The contextual Impact of Social
Media:
A woman News/Journalism Anchor named Jennifer Livingston on
the WKBT News 8 on October 2nd 2012 puts a mean viewer in their rightful place. This news station is out of Wisconsin. Mike
Thompson, Jennifer Livingston’s husband, and a new anchor himself, posted what
happened on Facebook. After his post, thousands of people gave supportive
comments and responses. After numerous
people were posting and speaking about what happened to Jennifer, she decided
to tell the public about the issue over the air. She went on National News and told her
story. Nationwide, people were shocked about
this horrible message that was sent to her. Jennifer was amazed by how much
support she really had from her viewers and people all over the America.
Message
from Jennifer’s Bully:
Physical context:
The first context in this example would be Physical, which
is where the media took place. After this horrible verbal attack on Jennifer
Livingston, her husband made a Facebook page to show the public the mean
comment and the despicable, threatening, terrible situation Jennifer dealing
with. Facebook played a huge role in how
the news got out to everybody. After so many supportive comments from
individuals on Facebook, Jennifer decided to tell the nation on air. She felt that what happened to her needed to
be told to the public. She wanted to
expose her tormentors and she didn’t want people to feel like something like
this was okay to do, thus emboldening the public to deal with this type of new
age threat.
Cultural Context/ “Citizen Journalism”
From a Cultural Context the United
States is lucky to have such a great access to the media and having it
incorporated into American’s everyday lives.
This small comment didn’t get ignored, it was dealt with, the news
station took it seriously, and made sure through exposure cyber bullies can’t
get away with this kind of behavior. It’s truly amazing that help of this kind
can happen from a social media standpoint because it helps the unspoken to
speak up and not be afraid of people who are degrading and mean. Our culture is very lucky to have freedom of
speech and to protest and inform others about what is really going on in
society. Social media has evolved into a “citizen journalism” style of
information. In this example, one person started a Facebook page and it
exploded in a single day! Jennifer’s
case wasn’t just on TV. It was first on the Internet, and then aired on
National News. The simple fact is that anyone can share an event that has
happened to them and there are morally sound people out there who are willing
to support other people’s voices and stories. Social media is evolving on a
whole different level. So much so that people
cannot be afraid of something or somebody because there is high possibility
that there is going to be support for that person’s specific story.
Social Context:
The contexts Social and Temporal do play an impact when
analyzing this social media example.
When referring to this example on a social context the roles and rules
of Jennifer (the news Anchor) and the viewer's response are abnormal in this
type of situation. Most the time the viewers watch what they like, not
criticize about someone personally and about their appearances. The anchor has
responsibilities as her role to not let harsh comments get to her. The problem
is that roles can be switched around when treating one another a certain way.
For example, in a classroom the teacher has his/her role, and the students have
their role, but if a student decides not to care about the teacher and drop their
role is then changed. Rules change
within a giving situation. There are regulations to be followed throughout
someone’s entire life, and how people use these rules can affect outcomes
dramatically.
Temporal context:
Temporal
context in this attack occurred when the viewers responded to Facebook, and
then the transition to live air happened in a blink of an eye. This communication was fast and was put out
in public as soon as the news station received it. This means that if a person
thinks a certain subject is important enough than they are just going to worry about
getting the facts out fast and accurately; even if their preference is to
spread this information at a certain time of day it wouldn’t matter if it was a
huge event, depending on the person.
Credible
This
social media example shows credibility because it gave proof in what the viewer
said harshly to Jennifer Livingston and was posted all over the internet. Information
is posted to the Internet all over the world every second, but that doesn’t
mean it is true. However, when there is
support with evidence, and a viral Facebook story, across the nation it makes
it easier for someone to believe the issue that had occurred.
How can we make
the best use of Social Media & my own personal opinion?
Jennifer
Livingston was just trying to do her job and a viewer responds with something
so critical and hurtful that doesn’t even correlate to her job. That simply isn’t necessary. There are many people in this world who are
troubled, mean, and rude, social media is a new great way in to expose their
hurtful and hateful ways. Jennifer
Livingston is just one of many that get bullied everyday about their looks.
Society tells us that we have to look like this perfect model, which isn’t
possible because everyone is unique in their own special way. Jennifer even
stated on air that October is Anti Bully Month, and that this is an example
that we all can learn from. I am glad
she stuck up for herself. There are people in this world who are too scared to
stand up for what is right and this was a great example of how social media can
help support victims of bullying and to let them know that they are not alone.
Thanks to social media it is easier to find organizations that are willing to
work with you and to help make you feel like you’re not alone. People can make
the best out of social media by taking advantage of it. Although social media
such as Twitter and Facebook can be used for support and helpful knowledge, it
also can be used in a hurtful way, such as cyber bullying, so making sure to be
safe about who you affiliate with is an important key to having an equal and
safe experience on the web today.
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