Digital Communication, Social Media, and AI

Digital Communication, Social Media, and AI

Outcomes

  • Differentiate between digital media, social media, and digital communication.
  • Explain how digital and social media have changed over time and their main differences.
  • Assess main social media platforms, their characteristics, and how they can be used for digital communication in personal and professional contexts.
  • Analyze new social media trends and reflect on their effects on digital communication and society.
  • Describe ways to control your digital footprint and safeguard your online reputation.
  • Understand how to deal with and stop cyberbullying and online harassment.

Introduction

  • Digital and social media are essential parts of our lives, connecting us with friends and family.

Explaining Digital Media, Social Media, and Digital Communication

  • Digital Media: Electronic media created, stored, and accessed using digital technology.
    • Includes text, images, sounds, videos, and interactive content.
    • Accessed through digital platforms like laptops, tablets, and phones.
  • Social Media: Interactive online platforms where users interact, share content, and communicate with brands and businesses.
  • Digital Communication: Electronic sharing and communication of information.

Evolution of Digital and Social Media

  • Self-study pages 253-258.

Impact of Digital and Social Media on Society

  • Impact is both positive and negative.
    • Positive Impacts:
      • Modern education is more accessible and open.
      • Global communication enables people to share knowledge and discuss social and political issues.
    • Negative Impacts:
      • Addiction to mobile devices and social media platforms.
      • Effects on cognitive development.
      • Information overload.

Social Media Platforms and Their Use

  • Self-study pages 261-270.

Using Social Media for Marketing

  • Marketing Definition: The process of creating, advertising, and selling goods or services.
  • Social media marketing can reach many buyers.
  • It promotes a product/service/business to a specific group through social networks.
  • Different advertising formats are available on various social media sites.
  • Social Media Analytics: Studying data to discover the effectiveness of social media marketing.
  • Involves using special software and tools to extract data from social media sites (e.g., Hootsuite Insights).

Measuring Content Performance

  • Each social media site measures content performance differently.
  • Measurements include:
    • Follower growth
    • Engagement rate
    • Reach
    • Hashtag performance
    • Demographics

New Concepts

  • Brand: How customers, investors, employees, and the media perceive a product or business as a whole.
  • Brand Personality: Feelings, thoughts, and actions unique to a brand that remain consistent over time; the brand's identity if it were a person.
  • Brand Identity: Obvious parts of a brand, like color, design, and logo, that aid recognition.
  • Brand Awareness: How well a brand's products/services are known and understood by its target audience.
  • Social Media Strategy: A plan for using social media to achieve specific goals.

Digital and Social Media Trends for 2023 and Beyond

  • Digital and social media are constantly evolving.
  • Expect changes in communication, content creation, and sharing.
  • Trends include:
    • Artificial intelligence
    • More short-term content
    • Personalization
    • Augmented reality
    • Multi-sensory social media
    • Super apps
    • Niche social media

Digital Footprint and Privacy

  • Global citizens are digital participants.
  • Social media platforms leave digital footprints.
  • Aspects of individuals' lives are visible online.
  • Businesses tracking online behavior include:
    • Online advertisers
    • Social media sites
    • Government agencies and law enforcement

Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA)

  • Data protection law in South Africa that protects the privacy of personal information.
  • Applies to all businesses and organizations processing personal information.
  • VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) prevent tracking.

Tips for Protecting Personal Information Online

  • Use strong passwords.
  • Enable two-factor authentication.
  • Be cautious about sharing personal information.
  • Use privacy settings.
  • Keep software up to date.
  • Be cautious on public Wi-Fi.
  • Use anti-virus software.

Cyberbullying and Online Harassment

  • Addressing Cyberbullying and Online Harassment:
    • Educate yourself
    • Talk to others
    • Report abusive behavior
    • Support victims
    • Be mindful of your own online behavior

Self Reflection

  • Search digital media for two trending stories.
  • Give a short description of the issue.
  • Analyze the media usage (number of tweets, platforms, airtime, etc.).

Artificial Intelligence in Communication Technologies

Outcomes
  • Describe how communication technologies have changed in the past two decades.
  • Describe how new communication technologies have transformed communication, interactional dynamics, and learning.
  • Describe inequalities, injustices, and power dynamics reshaped through new communication technologies.
  • Describe new dangers emerging from new communication technologies.
Introduction
  • Communication technologies shape our everyday cultures (communication, networking, connectivity, caring, intimacies, leisure, play, learning).
  • Material artifacts (cell phones, laptops, smart TVs) influence interactions and relationships.
Features of Digital Communication Technologies
  • Ever-growing inventions in communication technologies are a major revolution.
How Technology Changed Communication
  • Enabling instant communication.
  • Overcoming geographical barriers.
  • Enabling more effective and real-time collaboration.
  • Increasing transparency.
  • Decentralizing decision-making.
Communication in the Age of Big Data
  • The field of communication is influenced by big data processes across social lives.
  • Sources of Big Data:
    • WhatsApp
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram
  • Big data introduced quantitative and statistical methods in communication.
  • Sentiment Analysis: Analyzing digital text to determine the emotional tone (positive, negative, neutral).
Factors that made Big Data Important
  • Explosion of social media.
  • Advances in Big Data analytics methods.
  • Decreasing costs of software.
Genesis of Artificial Intelligence in Communication
  • AI: Branch of computer science building smart machines that perform tasks requiring human intelligence.
  • Advancements in machine learning and deep learning are creating a paradigm shift in the tech industry.
  • AI enables machines to model or improve upon human mind capabilities.
  • Tools like ChatGPT/Google Bard.
  • AI is increasingly becoming part of everyday life.
Elements of AI
  • Technologies operate intentionally.
  • Intelligence of the technologies.
  • Adaptability.
AI Technologies in Communication/Media Ecosystem
  • See Table 11.2, pages 290-292.
ChatGPT
  • Launched in November 2022 by OpenAI.
  • Powered by a large language model (LLM).
  • Represents practices still unknown in our communication ecosystem.
Robots in Everyday Communication Practices
  • Robots have become familiar in our communication ecosystem.
  • Thin line separating bots, AI, and algorithms because they feed into and propel each other.
  • Bots exist in software.
  • AI exists in software and algorithms.
The Mutation of Radio and Television: Digital Radio and Digital Television
  • Algorithms have infiltrated legacy media (radio, television).
  • In South Africa:
    • Used to have TV antennas.
    • Now have digital/smart televisions.
    • Algorithms are incorporated in viewing (streaming services like Showmax/Netflix).
Darker Side of New Communication Technologies
  • Users can be tracked.
  • Hacking.
  • Political polarization.
  • Hate speech.
  • Extremism.
  • Misinformation/Disinformation.
The Future of Communication Technologies
  • Fears of technology.
  • AI presents profound risks to society and humanity.
  • No one knows how the future of these technologies will be shaped.