Do social networks make you more localized or globalized?
People always say technology makes the distance around the world shorter. What about social networks?
Earlier this year, the revolution in Egypt was accelerated by a Facebook post called “We Are All Khaled Said.” And after the devastating earthquakes in Japan, social networks have become a major communication channel (since most of the phone lines were destroyed). The social web has become a way for us living on the other side of the world to pay attention or even to extend help to places like Haiti or Somalia. The power of social networks has gone beyond the borders and across countries.
You may ask, “then why bother writing this post?”
Because not everyone’s using social the same.Ask yourself these questions:
- What kinds of hashtags do you follow on Twitter? What is the content of those hashtags?
- Who are the majority of your followers?
- Do you use social media to monitor any kind of international/ global events?
- Does social media make you focus more on local issues, or global ones?
- Have you learned anything through social that you wouldn’t have learned from traditional news sources?
- Have you ever shared anything that’s happening locally with a larger audience?
- Has social changed your perspective on international/global events or politics?
Resource:
- Egypt’s Revolution by Social Media (WSJ)http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703786804576137980252177072.html
- Social media’s True Impact on Haiti, China, and the world http://mashable.com/2010/01/17/social-media-political-impact/
- Social Networks Become Preferred Lines of Communication During Japan Earthquake http://www.webpronews.com/japan-earthquake-social-networkin-2011-03