Digital Media Success - Proceed with Caution

This is my last post for my Strategic Communications and Emerging Media Class. I have learned so much throughout the course of this last nine weeks. Our communication world has changed in regards to traditional media venues to now more electronic, digital and social media outlets.

In one of the articles I read during this class “Net Effect: The Past, Present & Future Impact of our Networks” by the FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler made a great point that we as communicators have a great privilege of being in the hinge moment of history to wrestle with the future of our networks and their effects on our commerce and culture. The concept of the changing world of communications is so overwhelming. However, the responsibility of this change is also just as enormous. There are so many facets to how we approach communications in today’s world. It is up to us as strategic communicators to be aware of all the pros and cons of our media channels.

Through social media and social networking sites (SNS), anyone has the opportunity to be a reporter and/or communicator. This unfortunately waters down the important stories and causes great margins for errors. It is our job to ensure that we continue to produce quality communications and not get pulled into the haste of getting the story out there without regard of ensuring the source and accuracy of information. Do not let these sites ruin the reputation of you or your company due to quick release. You should allow these sites to build your reputation by making them trusted and accurate. Give your readers or customers a reason to come back.

While there are risks involved in the new digital world, there is also a great deal of opportunity. As I stated before, the internet allows anyone with access to be a communicator. This allows for many opportunities for small business, start-up freelancers, and even beginner bloggers who want to get their name out there and build a reputation. The advantages of advertising a new business when you have a limited budget can be instrumental to your company. It also allows for many to be engaging and utilize untapped resources through crowdsourcing. This is a great way to get ideas, gain patrons and even get the word out about your business.

Always use the digital world with caution and reserve. As easy as it is to put your stamp out there, it is just as easy for someone to tear down your reputation. Build a strategy and not just a webpage or social media page. Make sure that your account for mishaps which can and will occur. And, always be prepared to answer the hard questions. Knowing your public and the capabilities of what you have at your fingertips can make or break your business and/or personal brand. Always be on guard and responsive and you will be successful in the digital world.

Our Social World is Changing - Are Our Children being Affected?

When I was growing up, my parents, grandparents and relatives were always telling me to keep in touch.  At that time, keeping in touch meant by phone (land line) or by mail. There was no way that I was going to spend my precious time sitting down and writing letter, or even calling someone unless I was making plans with a friend. My news worthiness involved the television and whatever I happen to pick up from school. And not to mention having to do research for a school project which involved dusting off those old encyclopedias or going to the local library. In any case, whether it was school work or just making sure your family knew you still existed, it was a major effort and could be very time consuming.

Technology today has changed all that through the internet, social media and networking. It has become as easy as a swipe of an app and you have checked in or updated relatives and friends on your immediate status. Many teenagers have become more and more dependent, obsessed or even addicted to these social networking sites. Mobile voice and text communication, Instant Messaging (IM), blogging, and social networking offer youth a variety of ways to connect with their friends, loved ones and even special interest groups. Typically, young people use these new media technologies to maintain existing friendships rather than start new ones.  MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube just to name a few, have become the source of communication for this now generation. Teenage girls seem to have taken to the blogospheres more so than boys. I really don’t fine this surprising due to the fact more girls keep a diary or journal of thoughts than do boys.  However, according to one of our readings this week, a study was conducted among teenage girls aged 17 to 21 who have been blogging for three or more years. It showed that girls use this avenue for self-expression and peer interaction. It also stated that you can see the progression of personality in these young teens. Over the years the context of their blogs changes as they convert from adolescents into adulthood.

I was troubled the other day when I received a phone call from a friend who follows this blog. She stated that a young girl in her daughter’s high school class had used YouTube to create a suicide message. This was a very sad and unexpected response as her pervious social media activities showed that she was a bright, happy teenager that posted pictures with friends and even maintained a “makeup channel” on YouTube. However, she decided to take to the same medium to capture her thoughts before she decided to end her life. The video was a heart-shattering look into her struggle with depression and anxiety. On her decision to commit suicide, she said, “I just don’t see how this is a bad idea,” and described it as the difference between deciding to jump from a burning building or staying in it and dying “a slow, excruciating death.”  “I’ve been like this for so long,” she said, “and there’s still a chance that the worst day might be coming.”

Not saying that social media had anything to do with the tragedy of this young girl, but it does introduce the question, why did she feel compelled to utilize this venue to record her intentions?  I agree that it is appropriate for adults to question the possible effects of networked communication on youths’ cognitive and social development. When a young adolescent put their lives on display it opens a door to anyone who wants to comment on that person’s individuality. For those focused on the action of self-identity and display, online risks may arise from their willing, sometimes naïve, self-display of personal information to a wide circle of contacts, not all of whom are close friends.

 Children so badly want to be accepted, heard, included all while receiving instant gratification. These same teens that want to be engaged also want to be engaging. The route of communication and social experiences are now multi-dimensional and fast track. I can completely relate to those parents who struggle to keep up with the social impact of mass media and social networking. I have three teenagers who are all network savvy. I do feel that the expansion of SNS has increased not only social risks, but attention disorders as well. As I had stated in an earlier blog, when children are exposed to prolonged use of the internet or social media activity it can produce permanent changes in the brain structure and function due to the interactive, repetitive and addictive stimuli. When a developing brain consistently shifts from object to object without thorough evaluation or completion of one topic, it can increase the potential of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). While it has not been factual proven that internet activity and social networking is a cause for the rise in ADHD diagnosis in youth today, it also cannot be dismissed. A direct correlation is arguable that since social media has saturated our lifestyles, ADHD diagnoses have been on the rise.

However there is an advantage for those children/teenagers who may not be comfortable being part of a group. Through social networks they can now participate in groups that peak their interest, by simply logging in and being engaged. Through an expanded network, children tend to be more involved and not limited to social activities within their local community. Social networking and technology opens the door for many individuals to find other youth that share their same interest and goals which helps to foster their individual identities. Schools have successfully integrated social networking to help bridge the gaps and challenges they may have in offering certain academic activities or classes. Some classrooms have even joined forces with other classroom in an entirely different country to help with cultural diversity.

We know that social media, networking and technology are now part of our daily lives and will only continue to grow in its dominance of how we communicate. It is important that as parents we understand that children need to be socialized in a way that does not include internet activity. Parents should consider limiting social networking and technology in childhood to allow for proper brain development of social, emotional and behavioral skills. Encourage activities that support traditional media along with social media. When properly monitored, these activities can enhance our lives instead of hindering our children’s development and growth.

References

Davis, K. (2010). Coming of Age Online: The Developmental Underpinnings of Girls’ Blogs. Journal of Adolescent Research. doi:10.1177/0743558409350503

Huang, E. (2009). The Causes of Youths' Low News Consumption and Strategies for Making Youths Happy News Consumers. Convergence: The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies, 15, 105-122. doi:10.1177/1354856508097021

Livingstone, S. (2008). Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media & Society, 10, 393-411. doi:10.1177/1461444808089415

It's All About the Brand!

What does your brand say about you? One of the most important things you have going for you is ensuring that your brand is one that is recognizable and trusted. Who are you? What do you stand for? And, how are your perceived? Building a dynamic brand can help build an emotional connection between your business and in your personal and professional life. Connecting with customers, humanize yourself and/or your company can set you apart from the competition.

Your brand is how you're is perceived by consumers or the general public. It is want you should want people to know about you. Your brand can make your or break your  and apart from your competitors. Think of it like this. You may have many friends and or acquaintances, but only a few that you go to in certain situations. These are the ones that you trust and respect because of who they are and what they represent. They have branded themselves as a trusted confidante for whom you value their feedback, experience and company. Your personal brand is how you want to be perceived and known. People and either think rationally about you, your product or service, or they can think emotionally about it. A personal brand is the reputation and image that you intentionally create, manage and communicate about, in a way that an audience finds engaging.

You should always ensure to keep a brand fresh, relevant and competitive. While the product may not change, the market does. You do not want your brand to fade away. Always keep it in the forefront of your consumers. When you reinvent, you keep it fresh and noticeable. As Rory Sutherland presented in his Ted Talk about advertising and perception, you can reinvent the way your brand is perceived without actually reinventing the brand. Making something new simply by changing the way consumers perceive it. You can amplify the brand image with a complementing logo, slogan or tagline. This brings recognition and personality with just a glance. For example, what do you think about when you see those “Golden Arches”, or that “Swoosh” (you know what I mean and I did not even need to give you the brand name)? That is brand recognition. Just a glance at a logo and you know exactly what that product is and you emotional connection to it. In today’s world of social media and information overload, companies have to be even more creative and on top of their game. The market is ever changing and even if your business was a big fish in a small pond, now the small fish have a way of nibbling away at you. The playing field has shifted and small business can get in on the game a lot easier than in the past.

With new technology including the internet, mobile phones and tablets, people now want content along with the branding that moves beyond fancy slogans and eye catching logos. When you leverage the power of content, you can elevate your audience to a level of informed knowledge about your product. Using more content will attract and retain the attention of your targeted audience therefore enhancing your brand to a level of interest that readers will share and think is compelling. For example, if someone were to go to your Facebook, Twitter, maybe even your personal blog, what would it say about you? How do you represent yourself? The information gathered through all types of media can increase your brand or even diminish it. Take Paula Dean for example. She has worked years and years to become a public icon in cooking and southern hospitality. All it took was one comment that was stated under oath to destroy her brand. That comment spread through the media and internet waves so fast, that what took years to build was destroyed in a matter of weeks. This was because the public perception of Paula now was that she had racial ideals. When you give the market something to talk about, it can either elevate your brand, or destroy it. Try at every opportunity to put a positive perception and utilizing content that the social media channels will see as engaging. Just be aware, this venue moves at a rapid pace and as easy as your brand recognition can climb, it can also be fall. Your social branding strategies always need to be part of a whole well rounded public relations strategy that will help build strength and repair any weaknesses that my become part of your brand perception.

Utilizing social media marketing to increase your brand allows you, your business or organization to engage and converse with your consumers in a way that is meaningful. You must conduct your branding and social media presence in a skillful way in order to build viability and not be considered over promotional. In a sense, this avenue of marketing opens your brand up to crowdsourcing. You need to ensure that all comments (positive and negative) get a response. The biggest pitfall to avoid is unresponsiveness or deleting negative comments. Everything has flaws, and your will build your brand strength by acknowledging the good and the bad. If you engage them in a persuasive manner, then you can more than likely gain their confidence and respect and maybe swing the odds in your favor. Remember that then internet has made the stages of brand loyalty move much quicker. A person can go from neutral to satisfied to dissatisfied in a matter of minutes.

Remember, your brand is what drives you and your product. Your marketing strategy is what drives your brand. Make sure your strategies are smart, well thought out and content driven. Social media is making consumers better informed and less predictable. Be innovative and keep your brand alive and in the forefront. Make a statement that will stick and set you apart from the competitors. Utilize all avenues, and be aware of each avenue that could bring the wrong message about you. Always remember that in order to keep your brand (personal or professional) ahead of the game, you should not be afraid of change. Stay fresh, focused and informative.

 

 

References

Fundamentals of Personal Branding - Business Insider. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/fundamentals-of-personal-branding-2012-10#!HWUME

 

Sorenson, L. (2012, March 8). How To Keep Your Brand Fresh, Relevant, And Buzzworthy. Retrieved from http://www.starbrandstudio.com/how-to-keep-your-brand-fresh-relevant-and-buzzworthy/

 

Turpin, D. (2014, April 29). Retrieved from www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140429125444-3458678-warning-three-temptations-that-can-seriously-damage-your-brand

 

Standout with the Crowd!!

How many of you have had an idea, opportunity, or just been stumped and needed some advice? If I took a random survey, I would be confident that 99 percent of people would say at one point in their life they needed advice. Typically the best way to get this is to poll your friends, family or coworkers. Now, with social media driving our everyday life, I see more and more people use this avenue as an opportunity to get the answers they are so desperately seeking. I can’t tell you how many times I have pulled up Facebook or Instagram and notice that someone has posted a picture and asked for feedback. Some of the feedback is positive, some negative and some just plain comical. But the result is based on how the recipient values the feedback that is being provided. Did you realize that there is a technical term for this type of interaction? It is called Crowdsourcing, and it is being utilize more and more throughout the business and technical worlds.

In today’s world businesses need to stay ahead of the game in order to maintain their competitive edge. Hiring creative and innovative people is a must, but sometimes ideas can become stale or stagnant when you are too close to the product. Crowdsourcing uses the input of individuals external to an organization to resolve strategic problems or complete tasks once assigned internally to an explicit corporate individual or department. The use of this method allows for non-bias and candid feedback that will elevate the level of thinking within an organization. But when you ask the crowd for their participation, you better be ready to act. The natural response of the public is to be heard and see the see the results of their engagement.

When deciding to utilize a method like crowdsourcing, you should always build a proactive and results driven strategy around it.

1.      Set goals. Articulate the problem and give your audience a specific challenge or clarity around the end goal. Framing the questions is vital to success.

2.      Practice cross-fertilization. Executive sponsorship is important at the onset to gather crowds, but don’t limit participants to a single area of expertise or department within a business. Bringing together different thinkers results in bigger, better ideas.

3.      Make it fun. There needs to be a social recognition and a game quality to make what is ultimately a problem-solving task attractive to participants. Integrate game mechanics and voting, or prizes to motivate the crowd.

4.      Be committed. Be prepared for a continuous feedback loop – to provide an answer, take action or just simply acknowledge the crowds contributions.

5.      Allocate back-end resources. On the front-end, things like communication and motivation are critical. Once the ideas start rolling in, there needs to be curation and filtering, along with plans to put the contributions into action.

While there are great benefits to crowds, without a plan of action, control and understanding, they can become herds and reinforce group think. It is critical that these strategies and processes provide incentives, fairness in evaluation, transparency and an ability to bring the results back into your organization. Without this, experimenting with the crowd can create substandard results or even backlash against the organizers.

There definitely needs to be a balance with crowdsourcing. If you rely too heavily on the public opinion and suggestions, it could result in a disastrous failure. You would probably  want stay away from letting the masses name a product or help define a campaign slogan. One example of such a disaster, according to the Business Insider,  is when “NASA decided to let a popular vote name a new section of the International Space Station, they at least had the sense to start with a pool of their own suggestions. Unfortunately, they decided to include the option to write-in an alternative. Someone told Stephen Colbert. Stephen Colbert told his legion of devoted fans. The next thing NASA knew, Colbert had six times more votes than any of the options they had provided. NASA was not amused, declining to honor the contest winner.” Everyone loves a good practical joke, and an opportunist is always waiting to make their mark. This should be accounted for when you decide to go to the general public for an idea.

Using crowdsourcing makes great financial and creative sense, but just like any other strategy it should involve proper planning and the understanding of the pro’s and con’s. Crowdsourcing should be used in conjunction with other strategies in order to maximize its success. Businesses can boost their brand and keep on their company on the competitive edge if they are engaging. Public engagement can provide constructive feedback (positive and negative) and help create new processes and consumer responsiveness. A more personal relationship can be obtain with their consumers by allowing them to feel as if they were a part of the improvements or new strategies. However, businesses should always era on the side of caution because there's no privacy in crowdsourcing. Customers, competitors and the interactive world will all be aware of your motives. Invariably, there will be many entries or suggestions that are just not realistic to implement. And always keep in mind that sometimes you get exactly what you pay for.

 

References

Apps | Technology | The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/apps

Does crowdsourcing innovation work? Yes, and here’s how. | Spigit. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.spigit.com/spigit-in-the-news/does-crowdsourcing-innovation-work-yes-and-here%E2%80%99s-how/

Danger, Danger, Citizen Alert

The world of communications and journalism has changed so much over the last ten years. During the time of traditional media, the stories were written by those who were considered professional journalist, reporters or communications specialist. Fact checking was a must and ensuring you maintained your journalist ethics was nothing to compromise. Now, anyone who has an idea, thought or experience they would like to share can hit the internet and express it in their own way. Our readings this week were on citizen journalism and digital democracy. What is citizen journalism and digital democracy you ask? Well, just what it sounds like. It is the opportunity to express your ideas, tell your story or review an experience you may have just by creating a blog or posting on a social networking site (SNS). Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Well I think it’s both.

Citizen journalism opens up a door to a whole world of story’s that otherwise may not have made it out to the general public. Mobile devices such as phones and net pads are capturing and streaming real-time news. Collaborative journalism (the practice of professional and non-professional journalists working together) is becoming the way of communication. Due to the availability of technology, citizens can often report breaking news more quickly than traditional media reporters. The means to publish is now in the hands of citizens, while the internet encourages new forms of journalism that are interactive and immediate. However, it is important that fact checking is still a big part of the reporting process. Quality of the story should be as important as timeliness. Everyone wants to be the first to break the story, but no one wants to be the first to recant something that was incorrectly reported. Always confirm before you report. For example, how many times have you seen a story on Facebook about a celebrity that has died? Just because it looks like a “News Story” it does not mean it is factual. And, that also goes for those who decide they want to write a blog or create a post about a certain topic. Citizen journalism tends to be one-sided and not necessarily fair. People by nature are biased and objectivity tends to flee when an inexperienced writer has a slanted view. When this happens, the original story can be a changed a bit. Gossip begins and errors are exposed resulting in different versions of the same story. Society might not get what they bargained for. The same concept comes into play with blogs and posts regarding events, news and even sports. Citizen journalism doesn’t stop there, it is in just about everywhere you look on the internet. SNSes are filled with people expressing their viewpoints and experiences through posts and blogs.

Blogs and social network posts have become one of the fastest growing communication mediums of all time. Many people are blogging about things such as politics, the economy, healthcare, entertainment or what they had for breakfast. There are generally five types of bloggers; corporate, entrepreneur, full-time professional, part-time professional and the hobbyist. Just as people like to hear themselves talk (I know you know what I’m talking about) there are also those express their opinions in blogs not matter how blunt, crazy or obscene they may be. However, blogging is a very powerful tool, For instance, did you know that 6.7 million people blog on blogging sites and 12 million on social networks? Also, 77 percent of internet users read blogs and 81 percent of US consumers trust the advice and information from blogs. With stats like that, how can you not be interested in what is being said. However one must be extremely careful about the face value of what you read. I generally go to many blog links to research certain things. However, if I am looking for clarification on a serious topic, I am careful to ensure that the source is creditable. Most blogs for which I link are from a professional site I feel that is very reputable and the bloggers credentials and expertise is prominent on the site. 

While there be more news streaming across the media with the help of everyday people and their digital devices, these same people will hold the reporters accountable to their stories. That is why it is so important to ensure the validity of what is being posted or blogged. Again, people want to be heard and they also want you to know if they have a different opinion or a different experience than what you may have blogged or posted about. That is where the democracy comes in. Everyone has a voice in this digital world and many are not afraid to put it all out there. More main stream media newsrooms are moving toward a more opinionated or partisan approach to news and commentary. To be impartial is said to be boring to viewers and readers. Audiences are said to be attracted to strong opinion and conflicts of opinion. They want to know all angles and be a part of the conversation.

The tradition of what journalism is has changed and lines are being blurred between the reporters and the citizens who are not jumping onto the journalistic bandwagon. So choose carefully what you read. Take in to consideration the source of the information. If you blog, blog smart. If you browse, browse with caution. And always remember that just because you read it on Facebook, it does not mean its 100 percent truth.

 

 References

Blogging Stats | Social Media Today. (2013, August 28). Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://socialmediatoday.com/mikevelocity/1698201/blogging-stats-2013-infographic

Information 3.0: The Pros and Cons of Citizen Journalism! What are your thoughts?! (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://sarahfich2.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-pros-and-cons-of-citizen-journalism.html

Ward, S. J. (n.d.). Digital Media Ethics | Center for Journalism Ethics. Retrieved April 18, 2014, from http://ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/resources/digital-media-ethics/

 

The Social Media Storm

Social media has come a long way in a very short time. In my previous post, I pointed out concerns regarding social media and the social development of our children. Now let’s discuss the evolution of social media and what it means to our businesses. Understanding the history of social networking sites (SNS) gives a great perspective of the intent of this trend.

Believe it or not, SNS first came on the scene in 1969 through a company called CompuServe. It was the first major commercial internet service provider for the public in the United States. This service used a technology known as dial-up which dominated the field through the 1980s and even remained a player into the mid-90s. I am sure there are some of you out there who can still recall that distinct sound from when you were trying to connect to your dial up server. In 1971, the first email was delivered and throughout the 70s, bulletin board systems were created to inform people of meetings, announcements and sharing various posts and information. This was the beginning of the virtual communities. The Prodigy online service was introduced in 1984 and soon became one of the largest online service providers in 1990. Prodigy later pioneered the sales of dial-up connections to the World Wide Web and hosting services for Web publishers. Through several acquisitions, this service is now part of AT&T. Then in 1984, American Online (AOL) made its debuted and in ’85, A British engineer by the name of Tim Berners-Lee began work at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Switzerland), on what was to become the World Wide Web (WWW). 1992 a community online system for college students and young adults was opened by Tripod, and in 1993 CERN donated the WWW technology to the world. Also, students from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, debuted Mosaic (the first graphical browser) and the web pages we know now were born. By this time, more than 200 Web servers were online.

In the mid-90s things really started to speed up. By 1994 more than 1500 Web servers were online. Yahoo opened as a major internet search engine and index in 1994. GeoCities which was created by the Beverly Hills Internet and allowed users to create their own urban modeled websites, got up to one million members by 1997. There were 38 million user Web pages on GeoCities before is shut down for U.S. users in 2009. Today, Yahoo owns GeoCities and offers it only as a web hosting service for Japan. The internet was now being referred to as the “Information Superhighway.” Also in 1997 blogging begins. SixDegrees.com allows users to create profiles and friends list. You can now do virtual chatting through AOL and Blackboard is introduced as an online course management system for educators and learners. Google came into the game in 1998 and in 1999 the first online social network to achieve prominence was Friends Reunited. At this point seventy million computers were connected but in the world of business and commerce in 2000, the dot.com bubble had burst and the internet and online future was unsure. From 2001 through 2004 social networking took off. Wikipedia came online; Apple began selling iPods and introduced iTunes; a social networking site called Friendster opened in the U.S. and grew to three million users in just three months. AOL had over 34 million members; MySpace launched to compete with Friendster; LinkedIn started the business SNS concept for professionals; and now there were over three billion Web pages. Facebook hit the market and has not stopped. Digg was founded as a social news website for people to share stories across the internet.

Let’s fast forward to 2014.  Social media is the new business market. To be and maintain a competitive edge, you must be ready to move into that social media world. However, this is not without risk. Many companies have a hesitation about moving into this unknown world. It is very hard to monitor the real-time comments that may put your business in a negative light. Companies need to start thinking of ways to transition their marketing strategies that will include social media. It is important that they begin to hire those with blogging and mobile media experience. Businesses and organizations must understand the necessity and complexity of building a social media presences. To build it is one thing, but you cannot let it go stagnant, or blunder the approach. If that happens, companies can face damaging reputations. If your site is stagnant, it discourages consumer engagement and gives the impression that you are unwilling to service your customer.

Social networking can make or break a company if it is not properly handled. I read an article about companies that had used national tragedies and social media to promote their product. While one may think that it is an opportunity, it is looked upon as completely distasteful. For example, shortly after the Newtown shootings occurred, Kmart sent a tweet to pay their respects and then added a promotional hashtag. Also, a tweet accidently went out under the Chrysler Auto company account that included gross profanity due to the user sending it under the wrong account. With Twitter having over 500 million registered users, even if you don’t follow Chrysler Auto, the retweets of people for whom you may follow will spin a situation like this out of control. As I’ve said before, good news travels fast, but bad news and stupid mistakes travel at warp speed.

I think in today’s world of internet dominance, enhancing your brand and keeping it on the forefront involves a social marketing strategy. Companies must ensure they have a social marketing plan and keep it authentic and align it with the terms of the company’s style and persona. Also have a backup public relations crisis plan to advert any negative responses or complications that may occur.

 

References

Babcock, P. (2010, August 13). Suffering From Social Media Neglect? Retrieved April 11, 2014, from http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/technology/articles/pages/socialmedianeglect.aspx

The Brief History of Social Media. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2014, from http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/NewMedia/SocialMedia/SocialMediaHistory.html

Calderon, A. (2013, May 22). 19 Companies That Made Huge Social Media Fails. Retrieved April 11, 2014, from http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/19-companies-that-made-huge-social-media-fails

Is Digital Dominance a Downfall in Childhood Development?

As I read through articles this week and digested the whole mobile nation, it really got me thinking about our society and especially our youth. Is all this mobile access helping or hindering the development of our children? Approximately half of our world’s population has mobile connectivity and 90% of Americans own mobile phones. The statistic does not exclude our youth population. The marketing thought within the business world today is pretty much, Go Mobile or Go Home. And, with those numbers above, why would you think otherwise. My thoughts are, with this rapidly evolving mobile and social media revolution we may be technologically engaging, but is it at the expense of losing our true physical social abilities?

Think about this, when’s the last time you sat down to hand write a thank you card or a note of appreciation to someone? If that question was presented to our youth today, the response would probably be that they send an email or posted something on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. In today’s world the instant gratification of mobility and social media has replaced the intimacy of a hand written note or receiving a card in the mail. Even the act of going outside to play with neighborhood friends or joining an actual physical social activity has taken a back seat to online social groups and networks. Are the youth today being robbed of the excitement of receiving that special letter in the mail or going to an event and enjoying the roar of a crowd and being part of a social community that does not involve logging on. Being mobile has opened the door to a larger world for our children, but at what cost?

Some say that kids who struggle with social skills may find it easier to rely upon social media and digital applications as a crutch. They use these venues as an act of socialization, instead of actually challenging themselves to physically get out and participate in a true social environment. A person’s social skills are most critically developed in childhood. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the healthier a child’s early experiences are, the more apt they are to enter school and life with a strong foundation or social-emotional skills. When these social activities are challenged with social media being the only way some children interact with the world, it limits the development needed to for these kids to be socially functioning adult. But, on the flip side of that statistic, children who may have serious inhibitions about being part of a group can now find social networks that peak their interest and just simply log in and be engaged. Through an expanded network, a child is not just limited to social activities within their local community. Their engagement can expand far beyond these boundaries to reach across the nation and even worldwide. Mobility and social networking opens the door for many individuals to find other youth that share their same interest and goals which helps to foster their individual identities. For some of these children, mobile technology has opened a whole other world for them to actually grow and expand their personalities.

In today’s digital world, a child’s engagement can expand far beyond local community boundaries to reach across the nation and even worldwide. Social networking opens the door for many kids to find other children that share their same interest and goals which helps to foster their individual identities. Schools have successfully integrated social networking to help bridge the gaps in offering certain academic activities that would not be available without the internet. Some classrooms have even joined forces with other classrooms in entirely different countries to help expand cultural diversity. When engaging in activities such as this, it enlarges the community and teaches cultural acceptance at an early age.

 Now does all this new access to the world help or hinder a child’s development. There are additional studies that have shown that increased use of mobile application and immediate access to the internet increases attention disorders. It’s been recorded that 40% of 8 to 18 year olds spend 54 minutes a day on mobile apps and social media sites.  Also, when receiving an alert from a social networking site activity, like a new tweet or Facebook message, users take 20 to 25 minutes on average to return to their original task. In 30% of cases, it took two hours to fully return attention to their original task. When children are exposed to prolonged use of the internet or social media activity it can produce permanent changes in the brain structure and function due to the interactive, repetitive and addictive stimuli. When a developing brain consistently shifts from object to object without thorough evaluation or completion of one topic, it can increase the potential of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). While it has not been factual proven that internet activity and social networking is a cause for the rise in ADHD diagnosis in youth today it cannot be dismissed. A direct correlation is arguable that since social media has saturated our lifestyles, ADHD diagnoses have been on the rise.

Since mobile strategies and social media are now part of our daily lives and will only continue to grow, it is important that parents understand that children need to be socialized in a way that does not include internet activity. Parents should consider limiting social networking in childhood to allow for proper brain development of social, emotional and behavioral skills. When properly monitored, these activities can enhance our lives instead of hindering our children’s development and growth.

 

References

Mark Connolly/Wisconsin Center for Education Research (2011, October). Benefits and Drawbacks. Retrieved January 13, 2014, from http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/news/coverStories/2011/benefits_and_drawbacks.php

 ProCon.org. (2014, January 16). Social Networking ProCon.org. Retrieved from http://socialnetworking.procon.org/

 The Rise of ADHD: Is Technology to Blame? - ADHD Center - EverydayHealth.com. (2010, August). Retrieved January 16, 2014, from http://www.everydayhealth.com/adhd-awareness/the-rise-of-adhd-is-technology-to-blame.aspx

 Carroll, J.A. & Kirkpatrick, R.L. (2011). Impact of social media on adolescent behavioral health. Oakland, CA: California Adolescent Health Collaborative.