Post 1: What is your interpretation of the term ‘social media’? What have you learned from the Sensis reports? Include 2 or 3 references from academic sources.

What constitutes social media is constantly in flux, as new technologies challenge what is possible. The rise of AI and algorithms underlying social platforms like Facebook and Instagram is changing how we interact with brands and each other. For this reason, social media can be viewed as an extension of the real world. The accessibility of smart devices and faster connection speeds has made online platforms so pervasive that we don’t even notice their presence. Additionally, the online space has become a creative playground for businesses and creators to reach new audiences.

Social media is a tool with many uses in our everyday lives. It facilitates connections with people from all over the world; it allows users to simultaneously produce and consume media; it can be used for entertainment, marketing, and so on. It fuels a massive increase in both the amount of documentation on the world and the size of the audience for it (Jurgenson, 2019 p. 34) and gives us multiple channels of influence over people.

From our discussions in class, I have been able to notice the cultural, social, and economic impact that social media has on us. The Yellow Social Media reports published by Sensis have given me several insights: Something I found interesting is that according to Sensis data, one-third of consumers inspect a brand’s social media presence before making an online purchase if they have not purchased from their website before (Sensis Top Line Findings 2020). This indicates to me that businesses’ branding on social media is more important than ever in building trust with consumers in today’s competitive market.

Sensis’ findings state that there are evenly divided views about the impact of social media on the user’s mental health, personal relationships, and on grammar and spelling. However, they also state that social media is seen as having more of a negative than positive effect on privacy, concentration, productivity, sleeping and patience. This demonstrates that there are underlying concerns of the public regarding adverse health effects associated with social media use. What I found interesting is the data on social media usage. In march 2020, Social media use has increased for 31% in the last year and decreased for 13%. 31% say they spend too much time on social media; and this is even higher among the 18-29s (49%), 30-39s (37%) and females (39%) (Sensis Top Line Findings 2020). Moving forward, I would like to know what Sensis can tell us about the impact that increased social media use has on our mental health and how it influences our relationship with the world.

References:

• Sensis, 2020, Yellow Social Media Report Initial Top Line Findings: Draft March 2020, viewed 23 March 2021, <https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/85925/files/17041718?module_item_id=3091665> 
• Jurgenson, N., 2019, The Social Photo: On Photography and Social Media, Verso Books, Brooklyn, New York p.1-40.