Social Media and Truth

 Today, I referred to the social media platform of Facebook in order to locate an email address from one of my good friend's that I wanted to use for a job.  After visiting his profile, I decided to browse around the platform just to see what's new.  And I was shocked to find out that there is an option that informs you what friends are in proximity of your exact location.  The option will also tell you how far the friend is from you, and you from them.  And it doesn't stop there, the option also has a log that illustrates a map that shows where you've been even when you're not using Facebook.  Whoa!  It's not that bad of an option, if you're the type that likes to sit down and marvel at your personal travel, but that tool could be used for evil.  If you happen to have a significant other, who has the password to your phone, and enjoys interrogating you about your whereabouts, things could get interesting...  I believe this application is true because it tracks all of your personal movements, whether in the neighborhood or while you're traveling abroad.  The one advantage that I did like was that there must be two people interacting or with permission from one-another in order for the application to work.  But how could I test it?

In order to find out if the application was truly accurate, I asked my sister, who's also a Facebook user, to install the same application.  After we both had the application installed, I mapped out the exact route that we both were going to walk, from the front steps of our house, to the stop sign down the street, and back to the front steps.  While en-route to the stop sign, the application informed me of my sister's exact location.  While I was walking away from her, it displayed the estimated minutes I was away from her and also the distance from my location to hers.  Once I got back to the front steps, it was my sister's turn to walk that "technological mile."  The map displayed the exact same thing for her on her phone, which made the application immediately credible because I was able to witness its capabilities first-hand.  I just hope that this application derived from Facebook was intended to bring people closer together, and not as a tool for stalking and cause people to be further apart...

Although this particular tool from Facebook is merely used to display locations, Facebook, as well as other social media platforms, also have space where individuals can post information regarding current events on their individual page.  Now, this particular tool can be utilized to produce content with a much higher significance.  But in order for an individual's information to be credible, the information must be obtained by way of skeptical knowing (Kovach and Rosentiel, 2010).  Asking, and knowing how to answer a series of systematic questions, along with knowing how to resolve them, create a criteria.  If this particular criteria is followed, then the information obtained will be credible.  But we all know that won't always be the case...

Kovach, B. , & Rosentiel, T.  (2010).  Blur: How to know what's true in the age of information overload.  

          New York: Bloomsbury.  

Influence of the Media

After witnessing the social craze produced by Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and countless others, I am forced to admit that I only utilize one form of new media and that's Facebook.  I began using Facebook as a tool to stay connected to my high school friends, but as the years went by, I began to notice how Facebook itself, has evolved.  Facebook can now be utilized to share information; a tool utilized by businesses and organizations to view feedback directly from consumers to gain knowledge about products.  Facebook can also be used to promote a business; Facebook ads allow any individual or organization to target people in a specific age group, geographic location, and interests, making ads more useful and effective.  And even with the aforementioned advantages available with Facebook, I still have the inclination to stay away from it.  I've come to realize that I stay away from Facebook and other social media platforms because it seems as if it is the "norm" of our society.  But the more I try to distance myself from them, the more I find out how the platforms create a tremendous advantage for public relations.  Now, with this new advantage of social media platforms available, it appears that utilizing social media is of the utmost importance to attain success in the field of public relations.  The more I observe, the more it appears I have to disregard my inhibitions toward the use of social media and use more of its advantages myself...

Social media has not only changed business operations, it has also changed how individuals witness events.  Usually, when events take place, people hear from the individual or organization in charge of the marketing for the event, and the message and experience would be illustrated to be, of course, positive.  But social media has given the microphone and the camera to the people.  The days of strictly professional media platforms, professionals in media that are receiving checks, introducing and providing details of an event and its conclusion are over.  It is now the people who have the opportunity to provide their own individual perspective on local or international events.  This is yet another positive influence social media has on society because it allows the individuals involved in the experience of these particular events to post pictures of what is being shown and also allows for their personal feedback regarding their likes and dislikes in regards to events.  The feedback provided along with the pictures allows others involved with social media platforms to witness the sights and emotions associated with an event without actually being present themselves. Therefore, social media involvement could serve as the stepping stone to a new experience or as a platform for individuals to be informed of the happenings in our society.  

Ethical Guidelines

The ethical guidelines in media relate to problems, practices, and norms of today's digital news.  Digital news media includes online journalism, blogging, digital photojournalism, citizen journalism, and social media.  Being able to see these representations of media has allowed me to see how media practices have transformed.  It has changed from individuals who are actually in the field of journalism, who actually acquire the information regarding a topic and applying rules of behavior based on what is morally good or bad, to any individual in society giving their personal opinion on an issue with no regard on what is morally correct or not.  It seems like the public is more concerned with getting out their perspective in regards to a situation rather than prioritizing the facts.  

I still believe utilizing ethical guidelines is of the utmost importance because it will separate fact from belief.  It would convert the chaos caused by the interactive and immediate publishing's of articles by citizens into a calm, collected, intellectual representation of one's thoughts that had factual content as a reference.  Ethical guidelines would also allow for an objectionable point-of-view.  I've read multiple posts that only cover an individual's side of the story and not the organization's, or only one group of people's views and not the others.  If ethical guidelines were established for the public involvement of digital media, we could possibly obtain a much more intellectual cyber space.

Ward, S.J.A.  (2010).  Digital media ethics.  Center For Journalism Ethics.  Retrieved from

          http://ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/resources/digital-media-ethics/