>Greet Class/Ease into topic of social media (7 min total)
Explain to students that they will be learning about social media. Inform them that throughout the presentation they will be asked to participate in survey/quiz questions; hand out a clicker to each student and explain that they will be using the clicker to participate in survey questions throughout the lesson (if the classroom is not equipped to handle clickers, raising hands can also work, thought it is not as fun for the students). Begin right away with this one:
1. Which of these is NOT considered social media?
x Facebook
x Twitter
x Blogs
x Cable news
Define social media:“Social media is an alternative to mainstream media powered by public through social participation and interaction to produce content in various traditional & evolving forms and/or formats.” (Maharshi)
Leads into this video (4:30 min) based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman. It gives a general overview of SM and its popularity and prevalence in our lives. It has quite a bit of shock value (what with the surprising numbers) and should get students interested in the topic right off the bat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng&feature=player_embedded
>History of SM (6 minutes total)
Briefly go over the history of social media sites and how they have come to be as they are today:
Late 1950s/early 1960s: Worry over nuclear war with the Soviet Union led to the invention of the Internet, which was initially used for military purposes. Over time it has led to greater communication.
1972: First E-mail sent
1970s-80s: Development of UseNet (allowed users to post articles to newsgroups), CompuServe (for businesses), and Instant Relay Chat
1990s: First online dating sites were introduced. We know what people want!
1997: First ACTUAL “Social Media Site” - Six degrees; allowed people to make personal/dating/business “connections” with others
1999: After slew of others, Friendster takes social media another step; it allowed users to become friends with friends of friends and expand network
2003: LinkedIn introduced for making business connections
and MySpace for social connections. MySpace is first to really allow users to completely personalize profiles with backgrounds, music, layout, and users begin to share more and more information.
2003: Photobucket and Flickr for photo-sharing
2003/4: Del.icio.us, Digg, & Redditt allow users to bookmark, tag, & share info found on the web
2004: Facebook! Allows users to create private, personal profiles. Used mainly to connect with friends. Facebook combines public posting (on users’ “walls”), private messages, and instant chat. Also allows users to upload photos, videos, share links, etc. The site is constantly changing…
2005: Youtube launched. Allowed people to upload and watch videos.
2006: Twitter allows real time updates & keeps users concise with limits of 140 characters
Facebook & Twitter are the most popular social media sites today.
(Chapman).
>Discuss the prevalence of certain social media sites (8 minutes total)
Continue Survey (2 min)
2. Do you have a Facebook Profile?
2a. How often are you on it?
3. Do you have a Twitter account?
4. Do you use any others? MySpace/LinkedIn/Friendster?
>Categories/Popularity (3 min)
As seen in the history of social media, there are numerous sites that allow users to be social in different ways:
>Photo and Video: (e.g. Flickr & YouTube) Sites allow users to upload personal photos and videos to share with others; they can also browse everyone else’s photos and videos and create albums of favorites.
>Professional: (e.g. LinkedIn) As the video showed, 80% of businesses use social networking sites (predominantly LinkedIn) to seek out new employees.
>Blogs: (e.g. anything on Blogger) Can act as diaries; may have specific themes….
Show examples & navigate through sites with class (5 min):
http://www.collegefashion.net/ -- Fashion Blog
Explain that the founder “Zephyr” started the blog while in college, and the site has since grown to feature bloggers from colleges around the country. Blogging allows people from many different locations to collaborate on one project, possibly/probably without ever having met each other.
http://www.neatorama.com/ -- All things awesome!
Peruse one or two interesting stories that the students choose, and then look at a few comments and explain that other users, as well as the authors themselves, can read and respond to comments in a matter of minutes. This instant communication was not possible prior to social media sites.
>Personal: (e.g. Facebook) Allows users to connect with particular “friends” and share personal information.
>Who is using SN? (2 min total)
Facebook: 500 million plus users worldwide
Initially created exclusively for college students, and the ability users had to control whom was allowed to view their profiles. Eventually it opened up globally, but the initial principle of controlling and maintaining privacy remains part of the reason it has become so popular.
18-25 year olds still make up the largest age group of Facebook users at 29% of total users (Smith), but recently, members of older age demographics have been realizing the benefits of social networking sites. They have consequently been flocking to the sites themselves in order to join in on the fun; the 30-and-up crowd now have quite a presence on social networking sites (Ricadela).
No longer only individual users (now of all ages and from many different countries), organizations have realized the benefits of social networking.
Twitter is also used by many organizations. Also interesting about Twitter is that it first gained popularity with middle aged and older adults, unlike most other medias that typically started with young people (Miller).
>What are effects of SN on individuals? (12 min + 10 min discussion = 22 min total)
CITE: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0507/176.html
>Blurring of line between real life and virtual life (4 min)
“We have become virtuosos of self-presentation, accustomed to living our lives in public. The idea that 'we're all being observed all the time anyway, so who needs privacy?' has become a commonplace. Put another way, people say, 'As long as I'm not doing anything wrong, who cares who's watching me?'“ (Turkle).
In other words, people are becoming less concerned with privacy. From tabloids in the grocery store checkout line, to television, to all kinds of websites, the amount of celebrity news we are bombarded with is somewhat disconcerting. Celebrity culture and our obsession with public figures’ private lives have grown exponentially over the last few decades. In 1966, John Lennon famously commented that the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus (“Time Magazine”). This was a controversial statement at the time, but perhaps Lennon was on to something. We have begun to worship celebrities so much that comparisons can easily be drawn to the worship of other religious figures throughout history.
Obsession with celebrities is one thing, but lately we have begun to want this same kind of attention ourselves. Those of us using social networks today share a great deal of personal information considering how much of it is seen by others, sometimes others whom we do not even know.
Privacy is not as sought-after as it once was, and young people today are more comfortable sharing their lives on social media sites than Baby Boomers (Sutter). And for many young people it goes further than that; not only do they feel comfortable sharing more about their lives, they feel a certain need to disclose personal information online.
As Xiyin Tang, a 19 year old Columbia student and avid social media user, puts it, “To me, or to a lot of people, it’s like, why go to a party if you’re not going to get your picture taken?” This statement exemplifies a greater desire that many social network users feel to cultivate their online lives so that their social network profiles accurately (sometimes with a bit of embellishment) reflect their real lives. To some, it is even as if real life takes a second seat to online life. There has been a growing movement to do interesting things, not simply for the sake of doing them, but in order to gain material (e.g. photos and quotes) that can be uploaded and added to a person’s profile (Shih 35).
>Privacy Issues (4 min)
It can be difficult to fully control privacy. Privacy settings may not fully cover you, or they may not be quite understandable. They also may be fallible—always susceptible to hackers.
Photos can be especially incriminating. If an inappropriate photo goes online, even if it is up for only a short while, the file can be saved to anyone’s computer. May get people into trouble at work, with the law, or may just be bad publicity for public figures (Pegoraro).
5. How much information do you feel comfortable sharing in your online profile?
x. Nothing. It’s dangerous/scary/weird to share too much!
x. Basic info to let others get a sense of what I’m about
x. Quite a bit–favorite movies, books, shows, bands, my job, birthday, family members, & a few other things about me that I think others would find interesting
x. Everything! I have nothing to hide & see nothing wrong with sharing my interests and experiences online
6. How many Facebook friends do you have (for those who have it)?
x. less than 200
x. 200-300
x. 300-400
x. more than 400
Speak briefly of the dangers of over-sharing. Show this video (1 min):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCh9bmg0zGg&feature=related
The video, although making fun of the fact that it is incredibly easy to find out TOO much information about people online, does prove a point. Online predators are a real threat, but usually only for those who do not monitor the privacy of their online identities. To keep safe, do not share too personal of information.
>Losing connectivity with other humans (4 min)
7. Do you consider everyone you keep in contact with online a “real-life friend” as well?
8. Do you act more candid/outgoing online vs. in real life?
9. Would you say online you are able to act more like your “real self”?
“Traditional telephones tied us to friends, family, colleagues from school and work and, most recently, to commercial, political and philanthropic solicitations. Things are no longer so simple. These days our devices link us to humans and to objects that represent them: answering machines, Web sites and personal pages on social networking sites. Sometimes we engage with avatars who anonymously stand in for others, enabling us to express ourselves in intimate ways to strangers, in part because we and they are able to veil who we really are.” (Turkle).
Social relations have been drastically altered with the onslaught of social media networking sites. People these days are so tied to their online presences (and the online presences of others), that it can drastically cut into and in some cases almost become more important than the real life presence. So much of our interactions now take place in virtual spaces; how do we rationalize our two existences (real life and virtual life)?
Discuss the term “ambient awareness:"
"Each little update — each individual bit of social information — is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting. This was never before possible, because in the real world, no friend would bother to call you up and detail the sandwiches she was eating. The ambient information becomes like “a type of E.S.P.,” as Haley described it to me, an invisible dimension floating over everyday life." (Jardin)
Questions to Ponder...Can this ambient awareness replace our need for real life social situations and interactions? Are we getting accurate depictions of our friends' lives from the vast amount of little bits of information they share over time? Does it matter if it is an accurate depiction?
Ask the class to speak with members of their small groups (3 to 4 people per group) about these questions briefly, and then ask that they prepare answers to the questions below in order to share with the class.
Discussion: 4 min in small groups, then 6 minutes for groups to share what they discussed.
A. How does your behavior differ when online vs. the way we act in real life?
B. Do you feel that you care less about privacy than your parents did at your age?
C. Can you think of an instance when your real life has taken the backseat to your virtual life?
a. For instance, have you gone to a party just to take photos to share online to prove you were indeed at the party? Or have you shared online that you like a particular film because you know it’s popular and not necessarily because you actually like it?
D. D. Do you regularly check up on the profiles of strangers/people you don’t know very well? Is this creepy? Or is that just part of life today?
>What are SM’s effects on Organizations, Advertising, and News? (10 min total)
In the business world, social media sites can almost be considered “necessary” to survive today. Businesses can connect with other businesses or directly with customers, and vise versa. For instance, earlier this year, GAP unveiled a new logo that made customers very happy. Backlash from the new logo abounded on social media sites, and it did not take long for GAP to listen to consumer demands, scratching the new logo and returning to its original (Parr).
According to mashable.com, 36% of the CEO's of the world’s 50 largest companies are using social media to generate profit. And why not? Advertising is free! Advertisers just need to know how to use the media in order to gain attention and spread their message. Any person/organization has the opportunity to create a viral video.
When a video goes viral it spreads rapidly to a massive audience of viewers. This happens through user/website recommendations online as well as real life word of mouth and even mentions in other media mediums (TV, newspaper). A viral video can work wonders for an organization if it has a message attached to it that will help the organization, or even in some cases, if the name of the organization is simply attached to the viral video.
Show examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE -- Old Spice (25+mill views)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw&feature=player_embedded#!
LED Sheep (13.5+mill)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwh4ZaxHIA&feature=player_embedded --Microsoft (Just under 5 mill)
Doesn’t even need to be direct advertising—simply attach the brand to a video that people will want to see.
How much does this type of advertising really work? New advertising model aims to generate word of mouth/recommendations from friends instead of forcing consumers to take in message sent from producers like has been done in the past with basic television commercials, for example. With viral videos, people see the ad, then send the link to other friends in their networks, who then share with their friends and so on. Since people are seeing that the video is recommended by friends, they are more likely to view it ("TechCrunch").
>On News
News now able to seep into our lives grander scale and more often, as people are always online (Facebook/Twitter, sharing links, clicking links), instead of only, say, reading the newspaper for a short period in the morning or watching television between 7 and 9 on weeknights. There is always a chance to hit someone with a link to a news story online. Many major news organizations have strong online presences and are taking advantage of the interactivity that social media sites allow between journalists and readers. Lots of photos and videos are now selling more stories along with text. Also, online news has the capability of churning out breaking news stories 24/7. There are pros and cons to this, as people feel very in the know with the absolute latest news, but sometimes the pressure to turn out a story first can lead to misguided or straight up wrong information (Lewis).
>On Politics
Social media forces politicians and public figures to be authentic, as anyone can check up on their status and activity at any time. Even the White House has a Twitter account! Many politicians are successfully reaching out to people via social networking sites. In the 2008 presidential elections, President Obama gained a huge amount of followers online, and also helped lead to the fundraising of an astounding $600 million (Carr).
>What do we see in the future? (2 min)
Will Facebook soon be taking over the internet? It is Google’s number one competitor, and has plans to expand its empire. Zuckerberg has stated that eventually he would want Facebook to "serve as the infrastructure that knits together the world's information." Instead of searches based strictly on algorithms and the number of links a particular website has from other sites and number of hits, a Facebook search would take the idea of friend recommendations, making your search (likely) more relevant to your life (Salan).
But can Facebook keep up the popularity? It has been doing well so far; as Zuckerberg has stated, the site is like fashion…it is never finished, but always evolving. However, is it going to hold our attention? Or will another new replacement come along? Will we develop new social media needs? Will we just quit using the site or all social media sites eventually out of sheer boredom?
"We can fear the growing power of Facebook. Or we can watch and marvel as a weird new world takes shape" (Salan).
>Conclusion/Homework Assignment (3 min total)
Wrap up
Review key points
Answer any questions
WORKS CITED
Carr, David. "How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power ." The New York Times. 9 Nov 2008. Web. 13 Dec 2010.
Chapman, Cameron. "The History and Evolution of Social Media." WebDesigner Depot. N.p., 07 Oct 209. Web. 12 Dec 2010.
Jardin, Xeni. "NYT on "Ambient Awareness," Ethereal Intimacy, and Internet ESP." BoingBoing. N.p., 6 Sep 2008. Web. 13 Dec 2010.
Lewis, Woody. "10 Ways Newspapers are Using Social Media to Save the Industry." Mashable. 3 Nov 2009. Web. 15 Dec 2010.
Maharshi, Santosh. "I Too Hate the Term 'Social Media' -- But Here's a Definition." Screensumer. 10 May 2008. Web. 13 Dec 2010.
Miller, Claire Cain. "Who’s Driving Twitter’s Popularity? Not Teens ." New York Times 25 Aug 2009: n. pag. Web. 13 Dec 2010.
Parr, Ben. "Gap Reverts to Original Logo After Social Media Backlash." Mashable. Oct 2010. Web. 12 Dec 2010. .
Pegoraro, Rob. "It's Not a 'Privacy Breach' When the Information About You is Out There Already." Washington Post 14 Nov 2010: n. pag. Web. 13 Dec 2010.
Ricadela, Aaron. "Fogeys Flock to Facebook." Bloomberg Businessweek 06 Aug 2007: n. pag. Web. 28 Nov 2010.
"Rock 'n' Roll: According to John." Time Magazine 12 Aug 1966: n. pag. Web. 26 Nov 2010.
Salan, Reihan. "The Future Of Facebook." Forbes. 26 Apr 2010. Web. 12 Dec 2010.
"The Secret Strategies Behind Many "Viral" Videos." TechCrunch. 22 Nov 2007. Web. 13 Dec 2010. .
Smith, Justin. "December Data on Facebook’s US Growth by Age and Gender: Beyond 100 Million." Inside Facebook. Inside Network, 04 Jan 2010. Web. 27 Nov 2010.
Sutter, John D. "New Facebook Privacy Tip: 'Super-Logoff'." CNN 12 Nov 2010: n. pag. Web. 27 Nov 2010.
Turkle, Sherry. "Can You Hear Me Now?." Forbes 7 May 2007: n. pag. Web. 13 Dec 2010.
