Social Media: a Boon or a Curse ????

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Permalink Reply by telecentre.org on October 25, 2011 at 10:45am

Hi Seu! Here are some thoughts from the Philippines:

• First, I think it's important for people to know that there is still the possibility of selection bias when it comes to social media. What I mean by this is that we should be aware that the opinion of people speaking through social media (YouTube, Twitter, etc) may not necessarily be a representative sample of their country, workplace, organization, etc.  This may only be representative of the people who have access to the internet (i.e. those who can afford to have internet access in their homes, etc).
• Therefore, for social media to function effectively, it is crucial that we also increase efforts to provide access to underserved areas. 

Additionally, I have a question to ask: Given that with social media, once can possibly receive thousands of tweets or comments in day, how can we sort through the information coming so that we don't miss reading the important questions or comments? In other words, is there an effective way to sort through the overabundance of mail we tend to receive in social media?     

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Permalink Reply by Seuwandi Yapa on October 25, 2011 at 11:09am

Many thanks for this :)

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Permalink Reply by Seuwandi Yapa on October 25, 2011 at 11:49am

You have raised a very critical point on the topic and thanks for the question as well.

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Permalink Reply by Cleopa Timon Otieno on October 25, 2011 at 4:42pm

Thanks for bringing this up Seu, The advent of social media and the recent occurrences in politics and democracy in my opinion will help catalyze change in terms of justice, equitable resource distribution, good governance, accountability and transparency among governments but also the people. It’s a new wave propelled through the technologies you mention but above evidence of people who now have information/knowledge at their figure tips as a result. It’s been said over and again that knowledge is power, perhaps this is an indication that people increasingly get informed through such mediums with a viral effect.

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Permalink Reply by Seuwandi Yapa on October 25, 2011 at 5:23pm

Cleo, thank you for your input... :)
If you have any questions relating to the topic, you are most welcome.
Seu

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Permalink Reply by EWASSADJA ADAHA Marius on October 27, 2011 at 5:06am

Social media allow people to have free expression forum. And information is going very fast with them and allows people to act more quickly, and anticipate events ...

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