Hello Everyone!
I have decided to answer question #7!
Being active in all kinds of social media myself, I have a couple of good examples of the advantages and disadvantages of social media.
In my opinion, I strongly believe that social media has a good side and a bad side. It is a double-edged sword. With access to the internet, words spread within a few seconds around the globe, whether it is good or bad. News about Australia finally getting heavy rain has traveled across the globe into our hand in a matter of seconds. With social media tools available to us these days, it is crucial for us to become media-aware and decide which information is credible and which is not.
One of the good sides about social media is that it provides an invisible barrier for evidence (or literature) so that they don’t get forgotten. In my last post, I have talked about how studying literature helps us remember the right information about history and that it will prevent history from getting neglected and forgotten. Unless the publisher consciously deletes the evidence, the information on the web will likely stay where it is for a long long time. And that itself will help us remember things that are not supposed to be forgotten.
However, the bad sides of social media is that words spread too fast, and it may result in devastating effects. Just to inform you about the effects of social media, here is an example of a K-pop star taking her own life because of cyber bullying. This clearly shows the destructive nature of social media. Tying this back to the question of the impact of social media on literature and story, it is crucial that the right information is published on the web as words spread fast, and by the time we realize that the information is false, it might be too late to correct our wrongdoings because it would have created prejudice among the readers that have already read the article and make false judgement based on the information they read through the web.
In the case of hyperlinks, I find it a really convenient and useful tool to engage the readers. The reason being is because of the want for more information readers experience. It provides the opportunity for readers to delve deep into the topic they wish to learn and a myriad of information readers can choose so that their questions are answered.
Works Cited
Hi Joseph,
I think your idea of social media as a double-edged sword is interesting and very true. You might want to look into discussions of pharmakon–people have described literature as pharmakon, and I believe social media can be described in a similar manner. (https://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/pmahon/pharmakon.html)
I think one of the most positive impacts of social media that you touched on is its ability to spread information incredibly quickly, as well as its capacity to unite otherwise isolated individuals and groups. This is seen clearly through the #metoo movement.
Do you think that social media, while having risks attached, is mostly a positive tool for indigenous Canadians to share their stories and have their voices heard by the global community?
Hi Georgia!!
Yes! I think indigenous Canadians can definitely benefit from social media so that their stories are widely spread and receive a lot of attention as well!! 🙂