Social Media Revolution

Hullo, yet another week in COM125.

Well, this week we learnt something more interesting and relatable to us I guess? And to me, this topic which we have learnt about is by far the most powerful media tool widely used today. Even by typing this blog right now, I'm practicing this tool. And if you are good, you may even big earn money from it. Not just $1000, or $100K. It's $1M for your information.

An article I have stumbled upon today:

Not bad huh? They actually earn money by sitting down comfortably, listen to music, and just type away on their laptop. It is a plus point for you if you become a Celebrity Blogger. You don't just gain the money, you gain the name.

So what exactly is this money making tool?

Social Media Participatory online media that utilizes the group to write and direct content, rather than a read-only media. Allows for direct contact between participants. Listservs were early examples of social media and are still used by millions, but more rapid response forms like Twitter and Second Life have become popular as laptops have gotten cheaper. Social Media is now the trend. While the majority of brands and companies are just starting to get into the phenomenon, others still ignore the power of social media because they are afraid of how to handle the impact if they get negative feedback. For example, opinions on how you view things, how your lifestyle is not approved by some. There may be some risks, but if you know how things work it won’t be a problem. If you are authentic, and you really want to engage and converse, then social media is the way to go. Personally for myself, I enjoy Social Media. A lot. Because firstly, it is free. Secondly, you get to learn more about people and their lives. Thirdly, you get to know a lot of gossips and it's really entertaining sometimes. Lastly, it makes you less "sua-ku". For example, when my friends begin to talk like that. "EH, you know about the recent fight between Dawn Yang and Xiaxue?!" or maybe like, "Did you see Celestina exposing all her sexy pictures on the internet????" and the most common one, "Do you know that XXX's boyfriend cheated on her and they just break up last night?!' Haha I call this the Don't Know Who But Want To Kpo talk.

But that is the influence which social media posseses, it forces people to sit down for hours to look at these photos, videos, opinions, experiences and perspectives of another person. And the more real and candid you are, the more hits you will get. And how exactly do they earn money and priviledges from practicing Social Media? When they get more views on their site, they will, 1. Have advertisers who are willing to invest a space in their blog. Hoping that readers will click these ads and eventually expand customer base. And another way is to ask the blogger to review their products. For example, a newly launched skincare product - they will send the range of product to the chosen blogger to advertise and do a write-up of how their product works. 2. Have sponsors who are willing to pay for the blogger's needs like, taking care of their hair, skin and pedicure/manicure. (Usually female bloggers get this) Then, the blogger will write about how nice and how good their services are, and eventually, people reading their blog will visit these parlours - expand customer base. But, there are many skeptics regarding Social Media though. Susan Greenfield thinks that social networking is in fact, 'turning us into babies', shrinking our attention spans, our ability to empathize, and eroding our identity. Also Westminster suggested that social networking causes increasingly “transient relationships,” is “dehumanising” community life and, as a consequence, we are “losing social skills.” I beg to differ because with Social Media, the myth of global village into reality, so that the people from the different geographical location can meet at the single point and express their views. And, Social Networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot etc act as the store houses for huge traffic. This gives us the opportunity to identify people which will be targeted as the potential customers for businesses. Communication is made easy and businesses can try to understand their customer's flavor; this will help in manufacturing the products that matches the customer needs. Lastly, some Social Networks are good opportunities to find a job- Nowadays the big companies have specialists on human resources that search for profiles in these kind of sites to recruit new collaborators. If you´re looking for job you can create a profile (a serious, professional and complete profile) and you might be discovered and recruited by a company. You can describe your capabilities and publish some of your works - and with a little luck you can find a job. I will leave you guys with the most recent Social Media I have viewed (in fact, just yesterday). It is the 24/7 life of a Drama Queen, Pearlyn Koh. She films herself from the time she wakes up to when she close her eyes to sleep. It is quite entertaining actually.... Haha. If you are feeling bored, you can take a look at this. It is quite crazy how anyone is so willing to expose their daily life in such a manner. And she lives up to her name - Drama Queen. http://www.clicknetwork.tv/watch.aspx?c=1&p=26&v=392