When social networking gets nasty
The Multicultural Center was filled from end to end Wednesday afternoon with students and faculty who wanted to be part of the conversation, When Social Networking Gets Nasty.
Bree McEwan, assistant professor in the department of communication, led the discussion and prefaced her presentation by saying, I am not the kind of person whos going to tell you about social media (and) to stay off of it.
McEwan said she loves to study social media and that she also frequently uses her own Facebook and Twitter accounts.
I think it can do really great things for us in terms of communication, but of course there is a dark side to this, she said.
Social media is user-generated content and that is part of the problem. A corporation is not in control of social media and cannot easily filter out any negative statements; people are the ones using it and who essentially control the content.
Social media is used for a variety of reasons: relational maintenance, impression management, personal branding, social capital, group identification, social persuasion and information seeking to name a few.
If social media can be used for so much good, then why is it so destructive?
One of the problems is due to persistence. According to McEwan, students dont remember that what they say sticks around.
This is permanent; its there, it can be searched long after you decided you dont want to be associated with something anymore, McEwan said.
Another problem is the notion of replicability. McEwan began this discussion by asking the audience how many people have their privacy settings set up on their Facebook pages or Twitter accounts. The majority of the audience raised their hands.
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When social networking gets nasty