REFLECTION

After a dozen weeks exposed to Social Media I am still not a fan. I hated having to sign up to the different tools especially Flicker, Pinterest and Twitter. I refused to do the YouTube task, that was just going too far !!! I felt them to be personally invasive to my privacy, in that, to borrow an old Groucho Marks phrase, "I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member". Just being on them gives me an unease that my data is being leached.

http://miscetcetera.com/2014/05/01/         
http://thinklikegeek.com/post/102371334553/three-words-google-shopping-express
         

I was disappointed to discover that Google has changed it's algorithms in 2014 to preference Social Media content. This decision is disastrous in my opinion, as it reinforces the Capitalist Market model of Neo-liberal consumerism. The dark side of Social Media is at last emerging, that it's all about money, not about user connectivity. This is not an aulteristic exercise. Google is currently being investigated by the EU Commission for anti-competitive practices in preferencing its own business interests in it's SEO search results. The US multi-nationals in this sector want it all and we as citizens need the guarantee of good Gate-keeping in this virgin territory.

However, since I am taking a joint major in Information Studies and Social Policy, the likelihood is that I will probably have to head up a Social Media campaign many times in my future working life. I will have to use Hoot-Suite to manage a constant flow of many contents and feeds to reach a target audience. This module has given me invaluable exposure to these tools and has offered a balanced argument as to their usage.

NOTE: I have been having problems with this Blogger interface, which I have brought to my Tutor's attention, with posts not showing even though they are on the dashboard. At the time of this submission deadline, post ' Week Six' does not seem to be showing.