On The Media: Social Media Campaigns

The Internet is a powerful tool and has grown drastically ever since it was introduced in the early 60s. Bob Garfield was talking about how the Internet has helped reach out to people via social media by getting them involved in social groups. Nicole, a regular listener, spoke about an experience she had with the help of social media regarding social media. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Appendix cancer (rare cancer and the prognosis is usually poor) and she was treated with such great care which she gives all the credit to social media, specifically a Facebook group. This particular group had citizens that had related symptoms and was basically a chat room because they were able to speak their mind and someone actually recommended her to a specialist in Baltimore, MD. Luckily she found the treatment she needed but there also comes a dark side with these group pages. Online Hoax’s which are designed to generate cash donations or used in a way for strangers to gather attention.

The Internet can either help you or hurt you. The fact that Nicole was able to find a solution for her cancer using social media shows how powerful the Internet can be and what good it can do for people. People like a lot of certain pages on Facebook relating to things they are interested in. For example, people follow certain sports teams in order to keep up with news that is happening and updates when they are playing in a game, match, etc. That is more of an entertainment side, but doing something along the lines of how Nicole managed it, a person can tackle more serious issues and Facebook pages can be used as a particular movement and campaign. While that is all good, it can come with some faults. People can start certain pages only to attract people to them and use them to blackmail people or even threaten them. It reminds of the show Catfish except it doesn’t always have to involve relationships. For example, a person can originate a page and use it as an online weapon to put people at risk with their job, marriage, kids, or even their own life. The Internet can be used as a good resource to have campaigns to help people but some people will take advantage of this power and use it negatively.

Physical: This happens on all different kinds of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and also Kick-starter websites which are created to focus on narrowly specific topics.

Psychological: You have to basically trust whatever your instinct tells you because unless you know the person behind the campaign, you truly don’t know who shields their identity on the other end. We would like to be able to trust that a person is who they say they are and that the campaign is the actual thing they’re focusing on.

Cultural: Using Nicole’s example, I think having a chat page where you can talk about something private and knowing that no one will judge you because you’re all there for the same reason is a great cause. Plus the fact she was able to get a link to a doctor and it helped treat her cancer. If we as a society would open our eyes to see the opportunities out there waiting to happen, we could more than just nationally.

Social: “Social” is the main word in social media because these sites are all about talking with each other to develop some sort of understanding and create relationships. Facebook pages and other social media sites that create pages encourage people to talk about their situations without any doubt and it’s all about making people feel comfortable and know they are not alone.

Temporal: First thing first, a person has to be able to be comfortable with themselves and accept their problem before they talk about it with anybody else. A person can’t let trust issues or their spiritual beliefs get in the way of their decision making and being able to have a normal conversation about their problems. I think Nicole was able to become comfortable with reaching out to others because they were there for the same reason.