Social Media as Revolutionary Tools for Entertainment, News and Advocacy

All semester, we've learned that social media are the means to bringing entertainment, news and advocacy to public light.  In an article on March 19th, 2012, The New York Times writes that "must-see fever" for new films, such as "The Hunger Games," involve a yearlong digital campaign centered around the preferred media of today's youth, namely Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Tumblr, iPhone games and Yahoo streaming. Rather than use traditional modes of advertising and marketing, movie studios are turning to social media chief officers to get the word out using the tools of Web 2.0.

Likewise, "freemium" is the new business strategy for novice game developers to cull profits. For instance, the NYT describes how a husband-and-wife team of game makers from North Carolina decided to give away their "Temple Run" iPhone game for free during "Free App Day" as a means to gain popularity and increase profits through additional game-related purchases.

Finally, having reached over 84 million hits in just a few weeks, the video Kony 2012 demonstrates the revolution in alternative video makers' ability to advocate for social justice by using social media to distribute its message.  Using a model of media literacy, I'll be presenting in class how the creation, publishing and distribution of news has been altered as a result of digital media.