‘You are what you tweet’ (Alex Tew)

I’m getting into social media. Not because I want to, but because I feel I should. It’s the way the world is going- the 10 o’clock news, and newspapers now provide old news, thanks to the instant reporting on social media sites. The riots throughout England that were all over the news this week were mostly coordinated through social media and networking sites. Although on the one hand it’s great that it can be used to unite people over a common cause it is, however, terrifying that it can facilitate acts of mass violence. And the speed in which this can happen is even more terrifying. Despite this, social media does have less negative uses, such as being a place for people to raise awareness of charitable causes etc. It is also becoming more and more important to businesses for recruitment, especially in the media sector, which is the area I want to get into. So for the sake of my own future, I feel like I have to get involved, or else get left behind.

To be honest I’m a bit scared of it all and I don’t agree with the idea that everything one does has to be reported and therefore is free to become public fodder. Twitter, especially provides this sort of platform. I can understand, to some extent, why celebrities and companies use it, as it is a great way to advertise a brand and reach out to millions of people. For celebrities, it allows for their own views to be published, and not be skewed by the mass media of tabloids and gossip columns. I am aware, though, that this can still get them into trouble, as it is a place for people to state their uncensored views and opinions, which aren’t always in line with the status quo. But for the ordinary Joe Blog on the street, I really don’t understand who could find what they had for breakfast or what a ‘mad night out’ they had interesting, which is why I tweet reluctantly and with the realisation that not many people will care what I have to say.

The other thing I can’t get my head around, is the fact that Twitter allows you to communicate one on one with celebrities. With Twitter, unlike Facebook, you don’t have to be friends with or ‘follow’ people to engage with them. You simply write to them. And they can write back. And although I can see that some people would argue that this is no different to sending a fan letter, I argue that it is massively different. For starters, the whole world can see what you write, unlike a private letter, and also, with Twitter only allowing snap statements due to their character limit on Tweets, people are more likely to reply as it takes less effort. I also think the way people view social media is different to any form of media that has come before. Because the general public are getting more involved in making news and shaping the way people communicate, they expect more, and feel that they are no different to celebrities and politicians, for example: it is breaking down the barriers between celebrity and human. I know this can be seen as a good thing and call me old fashioned, but I quite liked it when celebrities were untouchable. It made them more interesting, but now that you are able to know everything about them through the likes of Twitter, you realise that actually they aren’t always as interesting as were once made out to be.

I realise that I sound rather hypocritical as I myself am taking advantage of social media in attempt to advance my position, but I do so reluctantly. It still unnerves me that anybody in the world could access this blog if they so desired, (although I admit not many people do, and not many people would bother to look for it) and I do feel a bit awkward about talking about myself and my views. But as I said, I feel like I have to try and make some mark in order to get noticed at a time when there is such high competition for jobs. There are some aspects of social media which I like. I don’t have a problem with Facebook, which in my opinion is the original and best form of social media. I love the fact that it is almost like an online diary: somewhere to sort out your social life, store your photographs and a great way to keep in touch with old friends. All this with the comfort of knowing that only people you want to get involved can (dependent on your privacy settings, of course, which is a constant concern of my mother, even though she has no idea how ‘the internet’ works). All in all though, social media is an unstoppable force, so for now I think I’ll try and embrace it.