How do you think social media will change in the future? What other trends would you add to the mix? Are they any specific technologies that you think will gain popularity or emerge?

Well to be honest it could be anything in the future. Thinks back about 15 years; no one would have predicated facebook, twitter and youtube for example. They might have had that idea that one day people would be able to do such and such, but I don’t think to this extreme. In the last 15 years, social media has evolved a lot and still growing. Think about the past few years and how fast social media is expanding. We didn’t have twitter and facebook was the new thing. Think to your first cell phone, I still have my old one, it couldn’t go on facebook nor had apps to go to youtube and twitter and such with a click, and it wasn’t possible back then.

In a book I read called “extra” by Scott Westerfield, he talks about this society that based its economy by your face rank, like how popular you are from blogs and videos and such. The lower the rank you are, the more famous and better things you get. These people have like almost a tiny computer made into their eye that they can control with their hand and eye movements. They can follow people like twitter and get updates when people post something. I think one day, that social media will be at the heart of our society like the one described by Scott Westerfield. There already building this headset thing that is like this and is being tested out right now.

Think about how you get your news now. I get mine mostly from the internet because it’s easier, convenient and I’m the computer anyways for school. 15 years ago for example they weren’t using youtube for their news but rather newspapers and the TV. Now newspapers are going online and allow you to talk about things and news stations are getting lower view ratings because people get the news when it happens from people that are there or know before the news stations do. It also allows up to minute updates on news and allows us to have more access to more.

To sum it up, I don’t think we will truly know the future of social media until we are living it.

Can Social Media Cause Social Change?

            Yes I believe it can and i also believe it has. Social media has been used in multiple ways and being used in new ones everyday. Think 10 years ago social media was starting to get involved. Now and days people have used it to raise awareness on issues. Take the Sopa and ACTA and other laws like it. If social media wasn't there to tell people about it, these acts could have made it through. Because of social media people were able to tell people and get them to sign online petitions and spread the word. Because of these efforts they were able to stop it.

Another issue that's been in the news is Kony 2012. Kony is a Ugandan warlord that abducts little boys and forces them to be soldiers. He also takes girls and force them to be sex slaves. A popular video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc , The video tries to bring awareness to this. There organizing petitions and events were people post posters around there town to bring awareness. There trying to get people to help them stop this Ugandan warlord from doing this. Everyday social media is being used more and more and is being integrated into our society.

Social media has allowed everyday citizens to become authors, editors, and publishers of news and information. Do you believe that social media has increased the quality of news and information or decreased it?

          I think social media has increased the quantity of news not necessarily quality. Before news sources has to choose which stories to report. But now since anyone can be a reporter of news there is an increased on what news is reported. But with every advantage there is a disadvantage, which in this cause is quality. Since anyone can be a news reporter there is a chance the news you receive is either false or facts has been altered. But since there is a huge quantity you can usually figure out what’s true or false.

          Social media has changed how people receive their news because of podcast, Youtube, blogs, etc.  Before social media you read the newspaper or watch the news of TV. Now a lot of people are getting there news from the internet like from Youtube for example. I watch Philip Defranco and Source fed that report on news that they feel they need to share. I also get my news from newspapers when I have the time but to be honest to get news anytime I want and on a computer is very handy. I knew about the S.O.P.A bill weeks before mainstream news started reporting. This is because people who aren’t link to like the paper or CTV news for example can report when they want, and when it’s relevant. This allows news to be updated as it happens. Take the rebellion in Libya for example. They were using twitter and Youtube to let people around the world know what was happening when reporters were having a hard time getting into the country to report.

         So social media has allowed people to increase the quantity and allow them to report when it happens but sometimes quality does get affected but since there is huge amount of news it allows you to weed out what’s true and what’s false. I think social media has changed how we get our information. Newspapers like Toronto Star now post news on websites because it allows easier access and a wider amount of people can view it.

What is your perception of social media, do you think it is a fad or the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

I personally thing that social media isn't a fad. There probably are people out there that disagree, that they think once the hype is gone it will go away like any fad. But social media is growing everyday into more things causing the definition to change all the time.  

Lets take Justin Bieber for example. He got his fame from his youtube account from www.youtube.com. The videos he posted on the account were to show his family him singing covers of songs. Then people started watching him and commenting on the videos. Eventually usher and Justin Timberlake caught wind of it and  wanted to sign him to a recording contract which today allow him to have the career he has now.Without youtube he might not have his career he does now.

Business are also seeing the applications for social media to further there business. Everywhere you look now they either have a twitter page or a facebook page from www.facebook.com or both so that you can follow them or allow them to tell you that they have new products or specials going on or remind of events or what not.  

Social media also allow people to stay in contact that they normally wouldn't be able too. Take facebook for example. It allowed me to talk to my dad overseas when he was in Afghanistan for a 8 month tour. I could see pictures, talk to him, leave messages on his wall, share videos or see him in videos that i normally wouldn't be able to do with a phone or waiting for snail mail. i didn't have to wait hours to weeks to hear from him or have a time limit on a phone call. It also let me reconnect with friends that i lost contact with from moving around the country and vice versa. This is one of the reasons its soo popular, it allows people to share information to catch up ,show funny video's like of a guilty dog that ate cat treats( if you wanna see the video in question go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ISzf2pryI&noredirect=1).  

Celebrity's are also seeing the application to further there career. Take Kim Kardashian for example, her mom which is her manager has added  a clause in her contracts that if she tweets about the product or event shes advertising, she gets for example 25k every time she uses twitter to tweet about it. Social media can be used as a advertisements. Advertisers can use social media as another medium allowing them to reach a bigger target audience that T.V., radios, build-boards, etc cant. 

Currently there is a bill trying to be passed in the USA called Protect- IP also known as SOPA. The just of the bill is, it will allow corporations to censor the internet in the states. Say you have music playing in the back ground as you do a v-blog, they can sue you. If you sign a song as a cover, they can sue you. If this bill had passed before Justin Bieber became famous, then he wouldn't be able to sing song covers without being sued. It will also affect other social media's as well. If you want to know more about the bill in detail, watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDX8Lyl16Qs&feature=BFa&list=PL3B0BF0172B7D9BD2&lf=plpp_play_all)

So overall, unless someone shuts down the internet, the earth blows up or censors the internet i think social media isn't a fad. The hype might die down but it will keep on growing and changing.It has affected the way people interact, do business and also have added new words to the dictionary like un-friend and tweet.

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