friends are commenting and actually spend less time reading books or studying.
In other ways, social networking is a problem for young children, as they may be susceptible to cyber bullying and could be taunted and bullied online. The bullies may insult their victims through hateful messages and embarrassing secrets and could therefore be a concern for children and parents,who may feel that social networking sites are unsafe.
In contrast, social networking has its advantages, as the audience can interact with other users and create their own account where they can comment on what they are thinking and can send pictures, videos and URL links to friends. As well as this, social networking is also effective, as the audience are able to interact with celebrities, as evident with Twitter. Therefore, the barrier between celebrities and the audience is lifted, thus making the relationship more accessible. Social networking may be beneficial to the audience, as they can gain an insight into themselves by joining groups and pages which may teach them something. The audience can also gain greater self esteem , as they can join groups and comment on what they think, feel etc.
Alongside this, the audience can also benefit from social networking, as they can form relationships by joining dating groups and can attend events where they can meet new people. The audience can also follow celebrities on Twitter and converse with them , thus making the celebrity/audience relationship more close. As well as this, the audience may use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter for surveillance , as well as communication, as they can chat to friends via Facebook chat and can also post up comments and chat to people across the world. The audience can also benefit by liking and joining fan pages of news companies such as The BBC and Sky Sports on Fcaebook and can follow these pages and be inundated with the latest news and sport headlines. Moreover, the audience can also use social networking for diversion, as they can play games on Facebook, for example Mindjolt Games and can play endorsed games such as Mafia Wars which has proven to be a global gaming hit.
By having a Facebook, Twitter or Myspace account, audiences can talk to and interact with users around the world and share similar interests with people around the world. By having photos, videos, and comments, the audience can also see what other users have on their profiles and can emulate them and join different groups and like different pages.
Notably, social networking sites has many benefits which may be useful to business and companies , as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace allows companies to sell and advertise their products. Evidently, Orange may advertise their mobile phone contract packages on the Facebook homepage, in order to attract a teenage demographic. As well as this, other companies may use keywords which have been entered by the audience in their profiles to target specific products at the audience, such as football boots. The advertising on Facebook may often lead to competing interests from different companies who may try to compete to sell their product and gain ad space on sites and become recognised.
No comments:
Post a Comment