In 2003 Mark Zuckerberg created ‘Facemash’, an early way for college students to interact, a network that I was too young to be familiar at the time. In the 15 years since its inception, Zuckerberg’s brainchild has evolved significantly, becoming a network used by over 2 billion people worldwide. I have witnessed some of the […]
Read more "“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”"Facebook occupies a curious slot in the timeline of social media: old enough that younger millenials might not remember a time without it, young enough that many might consider a relatively new phenomenon, and ubiquitous enough that I’d be hard pressed to fully utilize the internet without an account. Gripes, groans, praises and plaudits – […]
Read more "Unclog the Drain"“Give people the power.” These are the first four words of Facebook’s mission statement. The power to connect with friends, to bring family members closer together, to share uplifting stories; this is what the people’s “power” used to represent. It has been proven that Facebook is now dominated with brands, businesses, news sources and media. […]
Read more "Facebook: Giving People the Power"In response to reading an article from a New York Times author Nathan Heller, “The Failure of Facebook Democracy” it is evident that Facebook’s new algorithms are creating some troubling consequences. I was unaware of Facebook’s attempt to generate more “likes” for its consumers by placing them in specific groups with people who share similar […]
Read more "Who’s Job is it To Uncover the Truth: Facebook or it’s Users?"Since being an avid Facebook-er for the past ten years, I’ve come to understand the platform and how it’s always striving to reinvent itself and compete (or collaborate) with other social media sites. In the past ten years, Facebook has completely remodeled its design; introducing a mobile app, sticker packs, the ‘timeline,’ ‘cover photo,’ and […]
Read more "Facebook: The Reinvention"By Chloe Citron Facebook has gone from a small social networking site where people could connect with their friends to a global news and entertainment resource. Although, a vast amount of content shared on Facebook is clickbait and fake news. Consistently seeing these types of posts makes my trust in the site go down, which […]
Read more "Fake News Overpowers Facebook"Social Media Communication: Uncertainty Reduction Theory & Transactional Model of Stress and Coping from April Rink This presentation examines the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (TMSC) and Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT). Our group believes these two theories are applicable to situations that people often face on social media platforms. TMSC states stress is conditional […]
Read more "Social Media Communication: Uncertainty Reduction Theory & Transactional Model of Stress and Coping"This presentation discusses Knowledge Gap theory (Tichenor, Donohue & Olien, 1970) and Modernization Theory (Marks, 2014). We apply these theories through an examination of contemporary uses of social media. In India, the rise of the internet has led to the rise of “semi-arranged marriages” (Jejeebhoy et al., 2013) and a growing dating culture. In Africa, we examine how millennials […]
Read more "Theory Discussion: Knowledge Gap & Modernization Theory"For the past decade, social media platforms have undeniably played a role in influencing democracy. From the coverage of the Arab Spring in 2011 to global elections around the world, many believed that social media was a positive tool for keeping citizens informed and connected with the world. However, the 2016 election of Donald Trump […]
Read more "How to save Face(book) and preserve democracy on the web"There’s no shortage of new features being added to Facebook, which users are arguably interested in (looking at you, Facebook stories). There is, however, one constant change on the platform that may be worth paying attention to. Cue ~the algorithm~. Originally showing content on the newsfeed chronologically, Facebook has transitioned to prioritizing popular posts, to […]
Read more "Prioritizing Truth: Who’s Responsible?"