Explaining the Notion of Social Media Literacy

When considering the development of what it now means to be literate here in the twenty-first century, social media and new media seem to act as both hurdles and crutches in modern literacy. Acting as a crutch, social media can make the process of collaboration more simple, and vastly extend the potential amount of ideas, much more than in the prior industrial society. As Rheingold mentions, in a form of protest, new media users can utilize social media platforms to spread their message, reaching a greater audience and making a larger impact.

Vast collaboration in our networked society can be seen every day online. For example, on Facebook there is a Vancouver-based group made up of over twenty-thousand women who are open to answer questions and give advice to anything posted in this online forum. With the click of a button, I am able to send off my question or comment into a public space, in which thousands of minds are then encouraged to simultaneously read and respond to my post.

As Rheingold explains, there are five social media literacies that are all interconnected, Due to the vast amount of responses I could potentially receive on my question posted in the Facebook group, it is fair to assume that the users in this group are actively participating as well as giving me their attention. Through this Facebook group, thousands of women are simultaneously collaborating with each other, directing their attention to the posts, and are being encouraged to participate and interact, proving that the media literacies are all interconnected.

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Because it is so easy to find yourself directing your attention to a simple Facebook group per se, 1 agrees with rheingold that the education system should be reconsidered and reconstructed, I think it would be interesting to conduct the probes that Rheingold mentions in his piece.

For example, no matter how hard I attempt to maintain focus on the professor’s words, I find my attention drifting to other spaces this is natural and has been happening for decades in the classroom. Although, the overwhelming bombardment of useless information and constant distraction caused by new media is not natural, nor necessary. The never-ending plethora of insignificant windows open on my laptop and phone prove that I am a victim of attention-splitting, as Rheingold refers to. Multitasking can be a useful type of attention in certain situations in which it is necessary, but not in a classroom in which it is not, and is hindering the retention of learning material. To cope with this daily overload of distraction and information, I find myself attempting to disconnect temporarily.

In thinking critically in this very assignment, I am sitting alone in a quiet room, without my phone in arms reach, and without any nonsense windows open on my laptop It is important to note that prior to achieving this mode of peace, I had already “lost” by spending too much time interacting with new media in procrastinating this assignment At times I feel I must completely turn off my phone, as there are too many other people actively online who are able to message, text, like, call, poke, and ultimately distract me at any given time Will power becomes a central coping mechanism, in trying not to spend hours scrolling through pages of what seems to be “nothing information“. This specific type of distraction might not have been as significant of an issue ten years ago, but Rheingold states that “according to a 2005 report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 87 percent of US teenagers, across all class and ethnic boundaries, are online in some way”.

Eighty—seven percent is an immensely large portion of the teenage community in the United States, yet believable Moreover, it is important to understand that this number will only grow as the digital natives’ population does. This growing quantity demonstrates the constant tugging at every user to continue their participation I find myself feeling encouraged to post more photos on Instagram and Facebook when I see that everyone else is doing so I additionally feel notably self-gratified when I am notified that my friends, (and strangers!), like my photos. Furthermore, the pressure to network comes from the fact that a large part of a person’s reputation is expressed and sustained through new media.

For example, a work colleague of mine had explained that she had not posted a photo of herself on Instagram in over a year, something not common for a social 20-year-old. She recollected that her friends and family reacted ecstatically when she had finally posted a photo after the long period of time, asking her where she had been and if she had been doing all-right. It seems as though everyone whom she only connects with through social networking had assumed she fell off the face of the earth due to her lack of posts. To be literate through new media, users are constantly pressured to participate and add their own information to a space that is already full, causing a continual cycle of overload and distraction that is difficult to escape.