Empowering Individuals
In an age when anyone has access to mass media, public speaking becomes an even more important skill. Social media give voice to those whom traditional, more linear forms of mass media tended to ignore. And the opportunity for instant audience feedback—in the form of responses, re-tweets, and replies—makes social media an especially interactive forum for those who seek public access.
WHETHER IT’S A funny photo of your cat or a “Harlem Shake” flash mob video, all it takes is enough social media attention for something to go viral. Mike Brown/ZUMA Press/Newscom
Even artist Andy Warhol, who once predicted that eventually, everyone would have the opportunity to be famous for fifteen minutes, might have been surprised by the ease with which anyone can put themselves into media today. Blogs, YouTube, Twitter, and even professional news organizations offer opportunities for citizen journalists to report and comment on events in their communities. Even viewer comments on a news show’s Facebook page can influence the stories that later get covered (Jacobson, 2013).
Individuals can also contribute their own entertainment messages online. Many forms of user-generated content have emerged, ranging from simple home videos uploaded to YouTube to elaborate mash-ups of popular songs or artworks (Pavlik & McIntosh, 2013). Content that manages to break into mass media culture is said to have “gone viral”—that is, spread from user to user (like an infection) via Web links or social media. Teen idol Justin Bieber first rose to fame in this manner, while others have more short-lived viral lives (such as Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis wondering “What does the fox say?” or office workers doing the “Harlem Shake”). Social networking on Facebook or Twitter has also allowed individuals to elevate their everyday personal lives to become more public ones. Our status updates and photos can alert everyone we know (and friends of friends of people we know) to what we are doing, feeling, and thinking. We even use social networking to feel more connected to the personal thoughts and feelings of celebrities, limited of course to the thoughts they purposely release to us via Twitter.
In short, media convergence enables individual voices to contribute to news, politics, and culture. Although the quality of their messages varies greatly, there is some sense that allowing more voices to contribute to what has become known as the marketplace of ideas—the open forum in which ideas compete—is beneficial for society as a whole (Abrams v. United States, 1919).