An analysis of social media usage in this day and age and a discussion of the pros and cons of social media, with various case studies.

1. image: steve garfield, flickr
SOCIAL MEDIA: THE GOOD, THE BAD,
AND THE UGLY
FILM 315S
Prof. SEM
May 20, 2011
by Tiffany Liu

2. CONVERSING:
A LOST ART?
In the age of social media, the
art of conversation has been lost
– a poll run by the Globe and
Mail showed that 63% of people
agree with this statement
Image: the globe and mail

3. image: loriann disabato, flickr
We no longer value intimacy, but instead efficiency
Need to talk? Don’t call, text instead because
talking takes up too much time

4. But for some, social
media brings people
c l o s e r t o g e t h e r,
taking into account
the distances and
time zones that
physically separate
people
image: rosefirerising, flickr

5. Social media is now a resource for news – you don’t
need to watch TV or read the newspaper to find out
what’s going on in the world
image: irish typepad, flickr

6. Goodbye, BBC and GLOBE AND MAIL
image: ol.v!er, ed yourdon, flickr
Hello, FACEBOOK and TWITTER
48% of young Americans say they find out about news
through Facebook

7. TMI?
People are now sharing more
and more personal
information and using various
sources of social networking
to share this information, such
as through blogging, status
updates, and mass emailing
image: motti82, flickr

8. Social media users feel
the need to belong and
tend to be more active
in social groups than
non-Internet users (Pew
Research study)
48% of those who are
active in groups say
that those groups have
a page on a social
image: baha’I views, flickr
networking site

9. image: jaysun, flickr
Case study: When asked to stop using all forms of
media for a day, people began to show a variety of
withdrawal symptoms ranging from headaches to
feelings of isolation (conducted by the ICMPA)

10. A study conducted by S. Craig Watkins at the
University of Texas revealed that college
students use social networking sites to stay
connected – when asked to choose the top
three activities they engage in on Facebook,
the study subjects selected those that allowed
them to keep up with the activities of their
friends and families
image: martin neuhof, flickr
image: martin neuhof, flickr
"Our findings indicate that Facebook is not
supplanting face-to-face interactions
among friends, family and colleagues. In
fact, we believe there is sufficient evidence
that social media afford opportunities for
new expressions of friendship, intimacy
and community."

11. image: baha’i views, flickr
So for some, social media encourages togetherness

12. image: naraekim0801, flickr
...While for others, it creates
distance.

13. image: amanky, flickr
You don’t have to be a pro to use social media –
all you need is diligence (JD Rucker)

14. The tools are out
there for you to use
as long as you have
Internet connection
image: flowtown

15. With social media, there are new trends arising at
alarming rates – one of these trends is the
measurement of your overall online influence,
known as your “Klout score”
image: raul p, flickr

16. image: philippe martin, flickr
Now, people will be
judged, analyzed,
and compared
according to their
“number”

17. YOUR SKILLS, PREVIOUS EMPLOYERS, AND
KLOUT SCORE PLEASE?
image: world relief spokane, flickr
Social scoring may be just as important as a resume,
especially for marketing jobs

18. We have now created a
social media caste system –
on top of keeping up with
status updates, we now
have to worry about keeping
a high Klout score
image: chris t, flickr

19. Need to raise your Klout score? Don’t worry, a
Klout coach can help you with that.
Social scoring will become so important that
image: citroenverde, flickr
people will pay for a high influence score –
becoming a personal Klout coach just might be
“the business opportunity of the year” (Mark
Schaefer)

20. Are we more concerned with establishing
intimate relationships with friends, or getting as
many friends as possible?
image: brajeshwar, flickr

21. Case study of Canadian university students: The heaviest
users of Facebook are narcissists and people with
low self-esteem
Those who ranked high for narcissism spent more time
logging into and updating their Facebook profile
image: moirabot, flickr

22. In social media, “you very
carefully construct the image
of yourself that you want
people to see” (Soraya
Mehdizadeh, York University)
image: pineli, flickr

23. image: kalexanderson, flickr
THE “DIGITAL TATTOO”
Be careful when constructing your image in social media –
screw up your image and you can hurt your reputation
“There’s no do-overs in cyberspace” (Sidneyeve Matrix)

24. Digital influence vs. human connection
image: j. mcpherskesen, josh russell, flickr

25. Which is more
important to you?

26. The meaning of “friendship”
has already been redefined by
social media – how will social
media redefine the meaning of
a healthy, social relationship?
image: ed yourdon, flickr

27. image: laughing squid, flickr
The question we should be asking ourselves
isn’t, “Who will we be in 15 years?”
But rather, “Who will social media make us out
to be?”

28. WORKS CITED
The great disconnect: Using Facebook for social
distance
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships/
the-great-disconnect-using-facebook-for-social-distance/
article1893655/page2/
Are We Too Obsessed with Facebook?
http://mashable.com/2011/01/12/obsessed-with-facebook-
infographic/
How Internet Users Feel the Need to Belong
http://www.flowtown.com/blog/how-internet-users-feel-the-
need-to-belong
How to Really Get Conversions from Social Media
http://www.flowtown.com/blog/how-to-really-get-conversions-
from-social-media
image: snaphappygeek, flickr

29. WORKS CITED CONTINUED
Get reading. Social scoring will change your life.
http://www.businessesgrow.com/2010/11/22/get-
ready-social-scoring-will-change-your-life/
Does Facebook help relationships, or hurt them?
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101124/
social-media-studies-101128/
Can Facebook make you feel better about yourself?
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100907/
narcissists-love-facebook-100907/
Universities teaching students social media skills
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100904/
social-media-school-100904/

30. All images were provided by Flickr users
under the Creative Commons Non-
Commercial License 3.0
image: symo0, flickr