Thursday, October 22, 2009

Social Media Midterm - Question 2

In Wikipedia: The Truth in Numbers the message seems to be: no longer do the victors write the history books, we do: you, me, and everyone else. How is social media (twitter, blogs) forwarding this idea? What gives someone authority to "write history" and why should we listen to them? Is there a hierarchy of authorities? ie. is what someone like Seth Godin says more important? What should be taken as canon?

Social media provides the ability to broadcast yourself to the world instantaneously. Thoughts, opinions, and news can be published on blogs or in tweets in seconds, where anyone can read them. Things said by someone like Seth Godin can be considered more important, because he’s more knowledgeable, and more experience in his field. That makes people trust him more. The question of what’s to be taken as canon depends, because some might feel that if enough people believe in something, that makes it real or true. This can be dangerous however, depending on the topic.

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