Articles

Would this post exist without social media?

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Its safe to say that social media has completely shaped our generation. I recently went on the trending section on Twitter and found one of the most trending hashtags, which was #IfCellphonesDisappeared. If indeed we didn’t have cell phones, this class most probably wouldn’t exist. The rise of social media and trending subjects have radically changed our established order. Universities are gradually offering unorthodox classes that are inspired by social media trends and pop culture icons such as the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus. Business Insider has come out with an article on 8 college classes that probably never would have been offered a decade ago. Some of these range from “Jay-Z and Kanye West” at the University of Missouri, “The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class Gender, and Media” at Skidmore University to “The World of ‘Downton Abbey:’ Revolution, Rebellion and Re-Creation” at Oakland University. The one that perhaps stood out the most to us was the “#SelfieClass
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Snap Map's Privacy Issues

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Hey! We’re back for two new blog posts. Constantly being on social media makes us sometimes forget that certain features of applications are totally crossing boundaries of our private life. Let’s address a few of the Snap Map’s privacy issues. Snapchat is a messaging application that was introduced to the public in 2011. On this platform, users communicate through the exchange of pictures or videos that disappear once you have viewed them. Same goes for when users are using the chat option where they send a text and it disappears once the conversation is closed. For group chats, the messages last only for a duration of 24h unless you saved them. So basically, Snapchat is different because messages/pictures or videos disappear once they have been opened. It gives the idea that what you share has a limited life duration which is contrary to all other social media. This false sense of privacy brings user to put their guards down and blindly trust the application. In this blog post
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Is Social Media positive for democracy?

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In recent years, social media had played an integral part in different political processes. Many political campaigns rely on the use of these platforms to influence youth knowledge and participation in voting decisions. The Egyptian Presidential Election in 2014 and the more recent Québec election are proof of the impact and reach that networking sites can have on citizens. The purpose of this blog post is to look at how social media has affected election campaigns, but also continues to long after. Perhaps the most obvious example is Donald Trump’s digital campaign during his presidential election. It’s safe to say that his active participation on Twitter has been controversial. We begin to wonder if social media is indeed a positive thing for democracy. There are definitely benefits and drawbacks to these networking platforms. First, social media are platforms that allow open and free discussions in the context of a public sphere. In a democracy, it is important for people to expre
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Using Social Media in Search of Validation

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Welcome to our blog that we’re writing for class #COMS427. Last week, Victoria from class shared an article on her Twitter page that we found interesting and raised an important topic. The famous rapper Kanye West has been raising awareness on his Twitter page about the psychological consequences that can arise from social media. He continued, in a series of tweets, to challenge the inherent norms of platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, stating that we should be able to participate in social media with the option of not having to show your followers or likes . What kind of content would people be posting if they didn’t get instant gratification in forms of “likes” in return? The rapper raises a good point in that social media following has an immense impact on our self-worth, and this is very worrisome. The mentioned tweets make us think of the “uses and gratifications theory” explained by Whiting and Williams. This theory argues “that individuals will seek out media a
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