INTRODUCTIONThe history of human communication began with the
oral or spoken tradition. Through the course of history, the
dissemination of messages progressed from simply the oral
tradition, to script, print, wired electronics, wireless
electronics and finally digital communication. The greatest change
in message dissemination in recent history occurred with the
introduction of computers and the Internet in the early 1990s.
Since then, this drastic change of communication medium has
significantly affected humans perception of the media, the usage of
time and space, and the reachability and control of the media. In
the present age of digital communication, time has been compressed
by reducing the distance between different points in space, and the
sense of space has led people to feel that local, national, and
global space becomes obsolete (Harvey, 1990). In addition, the
reachability of digital media can now extend to all people, instead
of a limited audience. This is significant because without the
confinement of time and space, the control of message production
and dissemination is no longer a privilege possessed only by
church, state, and government, but instead, equally shared by all
individuals. All these innovations in digital media, or so-called
new media, have changed and continue to change the way we think,
act, and live. For example, digitalization, as a hybridization of
print and electronic media in a binary code, converts analog to
digital that requires a completely different mode of production and
distribution. As Chen (2007) indicated, the impact of digital or
new media on human society is demonstrated in the aspects of
cognition, social effect, and a new form of aesthetics.
Cognitively, new media demands a non-linear nature and the creation
of expectations for content, which directly influences the way
people use media. Socially, the most manifested impact of new media
is the effect of demassification, which denotes that the
traditional design for a large, homogeneous audience is
disappearing and being replaced by a specific and individual
appeal, allowing the audience to access and create the message they
wish to produce (Olason & Pollard, 2004). Visually, new media
brings forth a new digital aesthetic view, which refers to, for
example, interactivity, manipulation, the prepurposing and
repurposing of content across media, deliberate creation of virtual
experience, and sampling as a means of generating new content
(Chen, 2007, p. 95).The media landscape has changed substantially
over the past decade. Digital content has moved beyond the Internet
alone and can be found in radio, TV, cellular phones as well as on
interactive screens in public places. Digital formats allow for
more dynamic advertising over a wider array of platforms. A
challenge for marketers is the effective use of these new dynamic,
interactive media. The combination of media proliferation, media
fragmentation and audience fragmentation has given rise to major
challenges and opportunities. Marketers are uncertain of the
challenges posed by emerging new media (Barwise, Elberse, and
Hammond 2002; Louvieris and Driver 2001). The Internet is more than
another media channel. It has evolved to exploit a range of high
capacity networks and convergent devices such as interactive
digital television, online games, next generation cell-phones and
more(Barwise et al. 2002). The internet has facilitated a host of
other electronic communications which provide opportunities for
real time communication, virtual experiences and the capacity to
collect rich data about prospects. As such, new media provides
interactive, real time opportunities for dialogue and non-linear
access to differentiated contents. In the age of satellite
telephones, global CNN and the possibility of wireless Internet
connection almost anywhere, it is hard to imagine that there exists
a spot on earth that has not been touched by global communication
(Stevenson 1992).International communication as a phenomenon is
probably as old as human society itself and has occurred ever since
people have organized themselves in communities and began to
exchange ideas and products (Mowlana 1996; Schoonraad, Bornman and
Lesame 2001). However, the phenomenon of global communication as we
know it today is essentially the result of technological
advancements. It probably started with the development of advanced
transport technology such as the steam engine and the internal
combustion engine (Frederick 1993). Currently it is primarily
driven by the worldwide proliferation of advanced information and
communication technologies (ICTs)However, the vast developments in
the media and ICTs in the late 20th century have resulted in a
radical expansion of the scope of international communication.
Currently communication across national borders has expanded to a
large diversity of business-to-business and people-to-people
interactions at a global level. Furthermore, not only the
representatives of nation-states, but also a variety of non-state
actors such as international non-governmental bodies, social
movements as well as ordinary individuals are increasingly shaping
the nature of transnational communication (Mowlana 1996). Social
media has drastically changed how we communicate. Not too long ago,
we communicated through the mail, on a land-line telephone, and in
person. To- day, we send text messages; leave voice messages; use
instant messenger; send emails; talk through headphones, cell
phones, and online video phones; and, of course, interact through
the Internet where a plethora of social media tools has redefined
communication. Such a redefinition has had an enormous effect. The
entire paradigm of social media has altered the basic rules of
communication, especially between business and their audiences. The
one- way communication methods of the recent
pastbusiness-to-customer and business-to-businesshave been replaced
by a more robust multidimensional communication model. That model
is collectively called social media (also referred to as Web
2.0).With its distinctive features new media has brought human
society to a highly interconnected and complex level, but at the
same time, it challenges the very existence of human communication
in the traditional sense. New media not only influences the form
and content of information/messages, but it also affects how people
understand each other in the process of human communication,
especially for those from different cultural or ethnic groups.On
the one hand, intrinsically, the new culture hatched from new media
creates a continuity gap between traditions and innovations within
a culture. Before the emergence of new media, according to
Bagdasaryan (2011), traditions and innovations in human society
co-existed in a dynamically synchronized way, but the speed and
impact of the new media resulted in the inability of traditional
values to keep pace with the new cultural values produced by new
media. This cultural gap has caused difficulty in understanding or
communication between generations and among people in the same
culture.
The Rules of Social Media To communicate effectively in the
social media world means understanding the new rules of the road.
People want: To have a say Meaningful dialogue To be engaged and
involved in the process Personal interactions with others To be
listened to To help shape what they find useful To connect with
others engaged in similar activities Plain talk Communication to be
genuine and relevant. To conduct business with ethical companies
who work transparently. To be in partnership.
Understanding Social MediaWhile the tools and kinds of social
media are many and their implementations seemingly boundless, they
all share a common set of characteristics that meet the rules of
social media (stated above). Herewith, then, are the five Cs of
social media: Conversation. No longer is the communication one way,
broadcast or somehow sent to a passive audience. Social media is at
least a two-way conversation, and of- ten a multidimensional
conversation. Social media engages everyone involved. Contribution.
Social media encourages contributions and reactions from anyone who
is interested. Encourage is the key here; social media solicits an
interaction, positive and negative, by making it easy to
contribute. Collaboration. Social media promotes an exchange of
information between you and your audience, and among audience
members, by inviting participation. Creating a quick and simple
collaborative platform requires that information be organized and
easily distributed. Connection. Accessing information on the
Internet only takes a click. Social media thrives on connections,
within its own Web vehicles and through links to other sites,
resources, people, and automatic feeds. People can even create
their own personalized site of connections. Community. The
fundamental characteristic of social media is the creation of
community: a fellowship and relation- ship with others who share
common attitudes, interests, and goals (such as friendship,
professionalism, politics, and photography). Communities form
quickly and communicate effectively. Communities build goodwill
from members to the hosting organization and among members. While
these communities are only virtual with members seldom meeting each
other in person, they are no less robust than the physical
communities in which we live, and in many ways more robust from the
simple fact that barriers are removed.
Generational Perception of Social Media Three generations occupy
todays work- place. The three generations can essentially be broken
out into those over the age of 50, the so-called Baby Boomers;
those in their 30s and 40s, known as Generation X; and those in
their 20s and younger, known as Generation Y. Baby Boomers have the
most difficulty comprehending the phenomena of social media, so the
perception of social media between the outliersBaby Boomers and Gen
Ybears consideration. Baby Boomers essentially grew up in
two-parent households (almost 90 per- cent of families). For the
vast majority, dad worked a job, mom worked at home. This family
unit, with its incumbent net- work of extended relatives and
neighbors, was the foundation of their lives. Boomers grew up with
black and white televisions, party-line telephones, news- papers,
mail, double-feature movies, and mom-and-pop corner stores. Only
about 45 percent of Gen Y grew up in two-parent households. For the
vast majority, dad and mom both worked a job, essentially
disintegrating the basic family unit of relatives and neighbors.
Gen Y grew up with color computers constantly connected to the
Internet, cell phones, dig- ital media, email and text messaging,
movies at home, and big box chains. Gen Y is inherently more
comfortable using the tools of social media to communicate with
their network of peers and friends because they have lived it their
entire lives.
REFERENCES China Media Research, 8(2), 2012, Chen, Impact of New
Media on Intercultural Communication
http://www.chinamediaresearch.net 4 [email protected]
Barwise, Elberse, and Hammond 2002; Louvieris and Driver 2001
Harvey, D 1990. The condition of post mordenity: An enquiry into
the origins of cultural change. Oxford: Blackwell Chen. G, M (2007)
Media (literacy) education in the united states, China media
research, 3(3), 87-103 Olson, S.R., Pollard, T. (2004). The Muse
Pixelipe: Digitalization and media literacy education. American
Behavioural Scientist, 48(2), 248-255
