1. Locating Social Media
Social Media – Dr. Giorgos Cheliotis (gcheliotis@nus.edu.sg)
Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore

2. Quiz: do you know your social web?
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis (gcheliotis@nus.edu.sg)2
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4. What is social media? (1 of 2)
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Personal Media Mass Media
Telephone
Letter
Postcard
Personal media sharing*
Print media
TV
Radio
Recorded media
Interpersonal Communication Mass Communication
Mediated Interaction pre-Internet Quasi-mediated
* Sharing of personal photos, videos, music collection,
etc.

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6. What is social media? (2 of 2)
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis (gcheliotis@nus.edu.sg)6
Personal Media Mass Media
Telephone
Letter
Postcard
Personal media sharing
Email
IM 1-1 Chat
IM 1-1 A/V
Texting 1-1
Newspaper
TV
Radio
Recorded
media
Online delivery
Mobile delivery
Interpersonal Communication Mass Communication
Mediated Interaction in post-Web 2.0 Internet Era
Social Media
Blog
Wiki
Forum/Mailing list
Chat room
SNS1
Content sharing
Commenting
Tagging/Filtering
Social IM
Social Texting
MORPG2/VW3
Hybrid Mode
1. Social Network Site (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)
2. Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (e.g., Warcraft)
3. 3-D Virtual World (e.g., Second Life)

7. So… what is social media?
Increased symmetry in interaction
Potential for and encouragement of two-way communication and reciprocal
behaviour
Interaction situated within the context of online social networks
Ties created and maintained between ‘alter’ and ‘ego’ through symmetrical
interaction
De-institutionalization of media production
Rise of the amateur producer, or ‘prosumer’
Convergence of technologies and media forms
Leading to destabilization of personal/mass media dichotomy
Blurring of private and public sphere
As a consequence of all of the aboveCNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis (gcheliotis@nus.edu.sg)7
Social media is mediated communication characterized by:

8. Social implications…
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis (gcheliotis@nus.edu.sg)8
Online social networks complement and support offline ties
Latent ties can be converted to weak ties; weak ties can become stronger
One’s circle can be expanded beyond what is possible offline
Potential for increase in total social capital
Mediated communication increasingly important in daily life
Requires new skills and adaptation to online communication norms and codes
Higher cognitive load caused by management of multiple online and offline identities and
parallel communication through various channels
Poses new challenges for education, socialization, the digital divide, administration and law
enforcement
Challenging dominant power structures and state control
Bloggers, user conversations and online forums challenge information monopoly of state and
mainstream media
Nearly insurmountable challenges for state censorship
Changing relationship to cultural and media environment
UGC usurps the cultural dominance of creative industries
Rise of a new folk and remix culture
Valorization of the amateur producer and remixer

9. Business Implications
Consumer information seeking behavior has changed
Information from friends in social network more trusted than marketing department
SNS can be used to spread valuable information on new products or misinformation
Marketers try to leverage SNS – but can be easily shunned by consumers
Content sharing and reuse becoms integral to user conversations
Users desire to communicate through found media and UGC
Control over distribution and framing of digital content is compromised; internet-savvy content
producers bypass intermediaries and freely appropriate found media
Attempts by firms at leveraging UGC for marketing purposes or as inputs to production
(crowdsourcing) have mixed results
Growing and responding to one’s community becomes critical
Internet startups focus increasingly on building successful user communities
Novel technology and venture capital not enough to tap the social web
Dinosaurs add social features to capture audience (that is now clearly not anymore merely
‘audience’)
Pressure to assume more open and allow for third party extensions and user modifications
Corporate communications must be perceived as honest and authentic
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis (gcheliotis@nus.edu.sg)9

10. Legal and other risks
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis (gcheliotis@nus.edu.sg)10
Privacy and social blunders

11. Some practical advice ;-)
Use strong passwords and if necessary a password manager; do not use the same
password on every site and do not share your passwords with anyone
Avoid ‘friending’ strangers or giving away sensitive information via email or IM
Do not follow shortened URL’s from sources you do not trust
Think twice before every post you make online, even if it is on your ‘private’ profile;
avoid offensive comments altogether; observe and follow community etiquette
Do not get agitated by nasty comments and repeat grievers (trolls)
Maintain multiple ‘alts’ if you want to have more personal conversations
Reveal only as much information as you need to about yourself; if more info is
required than you feel comfortable with, fake it, or better, leave the site
Do not post material created by others unless permission to copy and post is explicitly
granted and you give attribution (or if you are confident that your use is ‘fair use’)
Including a link to the source is also good practice
Avoid posting content that could compromise the privacy of others or offend
Switch on location-based services on your mobile phone only when you need them
Remember that everything you send, even in 1-1 communication, can be forwarded
and made public; do not store sensitive data on your phone, it is easy to lose
If you manage your own community, establish and enforce rules of conduct
Provide users with tools to filter poor quality content or report inappropriate content
Comply with regulations on resolving copyright infringement claims
Reward pro-social, cooperative users and blacklist repeat offenders
CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis (gcheliotis@nus.edu.sg)11
Security
Privacy
and
etiquette
UGC
Mobile
Users

12. A new digital culture
Participation
keywords: engagement, democracy, public sphere, collective action, social
capital
Remediation
keywords: remix culture, appropriation, active audience, meaning-making,
transformative
Bricolage
keywords: DIY culture, found objects, serendipity, remix, mash-up
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Social media operates in a digital culture that is characterized by:

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Participation
We have come to expect a sense of
participation
A resurgence of a folk
culture?
Result: a more active
citizenry?
Or disconnection from each other
and from ‘traditional’ forms of
collectivity?
An increase in ‘social
capital’?

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Remediation
Every new medium diverges from yet also reproduces older media
(Deuze)
Do social media users value their
own voice more than anything
else?
Mass media is reproduced but
also recontextualized by
individual users
Not an opposition to mainstream media and
tradition but an individualization of the
message?

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Bricolage
The creation of objects with material to hand, re-using
existing materials and incorporating bits and pieces
(Hartley)
Assemblage and tweaking in lieu of ‘originality’
Bricoleur contrasted with the (mythical) engineer
Creating a sense of connectedness with
people and things online
But fostering also social isolation?

17. Credits and licensing
Frontpage photo by the tartanpodcast (license: CC BY-NC)
Global Web Index infographic by TrendStream.
Arpanet photo by the Computer History Museum and Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Lolcat photo creator unknown, hosted by ICANHASCHEEZBURGER.COM
Crowd photo by davidChief (license: CC BY)
iPod photo by jakerome (license: CC BY-NC)
Bricolage photo by Tinkerbots (CC BY-NC)
17 CNM Social Media Module – Giorgos Cheliotis (gcheliotis@nus.edu.sg)
Original content in this presentation is licensed under the Creative
Commons Singapore Attribution 3.0 license unless stated otherwise (see
above)