Weekly Reflection Post

We are all familiar with and most likely participate in social media.  Social media is a means of electronically communicating with individuals and groups around the world through various websites, apps and online communities.  Sharing thoughts, content, ideas, videos, images and music instantly with your connected digital community.    

We understand what it is, but why is it so appealing?  One way to look at that is social media can even the playing field, in some instances. Prior to having connections through social media, you would need to “know somebody” in order to get your music track heard, your manuscript read, your political interests backed, etc.  There were traditional channels and protocol that one would need to follow in order to achieve their personal success.

With the advent of social media, the power has shifted away from the few and been placed at the feet of the many.  If you want to drop new songs, push them out on Soundcloud or make a video on your phone and post it on YouTube.  You can upload your book to self publishing sites and promote them through your social media or personal blogs. Social media has provided a mechanism for all of us to have a voice and push out our messages to the masses. Those messages can sometimes grow organically and become “viral.” That is very appealing in itself.

Social media continues to grow because of the ability it affords everyday citizens and the way we all enjoy communicating has evolved as well.  Video content continues to grow and social media applications that provide new, user friendly ways to engage with that find success. 

We see some social media survive over the years, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter.  Others fail over time like Myspace and Vine.  It’s a fast-moving space and social media need to continue to evolve and innovate the platform capabilities.  Those that do not evolve either get purchased or their users are attracted to competitors and they eventually fold.

Regardless of the platform, social media is here to stay and is ingrained into the fabric of our global society. 

Social media give a voice to the voiceless and a means of communicating your message throughout the world. Good, bad or indifferent, there has never been a point in human history where everyday citizens of the world can share their insights to a global audience instantly from their own hand, via a mobile device.

Weekly Reflection Post

Hello College Freshmen,

Welcome to your new school!  I’m sure you’re looking forward to meeting new people and getting to know your way around campus.  College is about learning new things and get to know new people.  

I realize, given your age, that you’ve grown up in a digital world. The internet and smart phones have been a large part of your life since you can remember.   Having that familiarity with the digital world is great but the most important skill you could have for that space is media literacy. 

You’re entering college during an amazing time. At no point in human history has information been as accessible to the world as it is today with smart phones, the internet and social apps like Twitter.  Any person in the world with a smart phone and access to the internet can read, watch and share content from anywhere in the world.  It’s truly an incredible time.

Unfortunately, with that seemingly limitless access comes some dangers.  Media literacy will help arm you against some of those dangers.  You need to view all of the content and information that you read with a analytical eye.  Social media provides people with the ability to put any information out to the masses and often times they are creating or spread “fake news.” 

You must understand that and make sure you always question the content and sources.  Review the accounts information is coming from and cross check the stories or statements with other credible news sources.

Being Media Literate means you’ll need to be your own investigative journalist and seek out the truth.  You can’t take stories and posts online, especially within social platforms, on face value. There are people and organizations around the world with a mission to sway your opinion through false propaganda.  That’s nothing new, false propaganda has been around throughout history. The challenge we see today is due to the advances in digital technology. That’s the reason media literacy is so important, internet bots and false social accounts are talented at masking the fact they are fake. 

Just recently there have been news reports on a new technology called “Deep Fakes.” Deep Fakes are a form of Artificial Intelligence that allows users to use there own voice and words and have it appear like someone else is speaking. The technology is so good, people can make it look like world leaders are saying something when it’s actually someone else.

That’s why it’s so important for you to stay on guard, question sources, cross reference stories and continue to sharpen your media literacy skills. Don’t be nervous, you have the skills you need. Now just use your inquisitive mind to investigate the truth and always know you’re in control.

You decide what you want to believe and with a little work and a trained eye, you’ll find the truth.

Weekly Reflection Post

Welcome to my first blog reflection post. Many more posts to come from here on out!

For this first post I considering writing about how my career has evolved due to digital convergence over the years since I started in communications back 2000. But, I decided to go a different direction and explain one personal way digital convergence has helped keep me feeling connected to home.

When I was living and working in NYC a new Radio program started on our local sports station, WFAN. (That’s an AM station)

Originally called Boomer and Carton (now Boomer and Gio) it co-stared a Long Islander, former NFL MVP Quarterback Boomer Esiason and a comedian Craig Carton (now another comedian/radio personality Gregg Giannotti.) There was instant chemistry between the two and the show took over the local airwaves and became my morning commute show. I loved it!

A few years after the program launched we decided to move our family to Upstate New York. Syracuse to be exact. Not a market that WFAN radio would reach.

I missed my morning sports show and struggled to find the right local replacement, no offense to Syracuse’s local morning shows.

With the emergence of digital convergence soon I was able to find my former favorite NYC morning show on iTunes Podcasts and radio streaming apps like Tune-In and Radio.com

Shortly after that development, CBS Sports Network agreed to simulcast the show on their sports TV station. So now I’m not only able to listen to my NYC radio show in real time, I can watch the radio show live from their NYC studio.

I can even follow the radio show on Twitter for additional content and updates. So a traditional, local AM radio show was now accessible through radio streaming apps, podcasts, social media, and television simulcasts. The product didn’t change, just the way its content was distributed. Digital convergence allows people to consume that content any way their prefer.

All of this has me feeling more connected to my former local radio show then when I was actually living in NYC!

That’s one example of how digital convergence has affected my personal life. Allowing me to stay fully connected to an element of my original home and even providing me with some smiles when I hear the NYC traffic updates that I no longer need to worry about. 🙂