Why should you care about social media?

In 2006 the US newsmagazine The Time appointed You the person of the year. This was an abstract choice, which represented all the individual content creators on the web, i.e. you and me. It’s almost 2010 now, but The Time‘s choice is probably more accurate than ever before. Social media, web 2.0 and social interaction seems to be word combinations on everyone’s lips these days; we all want to be a part of this giant cocktail party in one way or other.

But what does it mean to be person of the year? Does this imply some sort of responsibility? I think it does. I think it is important that we make use of this new technology and, more importantly, learn how to use it wisely.

Let me take an example. I assume that most of the people reading this will be students at the Media and Communication program of Jönköping University, since this blog is part of a course at that program, so I am addressing this example to you. Why should you care about social media? I have three reasons.

1. To keep up to date. You can watch over the development in the fields that are of interest to you and keep a check on the branch you wish to work in when you have finished your education. As a student of media and communication, you are probably interested in things such as journalism and pr, and you could use for example blogs and micro blogging services to find relevant content about these subjects. Let the news find you, not the other way round.

2. To network. Use for example micro blogging services to make connections. This will benefit you in both your private life and in your future professional role. Via these networking tools you have the opportunity to come in direct contact with a great number of interesting people who you probably not would have had the opportunity to get to talk to if it hadn’t been for these communication services. Listen to and learn from these people.

3. To spread your message. Social media is an effective way to spread your message. You can easily distribute content to the people who have chosen to read what you write (or say, if you are more into podcasting). If you have something to say, you should say it. It has never been easier to distribute your thoughts to potentially a world audience.

Do you want to be the person of the year? Come and join the cocktail party.

File sharing and copyright

New technology, mainly the Internet, has made it possible to spread culture and information without using middlemen. If you are a writer or musician for example, you can easily distribute your own work on various web sites for free or for a small amount of money. This is a revolution which I find enormously exciting. Now everyone can be their own publisher! This means that also culture which is non-commercial and marginalized can get distributed, which is probably more important than ever, since we live in a time when more and more of the power and ownership is concentrated  in media conglomerates. Our culture would probably be a lot less diverse than it is today, if the new technology hadn’t democratized the publishing tools.

In my opinion all non-commercial file sharing should be legal, which includes downloading, right of use and sharing material. So if I, in the capacity of a private person, wants to download for example a tv series, I should be allowed to do so, watch it and share it with whoever I wish. As long as these activities are non-commercial, i.e. I don’t make any money from them, they should be legal. Downloading and sharing is a way of showing appreciation for someone’s work. People who take part in these activities most often do it because they are supporters of the work, not because they dislike it. Why should they be punished?

I also think it is extremely important that the originators of the films, texts, music etc. being downloaded should get paid for their work. Of course they should. The interesting question is how they should get paid. I don’t have the solution to this issue, but I think that at least part of the answer lies in digital libraries, such as for example Spotify. Spotify makes it possible to listen to large amounts of music for free (financed by advertising) if you have an invite or for a small amount of money (99 Swedish crowns a month and no advertising). In the near future I think that we will see many more services like this.

So, even though we don’t have all answers yet to this complicated issue, the solution does not lie in prohibition. File sharing will not cease to exist just because it’s illegal. Instead it should be made legal and we should try to find cheap (not necessarily free) alternatives instead, which makes sure that the originators get paid.

Triumph of the Nerds

Yesterday I watched Triumph of the Nerds (1996), an edutaining documentary by the technology journalist Robert X. Cringely, which tells the story of how personal computers took over the world. This is some of my reflections after having watched the film:

The film was originally made for British television, and is divided into three parts. The first two episodes describes the period from 1975 when Ed Roberts invented the first personal computer, the Altair 8800, to 1984 when Apple launched the first user-friendly PC, the Macintosh. But, how fascinating and interesting this crash course in computer history may be, it is not until episode three I get truly excited, because here we enter the era of digital convergence and the Internet. Although the documentary is almost 15 years old, it still makes some intriguing points. Hearing Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, talk about how much he loves the Internet is nothing but inspiring. It also reminds us of the fact that we are living in an extremely exciting period right now; a period where we have a constant flow of information, where old and new media are coexisting side by side and we are starting to learn the meaning of social media (see video below). All these things have changed the way we live, work and communicate, and it makes me happy to be a part of this period of time.

(You should probably watch this video with a grain of salt at hand, but admit that social media is exciting?)

Howdy!

Welcome, dear friends.

My name is Carolina Josefsson and this is my new blog about communication and technology. If you want to know more, have a look at the about page.