Roundtable Wrap-Up: RT 14-Thursday

Thursday morning’s roundtable focused on the impact of social media. The delegates voiced that social media immerses us in the opinions of others, particularly in those of our friends. Kevin expressed his concern for how governments are able to use social networks to incriminate individuals who voice thier opinions to friends and strangers on the web. CDR Hodges sees the news taking objective subjects with objective answers and molding them into “what do you think?”-type topics. Donald inserted that social media is only a tool to act on something that individuals have stirring within themselves. Social media offers both a medium and a source of courage to speak out on what individuals feel is needed be voiced.

The roundtable discussed the effects of social media on our non-virtual social lives. CDR Hodges stated that technologies accelerate human tendencies. Which was followed by Nate’s opinion that there will always be a yearning for the human element. Tying in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the delegates concluded that there will always be voids that technology will not be able to fill.

Where do we go from here? Shelby thinks that we are in the era of citizen journalism and that society is likely to continue to steer down that path. Kacie envisions that the media in the future, very much as it is today, will be directed by money. In closing, the delegates came to an agreement that although we have uncharted waters ahead of us, we will all benefit greatly from our generation’s use of media in the internet age.