When social influence and technology used for social change

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Technological change comes with social change. When Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1450s, it allowed us to print information faster, and it became easier to spread thoughts and ideas. Gutenberg's printing machine heralded a new era of public information and reinvented how to democratize access to written material at the time. Numerous individuals said that Gutenberg ushered in the age of bestsellers. Historians asserted that the printing press paved the Industrial Revolution, French Revolution, and the Protestant Reformation.

When radio and television also came along, they changed the method of communication and dissemination of information. It opens up to mass media, and the information dissemination heightens to new heights. As our technology slowly matures, we get the internet where boosted how we get information. We were able to access information and media from all over the world in the comfort of our own homes, despite not having to visit libraries or buy printed copies of the material. We can't deny how social media and the internet allow us to access information and express ourselves in a new way.

Not all governments are receptive to social media, such as China, Iran, and other nations that have banned Facebook and Twitter. They also have people monitoring their cyber activities that, to some extent, jail individuals who criticize their administration. For most countries, we have the freedom to express our opinions and views online, even if it is against the administration. Despite the openness and freedom of expression, some people jeopardize their safety due to their online opinions.

Even though we are ordinary citizens, we have a voice that may reach millions of people all over the world thanks to social media. Can we utilize social media to make a difference in our world? I think we can. Some of us are engaging in great causes with the aid of social media.

Social media allow us to keep an eye on what's going on in our community and environment. There is a lot of terrible news surrounding us, such as typhoons, earthquakes, and natural calamities. There is also a lot of good news, such as taxi drivers returning unused cellphones or money and young people making a difference in their communities. Of course, we keep an eye on the news, whether it feels good or disappoint us.

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Our actions arise from our awareness. Social media is in the best position to raise awareness for causes. It helps us recognize a problem and what action to address it. It influences us to take part in the solution and be agents of change.

Social media amplifies how we tell stories. It can be through a long posted text or series of images. Even today, social media has a feature to highlight stories. I am sure that most of us tried at least once posting in their social media story. Our storyboard varies from one to another, but often it revolves around our life and stories of win and loss and triumph and struggles.

Social media allow us to tell others our story and inviting them to be a part of it. It also helps others knew the social media person that we are and what we value. It piques interest from our followers. We can connect with people when we tell our stories. It's often astonishing how many other individuals can connect with us.

We may also become reporters using social media. We can see live videos of what was happening in a specific place and community, which enables quicker response by the authorities. Aside from that, we may share beautiful places that we have been to, and we help promote tourism and even financial gains for that place.

If we observe an issue and want to find a solution, we may use social media to explore how others will tackle the problem. There are several issues in our society like destitute street kids addicted to rugby and unable to eat, trash on the street, and even discourse on climate change. As we draw our attention to these issues, it influences us to think about the causes and a possible course of action.

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Of course, it's not enough to show the problems. We should think about solutions or raise awareness that the problem exists. It doesn't have to be extravagant and award-worthy. We can take pictures or a selfie to raise awareness that there is a problem and someone is doing some work to address it.

On a side note, we should be conscious that oversharing people's demise may cause us to glorify their situation instead of raising awareness. We should not fall for the poverty porn depicting how extremely destitute a person is or how depressed their living condition is. We photograph them while maintaining their dignity, even if their situation is seemingly terrible.

Being a social media champion, on the other hand, isn't always enough. We should take action to help solve or lessen an issue. Again, it doesn't need to be a noble peace prize endeavor. I guess a simple act of kindness can create a ripple. Sometimes just posting for posting's sake doesn't help at all, and sometimes being kind makes a difference rather than an overly sensationalize photo.

Often we criticize our government for being sluggish to assist the people. But they demonstrate that, despite the hardships, people are rising and not giving up hope. Maybe in our little ways, we use technology and social media to raise awareness. Our likes and shares can be a tool to make these causes reach more people, and hopefully, someone can turn the condition upside down.

Social media influence reaches every corner of our world. When we use it to our advantage to raise causes, social media influence can alter people's perspectives on these issues. We tend to modify our actions to conform to societal norms, even against our belief system. If we use this power for a good cause, we can see social change. We can show that we are not just selfies, and we can make a difference. We may use technology and social media to make our world a better place.


Check out my previous blogs about Social Media


Readings

  1. Martin Hilbert, PhD, Digital technology and social change: the digital transformation of society from a historical perspective, NCBI

  2. Niina Sormanen and William H,. Dutton, The Role of Social Media in Societal Change: Cases in Finland of Fifth Estate Activity on Facebook, SAGE Journal

  3. Jeremiah Dittmar, Information Technology and Economic Change: The Impact of The Printing Press, The Quarterly Journal of Economics

  4. Nathalie Dortonne, The dangers of poverty porn, CNN Health

  5. Xinyue Ye,Bo Zhao, Thien Huu Nguyen, and Shaohua Wang, Social Media and Social Awareness, Manual of Digital Earth, Springer

Featured Digital Art: An AI art work created (using VQGAN+CLIP) by the author depicting homelessness.

Author's note: All digital illustrations appearing in the blog is created by the author.



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Often we criticize our government for being sluggish to assist the people. But they demonstrate that, despite the hardships, people are rising and not giving up hope. Maybe in our little ways, we use technology and social media to raise awareness. Our likes and shares can be a tool to make these causes reach more people, and hopefully, someone can turn the condition upside down.

Social media influence reaches every corner of our world. When we use it to our advantage to raise causes, social media influence can alter people's perspectives on these issues. We tend to modify our actions to conform to societal norms, even against our belief system. If we use this power for a good cause, we can see social change. We can show that we are not just selfies, and we can make a difference. We may use technology and social media to make our world a better place.

Dear @juecoree, Your argument is true! However, Many countries and authorities around the world are currently tightening censorship and control over Internet information, news and social media.

Where I live, anyone who criticizes the president of a country can be sentenced to $10,000 in U.S. dollars or five years in prison.

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Many countries and authorities around the world are currently tightening censorship and control over Internet information, news and social media.

That is the reality. Although we want a fair social media and no censorship, we can't expect that due to social media has been an agent for false information.

Where I live, anyone who criticizes the president of a country can be sentenced to $10,000 in U.S. dollars or five years in prison.

That really unfortunate. Although Philippines don't have policies for that, we can see that sometime government and media are partisan to censorship. Filipinos can freely express and criticizes our government as long as it is not derogatory or false. Freedom of expression is vital for a society to flourish and we should use it responsibly.

Enjoy a slice of !PIZZA

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