Christian M.
Labe 9/24/19
ICT312-2P Mr. Ronnie Hermosura
What do you consider as the biggest opportunity and challenges of new media in your
life?
The internet has created the opportunity for social media to thrive. Participating in
social media forums, known collectively as “Web 2.0,” allows communication and
information sharing with large groups of people instantaneously. Social media can fall
into one of six primary categories.
Social networks: sites that allow users to connect and share with people who
have similar interests and backgrounds. Example: Facebook.
Bookmarking sites: sites that allow users to save and organize links to any
number of online resources and websites. Example: Stumble Upon.
Social news: sites that allow users to post news links and other items to outside
articles. Example: Reddit.
Media sharing: sites that allow users to share different types of media, such as
pictures and video. Example: YouTube.
Microblogging: sites that allow users to submit short written entries, which can
include links to products and service sites as well as links to other social media
sites. Example: Twitter.
Blog comments and forums: sites that let users engage in conversations by
posting and responding to community messages.
How Social Media is Being Used in Health Care and Education
The use of social media in health care and education has climbed in recent
years, leading to numerous opportunities and challenges. In hospital settings, social
media can be used to alert patients to wait times, update patient status, deliver public
health messages, recruit for research and communicate with staff. Healthcare providers
also use social media to disseminate information, answer questions and communicate
with patients. Several studies indicate that 70-90% of students in healthcare professions
use social media. This is not a surprising finding because most of the current students
in healthcare professions are in the millennial generation, born after 1982. Millennials
are accustomed to staying connected with the outside world using handheld, wireless
devices and are considered “digital natives.”
In the education environment, the opportunities intrinsic to social media are plentiful.
Some of the potential opportunities include collaboration and connectivity among users,
access to clinical experts, access to information from a number of different sources, and
the ability to disseminate information. The development of content within social media,
such as learning to concisely communicate through Twitter, can also be a valuable skill.
In healthcare professions, storytelling or relaying clinical experiences are common and
allow students the opportunity to reflect and share. When storytelling occurs on social
media, feedback is immediate, camaraderie can provide emotional support, and input
from others can enrich a learning experience. However, relaying clinical experiences via
social media can also present significant challenges. Complying with the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), maintaining professionalism, and
respecting patient privacy and confidentiality are common challenges.
Christian M. Labe 9/24/19
ICT312-2P Mr. Ronnie Hermosura
UNITED NATIONS: In recent years, technological developments and the liberalization
of media markets have fueled an explosive change in media and communication, with
profound implications for how people are informed, how they interact with each other,
and how they participate in public life. Access to the Internet and mobile phones is rising
rapidly. While only 13 percent of the population of Africa subscribe to Facebook, this
figure grew 810 percent in the period 2010-2017. Similar patterns can be seen across
other regions, suggesting a significant shift in the way that people are gaining
information and engaging with others. The effects of these developments are
unprecedented: from facilitating political engagement beyond election day, to foreign
meddling in domestic affairs, to the uncontrolled spreading of misinformation and
disinformation that spurs political polarization, even to the corroding of established
democratic systems.
Media’s role in healthy society
A free and independent media plays a central role in a healthy society – providing
access to information, holding power to account, and offering platforms for debate and
dialogue. As the technology and platforms through which information flows change, we
need to think about the effects of these changes and ask ourselves what are the
implications of this for peace, inclusive governance and social cohesion? In many
countries, media markets have liberalized, rapid change in ICTs has occurred, and
media outlets have proliferated. The potential for media to support hate-speech, inflame
conflict and reduce political accountability has also increased. And while social media
has created positive opportunities to network and engage, it has also created a range of
new forms of problems, from bullying children and adults in the virtual space, to
violations of privacy, stalking and identity theft, and companies increasingly scanning
employees’ and applicants’ activities (and opinions) on social media. Social media
executives are aware of the challenge. In 2018, Facebook will hire more than 10,000
people only to work on safety and security. The proliferation of digital platforms has, in
some places, made it more difficult for governments to control people’s access to
information, curtail their right to freedom of expression and curb the freedom of the
press.
Declining internet freedom
Nonetheless, today two-thirds of the world’s internet users live under regimes of
government censorship and internet freedom across the globe declined for a sixth
consecutive year in 2016. Topics that are subject to online restriction are criticism of
authorities, exposure of corruption, public mobilisation, discussion on religion and
advocacy for LGBTI issues. More states use their power to intimidate their critics and as
a result, those not subjected to formal state-based censorship may self-censor if the
risks seem too great. Even in contexts where there is no censorship, analysts are now
noting the pernicious effects on our societies of our increased ability to personalize our
media consumption, deliberately reducing the range of information and viewpoints we
want to encounter. Social media have facilitated the rallying of people for a cause,
within and across national boundaries, and stimulating mass movements. The #MeToo
movement of 2017 spread across countries and languages and sectors, galvanizing
millions of women and men to speak out about their experiences of sexual harassment.
Other progressive advocacy campaigns have been more deliberate and organized –
such as the “World We Want” social media campaign organized by the UN as part of
the negotiations on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Social media can
mobilize thousands of people online, and facilitate organized protest, turning a
spontaneous gathering rapidly into a large, organized movement. Social networks
played a role in the rapid disintegration of regimes in Tunisia and Egypt and statistics
show that during the Arab Spring, the number of users of social networks, especially
Facebook, rose dramatically, particularly in those countries where political uprisings
took place. As one protester mentioned, “we use Facebook to schedule the protests,
Twitter to coordinate and YouTube to tell the world.”
Social media and formal politics
Digital and social media are also transforming the conduct of formal politics. They allow
politicians to reach millions of people at no cost; and allow political debates to happen in
a virtual space without the threat of personal confrontation. The use of social media,
including Twitter, to deliver political messages and comment on domestic as well as
global events in real time and without the benefit of editorial control, fact correction or
balanced advice has changed the role and nature of political discourse.
New software applications (bots) enable highly repetitive operations (e.g. retweeting the
messages of politicians to inflate the number of followers) to create an illusion of
popularity and influence public opinion. While some guidelines for parliamentarians
have now been issued by the Inter ParliamentaryUnion (IPU), much more needs to be
considered in terms of guidance and appropriate behavior in the political sphere. In
summary, the transformations in people’s access to media, information and
communication will continue to bring positive and negative consequences for
governance. While the speed of information exchange and new ways of communicating
can bring democratic, economic and social benefits, they can also lead to or worsen
political polarization and social conflict. It is certainly not evident that in many contexts
these changes have led to a more informed society, able to access trustworthy
information, balanced views and a plurality of voices and debate. Free, independent and
plural media, including social media remain essential for an open and informed society,
but whether a more connected world is also becoming a more democratic world remains
one of the governance challenges we urgently need to confront.
Citation: Truth and Nothing but the Truth: Impact Of Media and Communication on
Democratic Participation https://www.manilatimes.net/2018/02/05/opinion/analysis/truth-
nothing-truth-impact-media-communication-democratic-participation/378283/378283/
Summary of event: Access to the Internet and mobile phones is rising rapidly. While
only 13 percent of the population of Africa subscribe to Facebook, this figure grew 810
percent in the period 2010-2017. Similar patterns can be seen across other regions,
suggesting a significant shift in the way that people are gaining information and
engaging with others. The effects of these developments are unprecedented: from
Christian M. Labe 9/24/19
ICT312-2P Mr. Ronnie Hermosura
facilitating political engagement beyond election day, to foreign meddling in domestic
affairs, to the uncontrolled spreading of misinformation and disinformation that spurs
political polarization, even to the corroding of established democratic systems.
Reaction: Regardless, today 66% of the world's web clients live under systems of
government oversight and web opportunity over the globe declined for a 6th back to
back year in 2016. Themes that are dependent upon online limitation are analysis of
specialists, presentation of defilement, open activation, talk on religion and support for
LGBTI issues. More states utilize their capacity to threaten their faultfinders and
therefore, those not exposed to formal state-based oversight may self-blue pencil if the
dangers appear to be excessively incredible. Indeed, even in settings where there is no
oversight, investigators are presently taking note of the malicious impacts on our social
orders of our expanded capacity to customize our media utilization, intentionally
diminishing the scope of data and perspectives we need to experience.
Guide Questions
1. What media is important or instrumental in the course of event?
A free and independent media plays a central role in a healthy society providing
access to information, holding power to account, and offering platforms for debate and
dialogue. As the technology and platforms through which information flows change, we
need to think about the effects of these changes and ask ourselves what are the
implications of this for peace, inclusive governance and social cohesion?
2. Why do you think the identified media was instrumental or very important in this
event?
Media can be used to influence the audience, persuade and can be used in
many aspects of everyday life and this is why it is important to study the media as a
whole. Media as a subject helps us understand the world in many different ways which
is critical to understanding how society and the way the world works
3. Was the outcome a positive or a negative change? Explain the answer.
Throughout the article, the negative side and the positive side of the problem
were well explained as it was positive because it helped people in need of
communication with their loved one and it was also negative because the use social
media is unregulated and does not limit people to its use so there are many problems
with it such as bullying, privacy, theft and being violent of people.
