Thursday, November 29, 2018
How to & Why You Should Embrace Social Media by Ryan Ratelle
The Producer's Perspective: Like it or not, the advent of smartphones coupled with the unstoppable rise of social media has literally put the power of the people into the palm of our hands. This new form of media has given birth to billions of new user-created television networks, editorials, and music labels – all accessible (and scrollable) in tiny hand-held devices. Every minute of the day, people play multiple roles as creators, critics, commentators, gurus, and advocates. It’s a game-changing force that has radically altered the way we receive and share information, advertise, and interact.
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6 comments:
Social media has become a tool for success for many people and businesses and I completely agree with the author that embracing social media is important. Jobs have been created out the social media trend and people feed themselves and their families off it. People are paid to create content for and maintain social media accounts. Even companies (big companies) nowadays reach out to "influencers" to help market their products, keep their customer base and reach out to new and potential customers. People are becoming more aware of the content that they post. Social media has become a fertile ground for employment, publicity, and networking. As someone who has social media accounts and observer of those who have more active social media accounts and I recognize the difference between both accounts. I post for the fun of it but when I see some posts, I am amazed at the effort and time put into the process of creating the content to post.
I thought this article was very interesting and, while I did not agree with all of it, I think it made some good points about social media. I think there are a lot of negative connotations that come with social media and people are often hesitant to explore it or see it as something positive but I think the article mentioned some things that people should keep in mind. There are obviously ways that you can use social media that are unproductive and waste of brain space and energy. There are, however, several ways to use social media that are actually very engaging and powerful. The article mentioned that it is important to be social while on social media and actually engage with the people that you are trying to reach. It will be a lot more rewarding if you can actually create connections and talk to people instead of just wasting time scrolling through something for hours. I think this article did a good job of presenting the pros and cons of social media and providing strategies for making it worthwhile.
Social Media is definitely a tool I under use, that why I choose to read Ryan Ratelle Article “How to & Why You Should Embrace Social Media by Ryan Ratelle. I am not too active on social media because I believe social media is a bad thing, I don’t use it to often, more because I don’t find time to get around to it. I've never fully believed it’s a bad thing, I am definitely aware of the ways social media is beneficial on an individual and wide scale level. I Just need to know more of the actual specific on just how exactly social media can be beneficial, thus why I chose to read Ryan’s article on why I should embrace it. Ryan gave some success stories of individuals who were able to find success through social media and even help their family out financially. I am completely aware of these stories being a definite reality for a lot of people, but I don’t know if that it means it is necessarily the success path I need to go on. I don’t know if I can find the time to use social media in a consistently in the manner he describes, but I will keep a open mind on the topic in relation to my own use in the future.
I’m not seeing a great argument against the philosophy of social media as a “necessary evil.” I’m way behind the curve on most things, largely because I’ve experienced social media as a thing that breaks more than it fixes. But sure, as this article says, if you want to get free stuff or make money from it, and you have several hours every week to devote to it, sure. If these experts expect you to devote an hour or two weekly just on planning your posts, not even on generating content, they are probably confused about why more people do not use social media as aggressively as they espouse. Also, I think it is worthwhile noting that, just like the days before social media, there is limited space on the top. Perhaps there is enough turnover that everyone with a gaggle of charming children can have their chance to get a truckload of ad revenue, but it feels far-fetched. Furthermore, it does take talent and imagination to generate content that people actually want to consume. But this article was written by a “digital talent agency,” so they’re doubtlessly trying to sell their services.
While much of this article made perfect sense, it was strange to read such positive encouragement of social media use when I’m so accustomed to reading about the negative effects. After a personal purge of all social media last winter, I redownloaded only Instagram and have tried to change the way I approach the platform. Rather than making it about the unhealthy things-- constantly worrying about what my friends are doing, seeing countless images of photoshopped bodies, etc.-- I’ve used it as a means to discover art that engages me. For me, that means following artists of all fields, museums and galleries, magazines and publications, lesser known theaters, public activists, and influential brands. Ever since this shift, the discovery and rediscovery of art and artists really does make social media an overall positive force in my understanding of the world. It is a wonderful tool and platform for creators, and I hope that my generation which is so well-versed in social media can learn to utilize it for the better.
I found this article uncomfortable. It starts with three examples of people who have succeeded through the use of social media, all of whom are parents using their kids in some form or another. It is really nice to hear that one of these stories helped secure housing for a child and their parent, however when I looked up their name on instagram, I was met with a full-face made-up child, dressed like an adult, and videos of her dancing somewhat in a seductive way. I was immediately uncomfortable with the beauty standards that were placed on this child at so young, and even at the kind of standards this sets for the older audience viewing it. Every year, runway models get younger and younger, and beauty feels like it becomes more and more unachievable. I personally am a heavy user of instagram, and in my experience of seeing highly curated pages am turned off. Instagram can be a place for art, and so often I see people letting their ideas of “what their audience wants” get in the way of them doing what they want, and making their social media less about them and more of the people that follow them. This article advocates for colour pallets and high quality photos, all things that are proven true aesthetically. However people should remind themselves that they are CHOOSING to do this. It is so time consuming, and often the purest part, of the small off-stage special look people get, is tinted with the intent of curating for others.
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