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Mass Media - Coggle Diagram

- - - - EX: Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty was seen as a refreshing, honest take on promoting real beauty. Dove's campaign said that "It's okay to be normal" and that people were not lesser for not being what certain advertisers consider to be perfect (instead of following the traditional mantra of similar campaigns that promote unattainable standards of attractiveness as the norm). Dove's efforts generated a healthy double-digit growth.
    - - EX: News Companies in the US are known to broadcast news that suit their political slant. Fox News has been known to be conservative-leaning (aka Republican), while the reputation of Microsoft National Broadcasting Company (MSNBC, an American news-based pay TV cable channel based in NYC) for favouring the liberal (aka Democratic) front has been obvious.
      - EX: Singapore's pioneer broadcaster Mediacorp is wholly owned by Temasek Holdings, a govt-owned investment arm. There are also close ties between directors of Singapore Press Holdings (which runs Singapore's most read newspaper The Straits Times) and the ruling People's Action Party (PAP). Many opposition parties and readers have voiced unhappiness at consistently unfair coverage of Election campaigns, where PAP candidates commanded full pages as compared to the columns afforded to their opposition counterparts (unless the news are less favourable to the opposition).
    - - ELAB: The modern critical consumer's wide access to global media implies lies/inaccurate info will cause the unreliable newspapers to lose their credibility and consequently their readership and profit margins. News can be fact-checked from many reliable and traditional sources to ensure their veracity.
      - EX: Newspapers such as the Washington Post, The New York Times and The Straits Times continue to have high readership and profit since they work hard at preserving their reputation for hard facts and objective reporting.
    - - EX: Pulitzer Prize-winning Photographer Narciso Contreras was fired after admitting he doctored a Syrian war rebel picture by photoshopping a camera out of the original image.
      - EX: During the 2013 Boston Bombing, news agencies like CNN and Fox News wrongly reported that a suspect had been arrested, before backtracking after the Boston Police Department rendered the reports false.
      - ELAB: Many independent media sources, and even established ones, use unverified info that can mislead people and take them away from the actual truth.
    - - ELAB: Media content is created by people with an interest and/or agenda and its reliability is dependent on the motives of the media creator. Media workers in the media industries may compromise their objectivity/integrity and succumb to lesser motives such as {greed for [profit / fame / power of influence] // their personal biases}, and info/reports they present can be distorted and/or falsified to serve their ends.
      - EX: Tabloids and "Yellow Journalism", which focus on [exaggeration / scandal-mongering / poorly-researched news], frequently sell well with their mix of lowbrow content and use of slang. For e.g., Britain's "The Sun" seeks to publish scandals and rumours about other celebrities, sports stars and other public figures, have a tendency to highlight only the less savoury aspects of a situation to achieve higher readership. This could be seen by the consistent attacks launched on Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.
    - - EX: Celebrities like Britney Spears & global figures like former US President Obama have had fake news of their 'deaths' spread online. Speaker of US House of Rep. Nancy Pelosi was also a victim of a media fabrication, with one of her videos online slowed down by 25% and pitch altered to make it seem like she slurred her words, leading to many criticising her for her slurred speech and 'drunk' behav.
      - EX: In 2016, a hoax about the alleged collapse of a roof at Punggol Waterway Terraces was widely shared on SM. This false news caused anxiety among residents and led to the wastage of substantial resources, as grassroots leaders, police and SCDF personnel had rushed down to the scene over fears of mass casualties.
      - EX: Journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa said in 2021, "Elections worldwide cannot be conducted with integrity as long as SM platforms amplify lies over facts."
      - ELAB: It is difficult to differentiate between credible, accurate info and false fabrications/hoaxes spread thru online media (esp Internet).
      - EX: Devt of Tech today has led to a rise of deepfakes (a person in an existing image/vid. is replaced with someone else's likeness using artificial neural networks) online. Deepfakes have garnered widespread attention for their uses in celebrity porn. vids., revenge porn., fake news, hoaxes and financial fraud.
  - - - ELAB 1: Authors and Directors often draw inspiration from society, indicating that the media could in fact be a mirror held up to reality (i.o.w. what the media portrays & depicts is inspired by society).
      - EX 1: For instance, Margaret Atwood's depiction of extreme female oppression in "The Handmaid's Tale" is a social commentary on the state of womens' rights in the 60s and 70s. Black Mirror, a popular science fiction anthology TV series, casts lights on modern society, with a particular focus on the consequences of new technologies. Episodes often take a satirical slant and can be interpreted as providing commentary on the state of society today.
      - ELAB 2: There has also been an increasing rate of copycat crimes, which many have attributed to the mass media. After all, there is a tendency for people to imitate what is seen on TV and the Internet. The rise of copycat crimes is thus often blamed on the airing of graphic and gory movies and TV shows, as such shows supposedly sends a subliminal message that violence is a solution to many problems.
      - EX 2: The graphic and gory shows have allegedly given rise to bone-chilling copycat crimes such as the 2012 Aurora shooting at the "Dark Knight Rises" screening that was reportedly inspired by the Batman franchise, & the Columbine High School shooting where 2 teenagers who were social outcasts burst into the school, donning trench coats and armed with guns. This latter shooting was believed to have been inspired by the movie, "The Matrix".
      - ELAB 3: The predominance of violence and gore results in great exposure to such gruesome images, numbing the mind to violence and subsequently deeming such acts normal and acceptable.
      - EX 3: For instance, Eminem's popularity can be largely attributed to the fact that his songs have misogynistic and racially derogatory undertones. One of the more prominent ones, "Kill You", depicts him killing his mother in a disturbingly lucid detail. His popularity suggests that his audience thinks that such lyrics are amusing & perhaps, such actions are acceptable. This speaks of a desensitisation to gore, which can be very worrying, as it echoes the declining moral standards of society,
      - ELAB 4: However, the presence of gore and violence within the mass media can act as a vent for Man's violent tendencies. By allowing Man to watch 'harmless' violence on screen (rather than act it out himself), it's oft-believed that mass media helps curb Man's bloodlust, which would've sig. less severe repercussions on society, as it doesn't directly harm anyone.
      - EX 4: The rising popularity of cinema therapy bears testimony to the success of such a theory, as cinema therapy uses the impact of movies to help patients manage destructive emotions. Evocative cinema therapy helps individuals connect with storylines & movie characters. In the process, they learn about themselves in more profound ways. Cathartic cinema therapy helps a person [get in touch with / access] their emotions (e.g. if they're in depression) & this may be used in the early stages of psychotherapy.
    - - ELAB 1: Mass media seems to promote sexual promiscuity and make it appear increasingly socially acceptable, as evident in popular drama series.
      - EX 1: Drama series like "Desperate Housewives" and "Gossip Girl" are inundated with sexually licentious behaviour. It is also often suggested in academic studies that rising cohabitation rates can be attributed to the airing of sitcoms like "Friends", which have given the impression that cohabitation is normal and fun.
      - ELAB 2: While it may be convenient to blame the media due to the correlation between what is portrayed on various media platforms and what happens in society, it may blind us from identifying the root cause of declining moral standards. After all, correlation ≠ (always) causation; there are many other factors that affect one's moral standards
    - - ELAB: Beauty is always portrayed and typified by flawless skin, (small & dainty) features on females and (strong & hard) features on males, size 0 dresses on females & ripped muscular bodies on males. These have a tendency to influence the way impressionable teens perceive beauty, leading them to pursue such distorted and unrealistic notions of beauty via ways that may not always be healthy. This contributes to unhealthy eating habits (e.g. anorexia, bulimia), cosmetic surgery and paying exorbitant amounts for slimming treatments.
      - EX 1: South Korea is a country obsessed with plastic surgery due to the unrealistic standards set by idols, who are glorified in the media, many of whom have undergone surgery. About 1 in 5 women from ages 19 to 49 in Seoul have undergone procedures in a bid to change her looks.
      - COUNTER 1: However, it can be argued that the media, in some cases, has been used to confront such preconceived notions of beauty.
      - CEX 1: There have been growing numbers of ad campaigns that seek to challenge society's perception of beauty, such as the Dove's campaign for real beauty. Another e.g. would be celeb. supermodel Tyra Banks, who constantly features plus-sized models on her hit reality show "America's Next Top Model". Many of these plus-sized models eventually go on to have successful careers.
  - - - ELAB: As people rely on the mass media to educate and disseminate info, there should be a sufficient range and depth of issues reported so as to provide added knowledge and value to its readers and help them keep abreast of global issues.
    - - ELAB: Ideally, the media should allow for the exchange of views. This would help the media in further educating its audience as an exchange of views can shed light on alternate perspectives that the audience was unaware of.
    - - ELAB: As the mass media has an extensive reach and one of its functions is to educate and disseminate info, the mass media (specifically news corporations) has to be accurate and truthful in its portrayal of info. Corporations involved in news distribution are compelled to remain accurate and truthful, as their sales are largely contingent on their reports' accuracy.
      - ELAB: This is because those who subscribe/access these media platforms do so to gain accurate info; mis-info would cause them to distrust the media, and discourage them from continuing their subscription. This however, may not always be applicable, especially for tabloids, which largely rely on sensationalism to pique public interest and hence boost public sales.
    - - ELAB: By facilitating an exchange of views, the media can act as a bridge between the govt and the people they serve. The media plays a key role in conveying the message of the govt to the people, and through the media, the govt knows about the aspirations and expectations of the people. People also get to know about the various welfare schemes run by the govt.
    - - ELAB: Prior to mass media, people were entertained through means such as the theatre and there never existed a platform where entertainment catered to the masses, as there were issues of affordability and accessibility. With the inception of the mass media, entertainment en masse immediately became a viable option as it was an affordable and effective way to reach out to people. As such, the mass media and entertainment are inextricably intertwined.
    - - ELAB: Sometimes, the mass media is also expected to stimulate change. By educating and informing the public, and promoting an exchange of views, the mass media may catalyse the process of change.
      - EX: In the 2010 Arab Spring Protests, SM was utilised to mobilise the public in protests and demonstrations which eventually saw the demise of several dictators in the region.
      - EX: Following the exposure of the sexual-abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the hashtag #MeToo began to spread on SM, helping society understand the magnitude of the problem with more women opening up about their experience of being sexually harassed.
      - EX: The Black Lives Matter mvmt can be traced back to 2013, after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida. There was outrage when he was found not guilty of murder, and a Facebook post titled "Black Lives Matter" captured the prevailing mood and sparked action in the US. Following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, the spread of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag on SM further inspired thousands of people around the globe to speak up against racism in their own societies.
  - - - ELAB: The mass media is also pervaded (made more apparent) by attempts to promote sales and consumption in the form of advertisements. Businesses and corporations pay large sums of money to advertise their products and services on TV, newspapers and the Internet.
      - EX: According to US Census Data, the advertising and public relations industry is on a steady growth path, with the industry reaching a record high of approximately US$148.8b in 2020.
    - - ELAB: The mass media can be a source of income for people who work in the industry. This includes authors, (TV/movie) producers, editors and even bloggers/vloggers (with the rise of new media).
    - - EX: Blockbuster movies (Avatar, Avengers, Titanic etc), TV shows (House, The Simpsons etc) and Video Games (Pokemon Go etc). Today the lines between spreading info and entertainment in media are not always distinct ('infotainment' programmes which combine information with entertainment [Larry King Live Entertainment Tonight, Oprah Winfrey Show etc]).
    - - EX: Educational Documentaries: "When We Were Kings" (it won an Oscar for its portrayal of Mohd Ali), "Sound of Fury" (focuses on the deaf community and communication)
      - EX: Educational Magazines (and their e-counterparts on the Internet): Nat Geog, TIME, Economist, etc
      - ELAB: Mass Media serves to help citizens know the significance of events, and how policies and regulations will affect their lives. It should not just present info to people, but assist them in understanding what they are hearing/seeing. This is most apparent through the analyses of news and famed documentaries aired on TV.
    - - EX: In times of crisis, people have to know what to do and how to act and the media is often used as a way to reach out to the masses. An e.g. could be during a tsunami when the govt has to warn people living along the coast to evacuate.
      - ELAB: One of the main roles is to spread information to the general public to keep them updated on current news and events around the world and locally, in peaceful times and emergencies.
    - - ELAB: The New Media is also a means to provide a platform for various groups in society to be heard/recognised (e.g. #MeToo Mvmt). In this case, the media must be diversified, objective, unbiased, and must allow voices to be heard from all of society, the govt and the corporate voice in the "establishment". The media is responsible for providing the public with opportunities to hear all sides of a story, and not just what's included in ministerial media (one govt's platform).
    - - EX: China's media acts as the voice, spokesman/mouthpiece of the ruling party since the founding of the People's Republic. The Chinese state media often functions as the organ of public diplomacy for the Communist Party.
      - ELAB: Sometimes, govts use state-owned media companies to further their political agenda by the spread of propaganda.
    - - ELAB: The media often functions as its adversary/"watchdog" to ensure govts are responsible, transparent, accountable, just, and acting in public interest without [fraud / illegality / personal benefit]. The media evaluates the govt's performance and plays a "sceptic's" role when the govt tells them info.
      - EX: In Bulgaria, in 2019, a joint investigation by Radio Free Europe and the NGO Anti-corruption Fund revealed that many high-level politicians and public officials had acquired luxury apartments at prices far below the market rates. This investigation led to the resignation of the then Justice Minister, 3 vice-ministers, several MPs, and the head of the Bulgarian Anti-corruption Agency.
      - ELAB: The "watchdog" metaphor imbues the press with the role of being a forum for discussion, investigators of impropriety, an adversary to monopoly over power and knowledge, and the defenders of truth, freedom and democracy. In many countries, the media [confronts/exposes] unethical [people/organisations/practices] and may often be the catalyst for [a criminal / other investigation].
  - - - ELAB 2: With < educated populace, ppl are less likely to respond [with violence / in a manner unreasonable to offence caused].
      - ELAB 3: With guidelines (by system admins) & censorship powers, the -ve impact of SM abuse could possibly be mitigated. However, some issues, which govt censors & SM companies are grappling with, are the balance between protection of free expression & harmful content censoring, & whether the resp. of censorship lies more with [govt.s / SM companies], as companies are the ones which created algorithms that determine what users see.
      - ELAB 4: Hence, while SM possesses ability to harm social fabric of society, greater trust needs to be given to maj. of ppl. who are sensible enough not to [abuse SM / respond to SM abuses with further abuse of human rights].
      - ELAB 1: Those who perceive SM = channel(spread hate & bigotry) are minority when it comes to irresponsible usage of SM to sow discord, and the no. of ppl who use SM to connect +vely with others can be said to outweigh the former.
    - - ELAB 1: Citizen Journalism = reporting of news by members(public) using Internet to spread info. thru personal websites, blogs, microblogs, SM etc. It can act as a check on reporting of larger news outlets by providing alt. analyses. This gives citizens & amateurs the opportunity to embrace their creative geniuses thru content prod. instead of just passively receiving info. Plus, it provides a platform for ppl. to respond to govt. policies & actors, and can be used to organise ppl. shld. the need arise.
      - EX 1: After analysing >3m tweets, GBs of YouTube content & 1000s of blog posts, the University of Washington concluded the Arab Spring (popularly known as "Twitter Revolution") was galvanised & fuelled by SM. The study showed ppl. who shared interest in democracy built extensive social networks & organised political action. SM helped large grp.s gather in short time. It also provided a platform for ppl. to express their solidarity within the country and with others in the region & beyond.
      - EX 2: SM has become a critical part of the toolkit for greater freedom. This was most evident perhaps in Egypt, where young, anonymous, Internet-powered dissidents behind the "We Are All Khaled Said (an Egyptian man allegedly beaten to death by police outside an Internet cafe) " Facebook Page helped spark the 18-day revolution that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Khaled reportedly had possession of a vid. showing police selling illegal drugs. Photos of his beaten, bloodied & fractured face soon went viral online.
      - ELAB 2: SM can also be said to empower citizens as it gives previously silent indiv.s a platform to voice their opinions & engage members of society in a constructive debate (when used properly). This serves as a check-&-balance on the govt. as concerns are surfaced & useful feedback can be gleaned from observing the discourse.
      - ELAB 3: It shld. be noted that such responses are merely the ideal & they don't always happen IRL. Govt.s don't always respond to what ppl have to say, as there is a tendency for them to [take up a paternalistic position / reject online reporting as inaccurate].
      - EX 3: Dr Yaacob Ibrahim cited Mr Ravi Philemon (Executive Director of a charitable org. & member of National Solidarity Party) who "alleged his unnamed friend said 9m masks will be brought into SG but none for the public". The minister pointed out the comment (posted by Mr Philemon on his Facebook page) was made "even as the SAF & PA staff and Grassroots volunteers were working hard" to distribute 1m masks to households.
      - EX 4: To manage the spread of fake news & falsehood online, SG passed the Protection from Online Falsehoods & Manipulation Act (POFMA), which came to effect on 2 Oct 2019. This requires online media platforms to correct/remove info. the auth. deem to be untrue. Where a fake online acct./bot is used to spread such falsehoods, offenders, who are indiv.s, will be liable to a fine ≤ S$100k &/or a term of imprisonment ≤ 10 yrs. For non-indiv.s, a fine ≤ S$1m will be imposed. The move has, however, raised a lot of concerns, as it places in the hands of ministers the power to effectively censor info. that they deem to be false. The bill's opponents have also pointed out the law will apply not just to SM platforms, but also to private messaging apps (e.g. Whatsapp).
    - - ELAB 1: It is 1 of the pri. avenues for ppl to connect with other indiv.s ard the world who share similar interests/views/ideas.
      - EX1: Insta. has ~1.074b users worldwide (2021). With ~2.89b monthly active users (Q2 2021), Facebook is the biggest social network worldwide. Facebook is a global network that connects users from all across the world, and where users can create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests & other personal info., allowing users to communicate with friends & other users over the Internet.
      - EX 2: YouTube currently ranks 2nd overall in terms of overall traffic in 2020 (USAToday), but the only website to receive more traffic is its parent company Google. ~300 hrs of vid.s are uploaded to YouTube min-1 & ~5b vid.s are watched on YouTube day-1. In addition, the TikTok app has been downloaded > 2.6b times worldwide (2020).
      - ELAB 2: It is oft-argued that SM has tremendous potential to unite. SM allows ppl to connect with others thru many diff. platforms (e.g. Facebook, Tumblr, TikTok & Twitter). These various social networking websites enable ppl of similar interests to come tog. & engage in discussions.
      - EX 3: On top of just facilitating communication between users thru the messaging feature, Facebook also allows its users to create & join interest grps & "like" pages. This gathers ppl with similar interests, tastes & preferences, and allows them to engage in discussions abt their respective interests & hobbies.
      - ELAB 3: However, it must be noted that SM can also be used to divide, as the increased freedom of expression online is liable to abuse & misuse by ppl who use it to [spread hate speech / express discriminatory views].
      - EX 4: During COVID, SM was used as an outlet for sharing stories from quarantine, maintaining connections with friends, and keeping everyone busy & entertained. SM has also served as a platform for activism, coronavirus fundraisers & globally recog. hashtags (e.g. #stayhome, #withme, #quarantineandchill, #safehands, #flattenthecurve) to promote ideas & practices to keep everyone safe during the pandemic. These newly-created hashtags are powerful in uniting everyone in fighting against COVID.
      - EX 5: An American made an anti-Islam vid. denigrating the Prophet Muhammed titled "The Innocence of Muslims" which was later uploaded on YouTube, resulting in protests in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran & other parts of the Middle East. While the vid. has been linked by some to the death of top American envoy to Libya Christopher Stevens, it has more importantly served to fuel anti-American sentiments alr. present in many Muslim nations, further aggravating relationships.
      - ELAB 4: In addition, bcoz of the way SM companies use algorithms to recommend new posts to users, this has resulted in an "echo chamber" effect, where users end up [consuming mainly info. that reinforces their own perspectives / interacting only with like-minded ppl]. Unlike traditional media, which presents a spectrum of perspectives, a constant diet of one-sided info. thru SM platforms has led to the diminishing of a shared reality, leading to a greater polarisation of views across society in recent years.
      - EX 6: Political opinions among US public have become sharply divided & extreme, bcoz SM users have largely been consuming only info. in support of their political views. The spread of misinfo. on opposing candidates & conspiracy theories (e.g. QAnon) on SM platforms, has culminated in violent attacks IRL (e.g. US Capitol storming, Jan 2021).
    - - EX 1a: In China, the "Golden Shield Project", consisting of a 2-tier system, was embarked on to curb freedom of expression. The first, "Great Firewall", uses [keyword filtering tech. / human monitors] to trawl the Internet & block objectionable material. A list obtained by China Internet Project @ University of California (Berkeley) found that >1000 wds. were auto. banned on China's online forums, incl. "dictatorship", "truth" & "riot police". Google, Facebook, Insta. & Twitter are all blocked in China due to the "Great Firewall". They can usually only be accessed via Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
      - EX 1b: The 2nd & "more pernicious" form is that which compels companies under the threat of shutdown to enforce their own censorship. This strat., which Beijing has increasingly relied on in recent years, holds Internet service & access providers resp. for their users' behav. Even seemingly non-political social networking sites (e.g. kaixin001.com, a Chinese site similar to Facebook) are said to employ an army of 100s of human censors.
      - COUNTER 1: It is pessimistic to claim that SM failed to empower the indiv., bcoz. ppl. are finding ways to circumvent these draconian measures to keep govt.s in check. Thus, even tho. govt.s try to silence SM, the people's ability to circumvent/bypass censorship & use SM to keep leaderships in check ultimately makes SM a useful tool of empowerment.
      - CEX 1: Many Chinese nationals have discovered how to bypass the restrictions from the Great Firewall of China (which has helped govt. block websites) by connecting to 1 of many tech. firms' VPNs to circumvent censors. While VPNs are mainly used by companies to give employees secured access to corporate networks, they can also allow indiv.s to surf the Internet anonymously, as the services employ private 'proxy' servers that encrypt data, even though several VPN service providers have, however, been blocked by China since 2015.
      - CEX 2: Attempts to cover up & muzzle news of a high-speed bullet train crash in Wen Zhou, China (2011) were uncovered & spread online by Chinese citizens. Social networking sites acted as an informal news-wire service with, for e.g., footage of auth. burying damaged carriages, 1st posted on Sina Weibo (China's leading Twitter-like service).
    - - ELAB 1: 1 of the largest changes is how the world has become "smaller" (i.e. more connected). The Internet functions as a platform for ppl to reach out & connect with others thru a variety of media; it removes physical & geographical barriers. This has made it possible to bring tog. ppl from various countries, as ppl can now reach others within seconds, regardless of where in the world they may be (i.e. with the presence of an Internet connection).
      - ELAB 2: Key characteristics of the Internet include: Anonymity, Higher degrees of freedom of expression, Little control over what is published, High Volatility (because content is ever-changing).
    - - ELAB 1: Privacy is a hot-button issue as consumers are < uncomfortable abt. the lvl. of access world has to their info., & those accessing the said info. are eager to keep the info. flow coming. Dubbed 'social listening' by some industry folks & a.k.a. 'SM monitoring' by most, the behav. in ? is when companies monitor SM for mentions of their products/services/brand online. Even as the practice becomes more mainstream, diff. consumer demographics have diff. reactions to the 'social listening' concept. It can be disconcerting how info. we upload might be used in ways we haven't auth.
      - EX 1: When a Facebook user likes/shares a page, a large amt. of info. is not only sent to the user's friends, but also to many agencies (ad, marketing, social research, govt. etc.), leading to rampant abuse of personal info.
      - EX 2: Facebook made headlines (2018) after news broke that UK-based firm Cambridge Analytica had used a quiz app. to gain unauth. access to millions of user info. The Facebook data mining scandal has many calling for greater accountability & for high-ranking officials to take necessary measures toward greater data security.
      - EX 3: Data mining by SM is usu. done for profit. Social networks themselves don't generate enuf profit thru. their operations & thus resort to selling users' info. to generate profit.
      - COUNTER 1: Society is evolving & privacy has gradually lost much value over the last 50-60 years. Staying connected with friends has become more convenient & the loss of privacy is usually seen as a reasonable trade-off.
      - CEX 1: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has even argued that the loss of privacy in this era is a social norm & its only normal for everyone to know everything that others are doing.
      - COUNTER 2: Most ppl. are aware their info. on SM is being mined. However, as long as it doesn't [financially cost them / directly affect their lives], people are generally unconcerned with [who is mining their info. / what they are doing with it]. This is evident in the no. of ppl. still using social networks, even with scandals related to data mining by service providers.
      - ELAB 2: Govt.s mine data of their citizens & the ethicality of this has been questioned in recent years, esp. with the recent Global Surveillance disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Ppl. have realised they aren't as comfortable as they once thought they were with agencies mining their info., & the extent of this mining.
      - EX 4: Many govt.s can track indiv.s' mvmt.s & activities with disturbing ease thru mobile phones, which (esp. smart phones) register their locations with cell towers every few minutes, even when not in use. Coupled with wire-tapping of mobile phones & access to users' info., these law enforcement & govt. agencies can learn abt. what ppl. are doing & their whereabouts.
      - EX 5: The Investigatory Powers Act of 2016 (a.k.a. Snooper's Charter) expands the e-surveillance powers of the UK Intel. Community & police, purportedly to regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist & terrorism planning.
      - EX 6: SG's govt. made 244 requests to Facebook for info. covering 310 acct.s from Jul - Dec 2017 (Facebook Transparency Report). These requests pertained to all services under Facebook, incl. Whatsapp & Insta., and were primarily related to criminal cases. Facebook said it compiled with 70% of the requests, producing at least "some data".
      - COUNTER 3: Govt. data mining is not necessarily all bad as there are cases where this info. is used to help citizens.
      - CEX 2: Law enforcement agencies are able to use these new tech.s to solve & prevent crime more efficiently. It's undisclosed how many terrorist attacks & crimes have been prevented thru these means.
      - COUNTER 4: There are also < regulations passed to ensure there is > violation of privacy & ppl.'s private info. remain private.
      - CEX 3: SG Parliament passed the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2012 (15/10/12). The bill mandates data subjects be provided info. abt. purpose for collection, use/disclosure of personal data, & consent data subjects consent to such processing. The consent requirement has a few exemptions, incl. actions taken in interest of data subject where consent can't be obtained timely; emergencies that threaten [data subject / another indiv.]'s life/health/safety; & actions of national interest.
  - - - Ever since the WikiLeaks publications of diplomatic cables, the knowledge of govt corruption, abs. monarchy & human rights violations, came to the fore.
      - In Dec 2010, Arab citizens revolted, with the aim to end corruption, poverty, injustice & dictatorial leaderships' rule, using SM as a communication tool, & a collective war effort was organised.
      - Undoubtedly the most impressive & remembered SM impact. SM was never the cause of revolution in the region, but did fuel & assist, and is seen as a major catalyst.
      - The size and effects of the impact are impressive: > 15 countries affected, 4 rulers forced from power, 2 new countries formed, & it spanned the entire Arab world from Mauritania to Syria to Oman.
    - - In Oct 2011, Anonymous started attacking various child porn websites, shutting down > 40 websites & publishing acct details of 1569 paedophiles online.
      - Often seen as criminals, hackers are not always associated with good deeds. Anonymous is a collective of hackers, with no [leader / superior grp], which chooses targets randomly.
      - While not using the standard form of open SM, these hacker grps take an undercover route in the deep dark spaces of the "darknet" to implement moral & social change.
    - - On 17 Sep 2011, protestors marched down to lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, sparking numerous other protests across the US. Even though it didn't receive much media attention before the time, the 3 weeks that Wall Street was occupied showed the dissent of ppl all over US with the growing ≠ between the very wealthy 1% and the 99% from working & middle classes.
      - Fuelled by SM, the Occupy Wall Street mvmt spread across the world to > 80 countries, such as HK, UK, Australia & Germany. 1000s voiced their anger @ financial & social ≠ against bankers, financiers & politicians they accuse of ruining global econ.s, and condemning millions to poverty & hardship thru corporate greed.
      - Protesters used all forms of SM to keep the mvmt alive. Facebook pages have popped up for maj. cities across the country. Twitter hashtags have been established for communication @ general assemblies. Countless vid.s have been posted to YouTube, Vimeo & Livestream.
    - - Sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, it involves dumping a bucket of ice water on someone's head to promote awareness of the progressive nervous system disease "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis" (ALS, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's Disease), & encourage donations to research. It went viral on SM from Jul - Aug 2014.
    - - E.g.s of "cancelled" figures: JK Rowling (for tweeting comments deemed deeply insulting to transgender ppl), Shane Dawson (a YouTuber, for old vid.s of him in blackface), Lana Del Ray (a controversial Insta. post contrasting herself with Black artists).
      - "Cancel Culture" refers to a concerted effort by SM users to [withdraw online support for / shame] public figures & businesses that users believe have done/said smth objectionable, until they [apologise / disappear from view].
      - Critics of "Cancel Culture" view it as being akin to online harassment & stifles open debate, and believe that it could further increase polarisation in society.
  - - - Media that disseminate information involving largely one-way communication
      - EX: TV, Film, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, Books, etc
    - - Utilises the Internet unlike Traditional Media
      - Media which provide content that can be accessed, usually on a digital platform, anytime and anywhere
      - Characterised by the variegated use of images, words and sounds, which have a nesting characteristic
    - - Communication Technologies that allow information to reach a large audience
    - - Media which usually feature higher degrees of interaction among people, which result in the creation and exchange of information and ideas
      - Heavily rely on mobile and web-based technology to create highly interactive platforms, through which individuals and communities create and disseminate information
      - A subset of New Media
      - Underpinned by principles of collaboration
      - EX: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, TikTok, Instagram, etc