Week 1
Before commencing MDA20009 the first thought I had when “social media” was discussed was Facebook and Instagram. This is because these are the two most common platforms I use to connect with family and friends. The working definition of social media resonated with me greatly, i.e. I analysed the cost of social media, its expenses, accessibility, collaboration and relationship-building opportunities (Swinburne Online 2016 Week 1). In my opinion, I believe that other costs than financial, I am interested to learn about benefits and consequences of social media i.e. social costs, lack of personal interaction and the costs to time, but also the distraction social media can produce in the workplace versus the benefits. I also enjoyed learning the common terms in social networks, I had heard of the terms virtual and digital communities, digital societies, but not networked publics and smart mobs (Swinburne Online 2016 Week 1).
I really liked the “Internet in Real-Time”, I even shared this with friends on my social media networks, it really emphasises the broad reach of use of social networks, but also showed me a range of other social network platforms (Swinburne Online 2016 Week 1). It made me consider my use of platforms to meet society expectations and pressures and how I how self-presentation takes place for me, only sharing what I feel is relevant or required (Wilken & McCosker 2014 p.292). I.e. I like to have the latest mobile technology to access these networks, in particular I have a Samsung S7 which I like to share panorama shots of scenery/events that can be used with the Samsung VR camera, to satisfy my own needs but also to conform to society standards (Wilken & McCosker 2014 p.294).
I think this need to conform to society or in this case my online community is because I am wanting to be a member, so that I can reach one of the levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, in the belongingness and esteem category (McShane & Von Glinow 2013, p.133) as well as developing my connections with communities such as friendship, neighbourhood groups, voluntary organisations, colleagues and other professional relationships (Siapera 2012, p. 193). It was interesting to read Tönnies argument that the industrial revolution encouraged distinct village-like communities to move to the bigger city in search of industrial capitalism, again this idea guided my thinking towards Maslow’s needs in particular (McShane & Von Glinow 2013, p.133). I think the rise of virtual communities has allowed me to keep in contact and share interests with individuals who are geographically diverse to me (Siapera 2012, p. 193). I find my social networks are full of people I don’t regularly communicate such as old classmates and friends of friends, these are weak relationships as opposed to those who I endeavour to spend time with offline and are in my physical community circles (Siapera 2012, p. 194). Upon reflection, I do feel that the rise of online world has facilitated the opportunity for me to relax my participation in social and physical community opportunities.
Week 3
From the week one materials, I have been contemplating the wide range of social media platforms available. I have been evaluating how I would use these platforms to my advantage as well as trying to decide how I would allocate time to maintain and interact with others using these sites. I find it interesting the rise of online communities and platforms used in higher education. For example, the use of Facebook groups to share and communicate, Google Docs to create and edit documents instantly with geographically diverse users and of course traditional communication methods such as Skype. Not having an in-depth understanding of reddit, I found it interesting to note that it was used to track down the “Boston Bombers” (Swinburne Online 2016 Week 3). The platform seems very interactive allowing content to be posted and users to choose if they are interested or not. I look forward to further evaluating and potentially signing up to the platform.
References:
McShane, S & Von Glinow, M 2013, Organizational behavior: Emerging Knowledge. Global Reality., 6th edn., McGraw-Hill, New York.
Siapera, E 2012, ‘Socialities and Social Media’, in Introduction to New Media, Sage, London, pp. 191-208.
Swinburne Online 2016, ’Week 1: Introduction to digital communities and social media platforms, MDA20009 Digital Community, Learning materials on Blackboard, Swinburne Online, viewed 16 November 2016.
Swinburne Online 2016, ’Week 3: Platform case study: reddit, MDA20009 Digital Community, Learning materials on Blackboard, Swinburne Online, viewed 16 November 2016.
Wilken, R & McCosker, A 2014, 'Social Selves', in Cunningham & Turnbull (eds), The Media & Communications in Australia, Allen and Unwin pp. 291-295.
