7-2 Final Project Milestone Three: Blog Group 2, Two-Way Communication

Among the many changes that technology has brought upon society's expectations of mass media and culture is that of a two-way communication. As I previously wrote, social media has led to an expectation of immediate and constant communication from mass media and culture to its audiences. Furthermore, there is now a greater expectation that this communication is not only constant, but that it goes two ways. 

Before the advent of social media, there was very limited "conversations" or two-way communications between mass media and its consumers. That has clearly changed thanks to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, that allow and encourage comments and responses. A Facebook post from Fox 11 Los Angeles regarding coyote trapping received 580 comments in just one day. Mass media puts out its stories and people are now able to respond and comment instantly.  

People also now expect responses to their comments and questions from those who are providing the content on social media. Below you can see a Facebook post by Running Warehouse with a link to a video product review about a new running shoe. A concerned customer comments, and then within an hour Running Warehouse responds to the concern. This is a theme and a very normal occurrence on the Running Warehouse Facebook page. While Facebook has given Running Warehouse a great avenue to provide excellent and immediate customer service, it is also now an expectation of its customers that did not exist prior to social media. The problem is not for Running Warehouse in this example, it's for other companies who don't have the staff, ability, or sense to interact with its customers on this level. Because a company can and does do this for its customers, can often mean an expectation is not being met by others that can not.

The following video discusses how businesses can interact with their customers and what to expect from this new form of expected two-way communication.



The following graphic illustrates the difference between the percentage of comments that Facebook and Twitter receives from consumers, and the difference response rate and engagement with consumers on the two sites.

7-2 Final Project Milestone Three: Blog Group 2, Mobile Apps

Americans are increasingly consuming their news digitally thanks to advances in technology, and this has led to a change in societal expectations. Approximately 50 percent of Americans use a digital platform to read or watch the news (Beaujon, 2012). While newspapers are a declining outlet for news consumers, the smartphone is rapidly increasing in growth. Smartphone ownership grew 30% in 2012 to surpass the 50% mark of units owned (Beaujon, 2012). Americans also own 50 million tablets — a penetration in three years that took a decade for smartphones. With the rapid expansion of technology in the form of smart phones, computers, and other digital devices, it becomes crucial that mass media outlets deliver their news to these sources in addition to any of their traditional papers or news broadcasts.

Mobile apps is another digital medium news outlets have increasingly turned to disseminate their news, and one that many consumers now also expect from media outlets. Joseph Walker says that since the invention of Apple’s Iphone in 2007, thousands of developers have created mobile apps, many of which have been created for mass media organizations. “As of June, consumers had downloaded 30 billion apps from the Apple App Store where more than 650,000 apps are available. Google Play, which sells Android apps, is reported to have had 15 billion downloads from its selection of 500,000 apps,” according to Walker (Walker, 2012).

The following video explains the growth of mobile apps and why so many businesses are utilizing them.

Andrew, B. (2012).  Pew: Half of Americans get news digitally, topping newspapers, radio. Poytner. http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/189819/pew-tv-viewing-habit-grays-as-digital-news-consumption-tops-print-radio/

Jordan, W. (2014). The decline of newspapers hit  stunning milestone. Slate.com.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/04/28/decline_of_newspapers_hits_a_milestone_print_revenue_is_lowest_since_1950.html

7-2 Final Project Milestone Three: Blog Group 2, Social Media

Technology has definitely changed society's expectations of mass media and culture. With the advances in technology has come the advent of social media. The recent social media explosion has definitely had a significant impact on what society expects from mass media in particular. People now expect immediate communication that is frequent and constant. If a media outlet is slow to a story, consumers will simply move on to the next media outlet. People expect mass media to be continuously updating them throughout the entire day.

Before social media, the expectations were far less. For newspapers it was once a day, maybe twice with a late-afternoon edition. For television news, it was mostly the evening and late news. This is clearly no longer the case. The video below shows how people are currently using social media and some of the trends and reasons for their selections. It's a great illustration of not only the power and reach of social media, but how society engages with it.



Another great example of the growth of social media thanks to technology, is the following infographic. With all these available social media sites and networks, people expect a constant flow of communication.