MEST3 Independent case study: New/Digital Media

Your chosen industry: Social Media

Your chosen case study (i.e. text/institution etc.): Twitter

Audience

1) How has new and digital media changed the audience experience in your chosen industry?

As new and digital media continues to grow in dominance and popularity across the globe, more audiences are using social media as a way of communicating and gaining information. Social media in particular sites such as my chosen text, Twitter, have a dominant presence in the world of social networking. Majority of users use twitter as a form of pleasure and entertainment, while some use it as a political platform and a way of coming into contact with various information and perspectives.

2) Has new and digital media changed the way the audience consume your chosen product?

New and digital media has changed the way in audiences use social networking sites such as Twitter. As traditional forms of media continue to move onto the internet, convergence takes place. Audiences can now not only get entertainment from twitter but also get news first hand. Audiences can also participate in politics by voicing their opinions and challenging the status quo. Twitter has also seen the surge in audiences engaging in citizen journalism.

3) Has the size of the audience changed as a result of new and digital media?

Yes, audiences who would have once stuck to traditional forms of media are now using social media even more. Sites such as Twitter allow for various communities to form. It is now not surprising to see politicians using Twitter, alongside with the older middle-class and the educated as a platform for politics and news/journalism. There is ultimately a presence of the ABC1 demographics aswell on twitter, as opposed to only the younger audiences. Younger audiences are now not only using Twitter for entertainment but also as a platform for their grievances and opinions on the state of society.

4) What are the positive changes new and digital media have brought to the audience of your case study? (E.g. greater choice, easier access etc.)

New and digital media has allowed for the audience of social networking sites such as Twitter to form communities and identify themselves with others. Also, Twitter has essentially grown to become a new, digital platform for audiences to make use of their freedoms of speech, as represented through the various movements that have grown on the site. Twitter has also allowed for easier access to information and the news as it unfolds.

5) What are the negative changes new and digital media have had on your chosen audience? (E.g. quality of product etc.)

The growth of Twitter as a platform, which lacks gatekeepers highlights how it can be an unreliable platform. Users are also able to take advantage of their speech to incite hate crimes and also promote dangerous ideologies. Terrorists have taken advantage of the site to recruit the vulnerable. Twitters power is known for impacting politics, as represented by the US general election and even Brexit. False information can easily have an impact on the masses, as a result effecting the outcomes of various situations.

6) What about audience pleasures - have these changed as a result of new and digital media? 

 As Twitter is a result of new and digital media, it is suggested that audience pleasures over the decades have changed. Twitter has provided a platform for users to interact around the globe. Twitter continues to transform, and as represented by the US General Election, more users are engaging politically with Twitter (Surveillance/Personal identification). Politicians on twitter therefore have gained some audience pleasures for themselves aswell, as they can push forward their agendas while also staying aware of what their voters want etc.

7) What is the target audience for your chosen case study? Write a demographic/psychographic profile.

Twitter has a vast target audience, particularly young adults and the middle-aged.  Most users of twitter are in the ABC1C2 range, which is unsurprising as there is always a community on Twitter for each individual regardless of age, gender or class. As represented through the statistics I have posted further down, there is a relatively equal amount of male and female users and a vast range between education, which highlights that Twitter is initially a platform for all.

Institution

1) How has new and digital media had an impact on ownership or control in your chosen industry?

2) What impact has new and digital media had on ownership in your chosen case study?

3) How has new and digital media changed the way institutions produce texts?

Twitter has changed how traditional news institutions and sectors in society produce texts. News has essentially adapted to cater for its users on Twitter through creating profiles which constantly tweet updates. Politicians have also moved to Twitter to campaign their views. There is greater interaction between audiences and institutions overall.

4) How has new and digital media changed the way institutions distribute their product?

Sites such as Twitter have resulted in institutions diverting their products to social media sites. For example, more advertisers opt for Twitter and other social media sites to get their products to a mass audience, campaigns by politicians have also taken place on social media and they have a great significance during election seasons e.g. snapchat and filters, Twitter and vote updates

5) How might new and digital media threaten your chosen industry?

The lack of gatekeepers on social media sites makes it easier for dangerous and fake information to reach the masses, therefore new and digital media such as Twitter can be a threat to society if used in the wrong manner.

6) How has new and digital media changed the way your chosen industry is regulated? 

As social media differs from traditional institutions such as news, there is a lack of gatekeeping meaning that audiences may come into contact with fabricated content or dangerous content. There is however some form of regulation where hate crimes and so on can be reported, but it is not unlikely to come across fake news.

UGC

1) What examples of user-generated content can you find in your case study?

United Airlines incident

The video of the man dragged out of the United Airlines plane circulated on social media, if it was not for this video the incident may have been unheard of or given little priority.

Hudson plane crash

Twitter users broke the news of the incident around 15 minutes before the mainstream media alerted viewers and readers to the crash. Twitter user and iPhone owner Janis Krums was on one of the New York commuter ferries diverted to pick up the stranded airline passengers. He used his mobile phone to take a dramatic snap of the downed plane, and uploaded it to TwitPic, a service that enables Twitter users to instantly share their snaps over Twitter. "There's a plane in the Hudson,"

BlackLivesMatter

What started as a hashtag, a form of UGC on twitter, turned into a widescale movement which advocates for black lives in the USA

2) How has UGC changed things for audiences or institutions in your chosen case study?

 Social media sites are built around UGC. Twitter has initially always been a platform where users generate their own content through tweeting and hash-tagging. Content posted by users such as videos and photos which gain popularity “trend”, topics that trend often end up on prime-time news if they are of significance. 

Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

1) What would be a Marxist perspective of the impact of new and digital media on your chosen case study?

A Marxist would initially see the advantage of Twitter for providing a platform for audiences to enforce their freedoms in a revolutionary manner. However, a Marxist would still be wary of a site such as Twitter, as it is still initially a large company which takes advantage of users the profit motive and can be easily manipulated to maintain social divides by influential users.

2) How would a pluralist view the impact of new and digital media in your chosen industry?

A pluralist would view Twitter similarly a platform which audiences can enforce their freedoms as they perceive audiences as capable of manipulating the media. In contrast to a Marxist, a pluralist would argue that although Twitter is a business, it is in the hands of the elite who allow a considerate degree of flexibility to the audience’s advantage.

3) Are there any examples of hegemony in your chosen industry or case study?

It can be argued that Twitter provides a platform for hegemonisation to occur, as audiences come into contact with various opinions and views which can easily be enforced by the elite or powerful individuals on the site which results in audiences accepting these views as “common sense”. Twitter can essentially be used as a tool

to control the masses, as it is owned by the elite.

Globalisation

1) How has globalisation impacted on your chosen industry or case study?

The availability to use social media, in particular platforms such as Twitter, have allowed for there to be global connections. These global connections make it possible for countries to express new and old concerns. Audiences can express their views, and connect other views around the world. Globalisation has essentially allowed for social activism to take place more easily (e.g. arab spring, Ukraine movement)

2) In your opinion, has globalisation had a positive or negative impact on your chosen industry and case study? Why?

Personally, I believe that globalisation has in this case had a positive impact as it is easier to interconnect from across the globe on Twitter. Users who are oppressed can speak out on social media, as represented by the Arab Spring which saw the rise of social media revolutions and movements across the world.

3) Can you find examples of cultural imperialism in your case study or industry? (The 'Americanisation' of the world)

Although twitter is used across the globe in various countries, American culture is predominant on the social media site. This similarly occurs on other sites such as Facebook and so on, and can be argued to leading to the Americanisation of the world.

Social media

1) How has your industry or case study used social media to promote its products?

Social media has been used by politicians to promote their views on certain topics and to appeal to potential voters. These politicians are often verified. Similarly, important figures and journalists have taken advantage of social media to share their opinion and engage with audiences.

2) Provide examples of how your case study has used social media and explain the impact this would have on audiences.

Donald Trump has taken advantage of Twitter to create hysteria, which has inevitably brought more attention to his campaign. Despite the various controversial tweets, he has incited, it has undeniably fuelled support from some and allowed him to enforce his campaign on the masses as his name gained popularity (for all the wrong reasons).

3) Is social media an opportunity or a threat to your industry and case study?

It could be argued that social media is an opportunity for politicians to engage with their younger audiences and to also get more users who were once not interested in politics to instead get engaged with politics as it is more widely accessible in first-hand perspective on social media. However, it could be argued that social media is a threat to politics as it is reducing it to a joke, the feuds between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton could be argued to have taken away the gravity of the elections, instead making it amusing.

Statistics

1)

·         82% Active users on mobile

·         79% Accounts outside the U.S.

·         313M Monthly active users

·         On the day of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Twitter proved to be the largest source of breaking news, with 40 million election-related tweets sent by 10 p.m. that day.

USA (Pew study)

Statistics on age:

• 36% of 18–29 year olds use Twitter.
• 23% of 30–49 year olds use Twitter.
• 21% of 50–64 year olds use Twitter.
• 10% of 65+ year olds use Twitter.

Statistics on gender:

• 25% of online women use Twitter.
• 24% of online men use Twitter.

Statistics on education:

• 29% of adults who graduated college use Twitter.
• 25% of adults with some college experience use Twitter.
• 20% adults with a high school diploma or less use Twitter.

UK

• Twitter has over 15 million active users in the UK 
• 65% of these users are under the age of 34.
• Over 80% of the 15 million active users access the social network from their mobile with a further 29% checking their Twitter feed multiple times during the day.
• Just like Facebook, Twitter is relatively even with 49% males and 51% female in regards to user demographic. 
• There are over 400 million tweets sent daily, and close to 75% of users are following less than 50 twitter accounts.
• Twitter usage has dropped slightly, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel as 37.5% of UK Social Media users, actively use Twitter. 81% of millennials check Twitter at least once per day which shows that daily usage from millennials is still high.

2) Looking at these statistics, what impact has new/digital media had on institutions in your chosen industry? 

Twitter has allowed more people to engage with politics and the news as represented by the statistics. A diverse range of individuals use Twitter, meaning that its easier to come into contact with a variety of views.

3) What has the impact been for audiences? These may be positive and negative.

As represented from the statistics, Twitter is widely popular with many regardless of age, gender, class/education. It seems as though however that Twitter is more popular with millennials

Theories

1) What media theories can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media theories and explain how they are relevant to your case study. Note: these can be ANY of the theories we have learned over the whole of Year 12 and 13.

1.Uses and gratifications – Users can get various gratifications from Twitter from surveillance to personal identification

2.Two step model theory – Audiences are influenced by opinion leaders, in this case those who have some sort of power or popularity on Twitter

3.Braudillard Simulacra and simulation – Twitter has essentially blurred the lines between reality and the representations of reality in the media. Politics on twitter do not reflect the complications that come with politics (audiences are stuck in an echo chamber)

Issues/debates

1) What media issues and debates can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media issues/debates and explain how they are relevant to your case study.

1.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20782257 - As represented through these cases, the law can intervene on Twitter as many users are unaware of the social media site can easily be misused.

2.The effect of globalisation on the media – Globalisation has allowed for Twitter to become a platform for users to interconnect with those around the globe

3. Media effects – Social media sites such as Twitter can easily be manipulated to have mass effects on audiences,

Wider examples and secondary texts

1) What other texts or institutions are also relevant to your case study? What would be good secondary texts or examples to use to support the findings of your independent case study?

Facebook

Facebook has similarly had a significant impact as Twitter in the political world and also society. The US General Election has been connected to the rise of fake news, which has plagued Facebook in particular. Governments have threatened to interfere if social media companies did not tackle the issue of fake news. This highlights the growing influence of social media in the political world, as the two are rapidly interconnecting.