In 1965…….. the idea of war changed my generation with the first televised war…. Vietnam. The U.S. Pentagon charged Morley Safer, the CBS Evening News correspondent, with staging a horrible event: U.S. marines using cigarette lighters to burn civilian huts in a search-and-destroy operation in the village of Cam Ne. Television showed us the real horrors of war like never before. TV was our social network then.
Arab Spring….. 2011….. Even though the Egyptian government shut down the internet for FIVE DAYS the social media, 18-day protest and outcry to the world on Facebook and Twitter forced Hosni Mubarak to resign his THIRTY YEAR presidency. This is probably one of the most profound ways I've seen a SM site affect the world and especially Egypt.
Today's social media is stunning! In this week's CSU Social Media class, we're learning about online privacy (actually, the lack of it), what that means, and how we can be more savvy with our own social media profiles. We are also learning what social capital means.
Social media sites can have radical effects (like the example above using Facebook in Cairo, Egypt in 2011) and then there are those many times I surf my FB wasting hours on neighbors gossip! It's all in how you use them.
I helped a fellow filmmaker put his extraordinary documentary at Sundance Film Festival several years ago, but more importantly, splashed the trailer about the Rwanda AVP workshop (his docu) all over my FB helping raise funding for a similar docu about Kenya. The trailer, ICYIZERE: hope has a link below.
For now, the internet is an important part of my daily life. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites -- not so much. However, I do value their use in social capital as a social, political, and cultural tool and influence and hope to learn more about using them. Looking forward to it.
So, ciao4Niao ~!~ j U
ICYZERE: hope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAN_-Ylpjuw
That was a wonderful post. I did not know that story about Franklin's brother, so I'm glad you mentioned it. And I loved how you also used the example of Vietnam and what happened in Egypt. It is also very interesting what you were able to do for your filmmaker friend. It's amazing what SM can do. It can do so much good, but at the same time people can us it to do bad things. However, I think it's always important to know both the good and bad side of everything. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAwesome start to your blog Judy. I love the connection to history and your overall tone. Your posts are fun and interesting to read. Keep up the great blogging.
ReplyDelete