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Social Media and Consumption
Social Media and Consumption: Its Role in Exploitation and Empowering Consumers
Introduction
Social media are the tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other (Tuten, 2018). In recent years, it has brought a great impact on people’s lives. Some of the contributing factors to the growth and developmen tof social media and its impact on people has been due to the growth and innovation associated with technology and software in recent times. Additionally, the impact of COVID-19 on people’s life cannot be ignored. COVID-19 has altered the way people live, study, and work, making people more reliant on social media and increasing its usage amongst population. With the social distancing and zero contact requirements, social media has greatly facilitated online shopping for consumers. To a certain extent, social media has had positive impacts. However, despite its ability to empower consumers to shop more conveniently and save time, it has also brought about many hidden negative consumption effects including addiction, cyberbullying, privacy concerns, and making people prone to hacking. Therefore, social media is both empowering and exploiting for consumers in a way that it enables growth and opportunities while also exposing them to negative outcomes. The essay will demonstrate how social media empowers and exploits consumers.
The Empoworing Function of Social Media to Consumers
More realization of products
Social media allows customers to choose a wide range of products by providing information and prices when they need to buy products. It enables comparison of product on the basis of quality and other measures that make sense to the customer. Social media allows consumers to see product reviews and more instant reference information when buying products. The consumer generated reviews of products and other benefits create a community online that helps to avoid poor-quality products and merchants (Iankova et al., 2019). Algorithms used in social media allows customers to have more choices when choosing and purchasing products (Bergström & Jervelycke Belfrage, 2018). Because social apps are open to everyone, it’s easier for customers to get information from social apps and communicate directly with them. For example, Instagram bloggers send advertisement posts with product pictures. If someone buys and comments, it is easier to chat with them to learn more about the product. As a result, social media empowers customers to know more about buying a product in the consumer decision making process, giving a platform to learn more about a product.
Reduction of Cost
Social media reduces the cost of time, allowing one to directly understand the product without actually physically seeing it. This allows people to buy goods from all over the world at the comfort of their homes. For example, Tmall International’s overseas direct shopping allows consumers to buy beauty products online. In China, most of the products that could only be purchased by agents in the past can now be purchased through online shopping platforms. By eliminating the role of the middlemen, social meia has facilitated a reduction in cost of acquiring products. High end consumers who have a busy lifestyle, for instance, lack time for physical shoping and now social media allows them a platform to shop all year round by placing orders directly online and buying their favorite brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior or Haute Couture dresses without leaving their home. Overall, the costs linked to middlemen has been eliminated (Wibowo et al., 2020), leading to lower costs for the consumer to acquire a product.
Exploitation of Consumers on Social MediaUsing Big Data to Influence Purchasing Decision
When consumers use social media, social media will push a lot of product advertisements that meet the needs of consumers based on big data. After the advertisement is pushed 3-5 times, consumers will be more likely to have the desire to buy products. According to recent research study on advertisements (Chen & Lin, 2019), when a person sees the same advertisement 3-5 times, it will be easier for them to buy a product. It means that social media is implicitly exploiting consumers. Generally speaking, back-end big data is mainly divided into two categories to exploit customers. On the one hand, when consumers register an account on a social medium, they will need to fill in basic user information, and these background data include gender, age, location, mobile phone number, and so on, and some even need to fill in professional identity. This information will be used by social media and become the best weapon for accurately locating the products consumers may prefer (Alalwan, 2018). For example, Instagram will focus on some fashionable clothing prices based on the information that the user/consumer is a young woman in her 20s and she is a student. In another instance, an older working male, will see ads that focus on products that may appeal to such a group including famous brand watches, leather bags, and other products. In this way, consumers will always see their favorite products, which greatly improves consumers’ purchase of products that are advertised in these social media. This is exploitation using information available to third parties online.
Privacy Invasion and Use of Personal Information for Marketing
Social medis also stores and shares information available with third partoes. Social media platforms will also record the time each time a user browses a web page or video. It also looks at and shares the content of web searches, in order to link a third party seller to the user (Lăzăroiu et al., 2020). For example, a simple search for a bluetooth speaker on Facebook will lead to hundreds of automatic ads on one’s feeds relating to bluetooth speakers. Tis serves to show how privacy is limitedonline. In another example, if a user goes on Instagram browses dog videos or posts a lot of content relating to pets, the background big data will analyze whether they are likely to own a dog. The corresponding social media algorithm will push some advertisements for related products (Gong et al., 2018), such as pet food, pet clothing, and pet toys. In the end, consumers unknowingly see their favorite products, leading to excessive consumption. Such exploitative measures invade on personal privacy while promoting business for third party entities.
Conclusion
Social media is like a double-edged sword, which makes our life convenient but also hides many dangers. We need to put social media in perspective. Keep a rational consumption concept, and don’t blindly follow the trend to buy products you don’t need. Don’t waste too much time on social software, go out and embrace nature more, use social media moderately, and don’t indulge in social media.
References
Alalwan, A. A. (2018). Investigating the impact of social media advertising features on customer purchase intention. International Journal of Information Management, 42, 65-77.
Bergström, A., & Jervelycke Belfrage, M. (2018). News in social media: Incidental consumption and the role of opinion leaders. Digital journalism, 6(5), 583-598.
Chen, S. C., & Lin, C. P. (2019). Understanding the effect of social media marketing activities: The mediation of social identification, perceived value, and satisfaction. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 140, 22-32.
Gong, Q., Chen, Y., He, X., Zhuang, Z., Wang, T., Huang, H., Wang, X., & Fu, X. (2018). DeepScan: Exploiting deep learning for malicious account detection in location-based social networks. IEEE Communications Magazine, 56(11), 21-27.
Iankova, S., Davies, I., Archer-Brown, C., Marder, B., & Yau, A. (2019). A comparison of social media marketing between B2B, B2C and mixed business models. Industrial Marketing Management, 81, 169-179.
Lăzăroiu, G., Neguriţă, O., Grecu, I., Grecu, G., & Mitran, P. C. (2020). Consumers’ decision-making process on social commerce platforms: online trust, perceived risk, and purchase intentions. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 890.
Tuten, T. L., & Solomon, M. R. (2017). Social media marketing. Sage.
Wibowo, A., Chen, S. C., Wiangin, U., Ma, Y., & Ruangkanjanases, A. (2020). Customer behavior as an outcome of social media marketing: The role of social media marketing activity and customer experience. Sustainability, 13(1), 189.
Henrietta Lacks”
Reflection on “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”
Student’s name
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Date
The author’s main objective for writing “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is to convey to readers a message of self-acceptance and perseverance to change the narrative surrounding mental illness. Henrietta Lacks is foremost a physical, not a mental illness. The author argues that we cannot identify the root cause because it is difficult to know if poor treatment was deliberate or accidental or if it arose from ignorance and misunderstanding (Skloot, 2017).
The author hopes that in recognizing this lack, we can act as allies toward those living with depression by acknowledging our limitations and learning how to manage them, not to reify stigmatization. Henrietta Lacks’ story illustrates how medical research has benefited from access to the bodies of poor, uneducated African-Americans. While Henrietta Lacks was marginalized by race, she became a model example of perseverance in the face of hardship. The author feels that this story should be told with honesty and open-mindedness.
In exploring what defines illness, stigma, identity and memory, Rebecca Skloot’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” tells the tale of an African-American woman whose life was cut short but who continues to live on in science labs forever. Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman from Baltimore. She eventually became the choice model for research on cancer cells and tumour cultures, but her story is complicated. Her mother, uncle, and daughter died of cancer, but she didn’t. As an infant, she was diagnosed with cervical dysplasia, which was then cured by removing her cervix (removal of or damage to the neck of the uterus). Unknown to any doctor, she later developed a rare form of cancer that spread rapidly and caused her death in 1951 at age 31. Not long after her death, cells taken from her body by doctors at Johns Hopkins University were found to be perfect in every way for experimentation (Skloot, 2017).
The main themes in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks include race, medical ethics, and family relationships (Gan, & Tsai, 2020). Because Henrietta Lacks had a difficult life, it was not surprising that so many different people were outraged by her story and felt that her suffering was therapeutically unnecessary. Her mother and uncle died of cancer as well. Rebecca Skloot, who does not identify with the African-American community, decided to become a writer after she read about Henrietta Lacks in the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. She quickly developed an interest in the woman’s story. She learned more about cancer cells and the influx of money into science research around Henrietta’s cells (which were worth millions) (Skloot, 2017).
The main reason why this book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” has been assigned for this public health course is that it talks about medical ethics, which is a significant concept in this course. With reference to the assigned book, the main theme of this book is the total disregard for Henrietta’s right to know her history. Although Henrietta had remained very loyal to the Johns Hopkins Hospital and her family, her son and husband had failed to keep in contact with her for sixteen years after she underwent a biopsy procedure. Another theme of this book is that it shows how unethical research can lead to unethical actions and unethical results.
I believe that this book will be beneficial in understanding significant concepts that are vital in this public health course. The text is full of morals that the students need to understand, especially those in the health care field. The book also shows how important it is for one to have sufficient knowledge and a clear understanding of their rights as an individual and as a patient. The authors of this book lacked the required knowledge and awareness of Henrietta’s fundamental human rights.
I believe that there are several points made in this book. The first point I feel strongly about is that individuals should always be aware of their bodies, what goes on inside them, and how they function. One of the most notable points is that her body had a lot of cells with no nucleus. The way they are formed is not precisely stated, but it is hinted that they were formed mysteriously. The cells do not have a nucleus, which means they can survive without feeding off living cells or other elements. They do not possess mitochondria, which are small tubes found in every cell that function for energy production and digestion. There are many more cells in the body than the human eye can see, and each cell has its responsibilities. Henrietta was able to donate her cells for medical research without any problem as long as she gave consent.
When reading this book, various emotions arose, from anger to empathy. Anger because Henrietta’s family was never told of the cells and profits being made from their mother’s cells for years before she died. They only discovered this information when it was too late after the Lacks sisters started digging up documents that belonged to Henrietta and knew that doctors had been collecting her cells without consent or awareness.
There are many instances in which I felt empathy towards Henrietta and her family. Because of the hospital where Henrietta died, doctors and employees at the hospital had access to her cells and did not have consent. So, when reading about Dr Alice Fisher, who was a pathologist at the hospital, punishing Sarah Lacks with a heavy fine for refusing to remove the 16 months’ worth of Henrietta’s cells from her body because they were “irrelevant” to her research on cancer cells in general, readers will be angered by how much one was used without knowledge or permission. It makes me angry that these doctors and employees had close connections with Henrietta’s family before they even knew she was an innocent victim of this experiment, which didn’t affect anyone besides these wealthy doctors anyway (Skloot, 2017).
The main information that I learned from this book puts the perspective on inequality in society. More than that, it shows the life of Henrietta Lacks as a disabled person and how she can’t understand what is going on to her. It does not mean that she is ignorant, but we are limited in understanding this woman because we would not be able to experience what it feels like to be her. This book will shed light on the inequality that people like Henrietta Lacks face.
The information that I found most fascinating when reading this book was how the woman’s cells, Henrietta Lacks, were taken without her consent and then used for scientific research. Her cells became a part of so many people who are alive today, and the way the book was written was interesting because it included some parts from different perspectives of different people. This book also gave an in-depth look at how cell cultures are taken from patients during surgery. I found this very interesting because normally, these procedures are done without knowing what will happen after she is gone. I think that this book is extremely insightful into what has happened in regards to Henrietta Lacks and what could potentially happen in the future when there is more research done on DNA sequencing or making use of human tissue samples without consent.
In conclusion, the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is insightful and beneficial to anyone studying a public health course. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an interesting read that I would recommend for anyone looking to learn more about medical ethics. The book presents an informative and detailed history of beneficial growth cells. The book is written by Rebecca Skloot, which makes it very interesting because a nonfiction writer writes it. I think the author uses a lot of source documentation to provide the reader with trustworthy and reliable facts. Individuals should always be aware of their bodies, what goes on inside them, and how they function.
References
Gan, Z., & Tsai, R. C. H. (2020, June). Entanglement of Racism and Medical Ethics: Cee’s Illness and Healing in Toni Morrison’s Home. In Forum for World Literature Studies (Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 230-252). Wuhan Guoyang Union Culture & Education Company.
Skloot, R. (2017). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. Broadway Paperbacks.
Social Media Affect Culture And Community
Social Media Affect Culture And Community
Culture and customs are at the centre of the social order in every community. Therefore, most things in the social surroundings are entrenched in some basic laws that are not only obeyed by social systems but also unlimited number of networks. However, social systems are one of the most powerful examples because man understands and relates to them in everyday life. Among these networks are mass media. There exist two diverse types of mass media. This includes the written and the non-written. The written media are composed of magazines, journal, periodicals, and newspapers. With newspapers printed daily, they inform the public of previous occurrences. Therefore, the public is acquainted with the information and events that are occurring all over the world (Loch et al, 45-63). The non-print media consist of broadcasts that are made via the television, internet, and radio. The teens and adults have adopted and utilised the social media in a fast manner. This is in reference to information technology that has rapidly grown in the last decade. A community is defined by people’s culture. This is because; this culture enables them to create social norms that are acceptable by culture. The Arab spring is as a result of the impact social media has had on culture and community. The six neighbourhood necessities included health, safety, economy, environment food, and children. Therefore, to harmonise all these, social media come in handy. The creation of a virtual community has resulted into myriad results. In some, it eliminates the five senses present when talking to someone personally. Meanwhile it makes some people become more outgoing because; they are comfortable communicating through the net. I will, therefore, emphasize on the effects of mass media on culture and community by explaining and define this theme for greater understanding.
Background
The Arab Spring is a groundbreaking wave of demonstrations and protests that have been witnessed in the Arab world since late 2010. This has resulted into rulers being forced from power in countries such as Tunisia and Egypt. This is, in addition to, Libya that faced the same with the death of their president late 2011. Social media were so significant in the organisation, communication, and creation of awareness of these uprisings. The Arab awakening in Egypt started in January 2011, and it resulted into the Hosni Mubarak’s government being overthrown and later Mubarak charged in court.
Statement of the problem
Mass media participates and assumes a vital responsibility in people’s lives. We are, therefore, manipulated in the preferences and aspects that we always perceive as crucial in daily lives. With the development that has occurred in the media following globalisation, one would wonder if it Is beneficial to the community. There are numerous views concerning the mass media acting as a means of for rational debating featuring the scope of biased and cultural viewpoints (Dubai school of government, 1-30). Therefore, the study of versatile dimensions of film, internet, and broadcasting continues to convey extensive control and global reach that is characterised by many effects and impacts (Dubai school of government, 1-30). After witnessing the powerful nature of media and how it has been in the Middle East, this has resulted into this significance of social media being held on a pedestal. This has propelled the Arab spring forward, in addition to, the function it has played in bringing a formidable change to the ordinary people in the street. This is because of the availability of mass media among people that have seen a large percentage of people own mobile phones. This has resulted into free and fast flow of communication leading to exposure of anomalies in the society. The research will thus be a step forward in determining the extent of social media on culture and community.
Purpose of the study
By focusing on the effects of mass media on culture and community, we will be able to unravel the positive impacts social media has had on bringing out the deeper happenings to light. This is because by bringing them to light, then the world learns of it and offers their support. The reason of the study is to show the enormous impact social media on the global society. This is in reference to the Arab world. To achieve this, I will concentrate on the Egyptian part of the Arab world but with references to Tunisia, Yemen, and Libya. I will thus look for the online information in Newspapers of the region. I will also look for online references on how the people in the street got to use social media to spread the news. I will also look for information on what the social media is saying today, a year after a significant change begun.
Literature review
The major reasons for the massive revolutions and uprisings that have been witnessed in the Arab World have been due to the social media. This is because passionate young adults connect trough mass media (Loch et al, 45-63). According to (Dubai school of government, 1-30), the Arab people have finally stood up against tyrannical governments. However, Ayish (139) points out that it is true that many Arab people have been oppressed and disenchanted with the many dictatorial regimes. The youth were the champions for these uprisings with the social media enabling them to rise against political powers and country leaders. This was a thing there parents had been unable to accomplish. Therefore, through the social media, they were able to form groups on face book, report injustices on their blogs and demand change. They, therefore, used all kinds of social media to coordinate times for outstanding protests.
Therefore, these mediums allowed several estranged and frustrated Arabs to unite and hold up each other in a way that seemed to be impossible in the past (Dubai school of government, 1-30). It is, as a result, essential to note that, it is because of this unity that there was a commencement of synchronised uprising that has never been seen after the fall of the Soviet Union (Gelvin, 62). Ghannam asserts that the Arab world has experienced the rise of an autonomous, pulsating social media. This increase in citizen engagement on the internet is expected to attract more than 100 million Arab users by the year 2015. The Arab Knowledge report determined that there are approximately million Arab speakers who use the internet. Google that sponsored its first G- day’s conference in Egypt in December 2010 further recognises this potential. As Ghannam (3-5) puts it, this insurmountable significance of social media will continue to be of value to the Arab people. This creation of the virtual community is indeed a step further in try to bring a wider community together. Even, though, this has been a notable achievement, there have been obstacles that are sure to derail this achievement. The authoritarian governments that still exist cause obstacles to this freedom of information that people should be enjoying. Governments have, therefore, resolved to wage widespread crackdowns on boogers, journalists and the civil society. To ensure that such actions never happen in the future, proper functioning legislative rules should be put in order and a further international body established.
Hypothesis
The influence of mass media on culture and community is indisputable in creating awareness of the surroundings
Methodology
Therefore, I will conduct a survey study to find out how media has affected the lives of these people. I will get this information from newspapers of the region that I will find on line. I will, therefore, include the interviews that were conducted involving civil societies and other right groups. This will be an effort to unearth the existing regulations of government on media coverage, and how it is affecting them. I am sure to get this information from periodicals and private newspapers.
Some of the research tools I will need include a tape recorder, a notebook, a laptop, and a modem to compile my findings. After my literature review, I will compile a report that I will get from newspapers and other literature. This is an approximate time I will need to finish the research.
Data collection-two weeks
Compiling- five weeks
Editing-two days
Final draft- one week
Limitations and delimitations
There is a possibility that I will get inconsistent information from the newspapers that talk about the actual happenings of the time. This may be attributed to the numerous people who were reporting the happenings as everyone was striving to get messages across out of desperation. I will, therefore, be faced with the task of trying to get the consistency and field the seemingly true happenings. To take care of this, I have resolved to increase the allocation of time preserved for compiling of my notes.
I will only deal with the positive attributes of social media on culture and community. This is in the advent of technology that to some is a milestone in achieving a globalised world, but to others it is an unnecessary evil. The latter means that the people that should be enlightened about the benefits that come with the spouting of the media.
Significance of the study
To the practitioners, the research will provide them with insights into the obstacles that derail the full potential of mass media. This will enable them to establish the connections between culture, community, and mass media that will work towards creating a clear way through to complete freedom. To the professionals, the research will be a step ahead in trying to reason out what would be next cause of action. This is because the world has changed rapidly, and given the advancement in information technology, something new is bound to happen in the future. Therefore, thinking in those lines, they will be able to mount a positive response and try to shape it in the best way possible.
References
Ayish, I, M. Political communication on Arab World Television: Evolving patterns. Political
communication.2002, Vol 19, No 2, pp 137-154.
Dubai school of government. Civil movements: The impact of face book and twitter. Arab
social media report. 2011, Vol 1, No, 2.pp 1-30. Retrieved on 6/3/2012 from
<http://www.dsg.ae/portals/0/ASMR2.pdf>
Gelvin, J.L.The Arab Uprising. Oxford, Oxford university press.
Ghannam, J.Social media in the Arab world: leading up to the uprising of 2011.CMA
Research report.2011, Retrieved on 6/3/2010 from
< http://www.hirondelle.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/SocialMediaintheArabWorldCIMA2011.pdf>P3-5
Loch, KD Straub, DW, and Kamel, S. Diffusing the internet in the Arab world: the role of
social norms and technological acculturation. 2003. Vol 50(1): 45-63.