Social Media: More Harm then Good?

Over the course of the semester we have learned much about how social media and politics can be used for good or bad. We tend to read more about how useful social media is for everyone and in turn we see a lot more of the positive aspects of social media instead of the bad. Even though social media and politics can be good there are also many negative aspects to it as well. Social media can play a huge part in the direction a election is going or even have an impact on a countries progress. This is what we seem to be seeing in the Middle East based on an interview with Fareed Zakaria.

In this article, which can be found on CNN, we can see how social media is being used as a tool to create more harm then good between the Israelis and Palestinians. As Zakaria mentioned during his interview, "What I think is new here, which is very troubling, is that people are using the new tools of technology, social media, and your beginning to see radical fringe elements that are able to organize, galvanize support...... It's as if we sometimes think that these technologies are somehow going to make everyone get along and cooperate. And instead what's happening is that it's creating a poison within the body politics of both sides, and it's going to be very difficult to walk this down because it's out there now."

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/03/social-media-poisoning-middle-east-politics/

It makes you have to wonder how much harm social media can cause, not just to one person, but to an entire country. Social media can be used to spread more violence and cause more harm then good. The worst part about it is that the information that people post on the web is out there for everyone to see and it will outlive even us. Maybe there is something that can be done in order to help limit the amount of harm that social media can cause. It seems that there might be a possible solution but it would have to come down to the individual user to help prevent social media from causing so much harm.

What do you guys think? Do you believe that social media causes more harm then good? Why or Why not? Is social media poison? Is there a way to prevent social media from causing more harm then good?

Twitter and Free Speech

"Saudi authorities have stepped up their crackdown on online dissidents, Human Rights Watch said, alleging that prosecutors and judges use "vague law" to charge citizens for peaceful tweets and social media comments.

The New York-based rights organisation on Sunday called on the government to end the crackdown and live up to its obligations to respect free speech.

Three prominent lawyers were convicted of criticising the Justice Ministry last month and sentenced to prison terms of between five and eight years." (Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/11/saudi-arabia-intensifies-twitter-crackdown-2014112363955848622.html

We all know that social media sites, such as Twitter, is a place were people can voice their opinions and tweet just about anything online, but what if you could not just tweet about anything online. What if the government prevented you from having your free speech online through your social media outlets. What would you do? Would you call it unfair or a violation of your freedom of speech?

Do you think that rules in the real world should apply to the virtual world as well?

In Saudi Arabia, the government has been cracking down on people who are opposing the government's official policy. Many people state that they are just peaceful tweets that they are just posting online that reflect their opinion. According to the government  they are instead violating a law that prevents people from posting tweets that go against the governments official policy. Several people have already been caught and prosecuted by the law for their online tweets against the official policy. 

Social Media Impact in the Middle East

"The Technology industry has been growing by leaps and bounds in the past few years, and it does not simply involve mobiles, tablets, laptops and other devices. Equally important, and perhaps less expected, is that social media networks allow for unprecedented connectivity and transparency and create a leveled playing field for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and young job seekers to pursue their aspirations.

Tremendous economic and social changes are underfoot, and social media is one of the most important leaps forward. Employment, entrepreneurship and SMEs in many regions are significantly influenced by internet connectivity and social media." (Labin)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-labin/in-the-arab-world-social-_b_6075866.html

Throughout this course we have learned many things about how social media is used to bring together people in various ways. We have also seen how social media has an impact on people and the society around them. Do you believe that social media has a greater impact in the United States or in another country? Based on the article above it appears to be having a greater impact with developing countries than the United States.

The reason being is that social media helps companies connect with people from all over the world in order to help promote their business and to also hire people for employment within their company. "According to a study revealed by Deloitte in 2014, extending internet access in developing countries to levels seen in developed countries today means that long-run productivity could be enhanced by as much as 25%. Entrepreneurship and SMEs have increasingly become a priority for governments in the region, who see these enterprises as key to solving the challenge of improving competitiveness, raising incomes, and generating employment." (Latin)

It is interesting to see how far social media has come and how it is able to help people find jobs and connect with employers. With this new way of using social media in developing countries we can expect to see an increase in the countries income and employment opportunities. Will this continue to help developing countries in the near future? Will social media be a great tool for business to be able to connect with people and find people for employment? Do you think that social media only helps developing countries or does it help all countries in general? Why or why not?

Campaigns in the Middle East

In recent weeks the class has been learning a lot about media campaigns, debates, and how the media interprets quotes by candidates in order to either use them against them or in favor of them. We see this happening a lot during elections in the United States but most of the time we don't see it happening anywhere else in the world. Most of the time this is do to the media coverage and what they want to report to the people. On the other hands some countries keep most of it hidden or closed off from the rest of the world as well. In a recent article, there is discussion about campaigns to remove the 'Temple Mount' from all the media maps.

The PLO, to which the Palestinian Authority is subservient, has escalated its campaign to remove all connection between Judaism and the site of the destroyed Holy Temples by appealing to international media to stop using the ”inaccurate term Temple Mount.”

“The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is not a disputed territory and all other terms, therefore, are null and void,” according to a PLO statement published by the official Palestinian Authority WAFA news agency.

It claimed that the Al Aqsa mosque has been under exclusive Muslim sovereignty and control since the construction of the Dome of the Rock in 692 CE, which is a blatant lie.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/plo-campaigns-to-wipe-temple-mount-off-the-media-map/2014/11/09/

As the article mentions, the term 'Temple Mount' is inaccurate to use towards the Holy Temples and they are now using the international media in order to spread there message around the world for people to stop using that term. The Holy Temples has been an area of long dispute between Israel and Palestine because each of them claim that the Temple is for them and not for the others. This dispute has been going back for ages now and it seems it will continue on that way for years to come. How do you guys view the campaign being used in the international media? Do you think that it will help or not?

Rise in Social Media Popularity in the Middle East

For its most recent advertising push, the Saudi Arabian telecommunications giant Mobily did not turn to the street or television to engage with customers. Mobily paid to promote itself on Twitter.

The use of social media exploded during the Arab Spring as people turned to cyberspace to express themselves. On the back of that, social media networks, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, have moved into the region commercially, setting up offices to sell advertising products to companies like Mobily, which has over 200,000 Twitter followers, to capitalize on the growing audience.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/world/middleeast/social-media-firms-move-to-capitalize-on-popularity-in-middle-east.html?_r=0

This article that I found was very interesting in-regards to how the popularity of social media is growing within the Middle East. We have seen how social media has effected our society over the years. People use social media today in order to communicate with each other, express themselves, promote advertising, and so much more. Since the Arab Spring, social media has taken off in Saudi Arabia and in other places of the Middle East.

In last weeks and this weeks class we have been talking about advertising and how it is used in today's society as a tool for candidates and so much more. Advertising has been also in the Middle East in order to change the way advertising is presented in the Middle East. With the new era of advertising appearing, do to social media, we can see a new age appearing, not only in the Middle East, but all over the world.

According to the article people in Saudi Arabia are using social media, such as Twitter, more and more in order to communicate with each other. Major brand in Saudi Arabia, such as Pepsi Arabia, uses social media in order to promote their brand and advertise with everyone online. This helps them be able to keep up with the ever growing population of people using Twitter and other social media everyday. Do you think that our major brand companies use social media, as much as the brands in Saudi Arabia, to promote and advertise? Do you think that in the near future more and more brands are going to be turning to online media in order to advertise or are they going to continue to remain advertising through the newspaper and television?