(B3) The social media as we know today..

Media as we know today are the most influential tool in the world. Each country has their own media role to play and some of the examples are New York Times, Bloomberg, CNN and etc. Media play an important role to inform, alert people about the current issue, educate and make or at least influence people in the society.


In Malaysia context, social media plays an important role in influencing people in the society. For instance, the recent General Election, the government used a lot of 'dirty' tactics to promote their 'good side' and inform people that their government can rule and improve the country and people. In contrast, the opposition has a low chance of winning the General Election because most of the media is owned by the government. The obvious chance of winning is showed in the table 4 in the website below.

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2013/11/17/malaysian-media-watchdog-or-running-dog/


Media can be censored in this country because of the majority media controlled by the government but in the greener side, we have social media such as facebook and twitter! These platforms allow us to communicate with each other through online or face to face and also, voice our opinion. Though we are 'freely' given the freedom of speech but we still, are limited to certain level of speech. If we overdo certain kind of insults, the government will find us and sort of hunt us down. Hence, we have to be careful in what kind of news form we are spreading or the message that we are going to convey. Now, talking about censorship in social media, there are also the existence of groups in facebook such as Malaysian Gags, Friends of Pakatan Rakyat and so on. These groups allow us to communicate and voice our opinion. We are thankful that we are able to speak up and change the country in social media.

The government are unable to censor social media because our country does not own the social media but they are able to hide things away from us. We can stand and compare between social media and the Media in Malaysia and from here onwards, we are able to differentiate between these both tools and judge. The implication of this is that most urban area citizens are able to know the truth behind the 'dirty works' of the government but nevertheless we must remember that no country is successful in making everything perfect. For example, peace in politics, economics, social and laws does not exist in this world. Hence, each and every one of us plays an important role in making this country a more peaceful and even more harmonious place to live in but nevertheless, I am more than happy enough to be here. Well, I say this because God placed me in this place for a reason - to change a country maybe? change the perception maybe? or be the next Prime Minister? *jokes*
In a nutshell, censorship in social media may cause another demonstration and uneasiness amongst Malaysian.

The reason why I consume social media is to enjoy communicating with my long lost friends and to express my food loving pictures in instagram@mohdpeter. Yep, that is my instagram account and I love communicating with my friends through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and many other more. How do I consume all these media? Practically, when I am free, I will take my time out to check out news feed on each social media and be alert to the surroundings of what is happening and what not.


And lastly, why do I use social media? Social media such as facebook made our lives easier by just communicating through messages or even face-to-face call. Don't you realised that social media connects us human together but at the same time using it too much can cause health problems and believing in rumours/fake news/lose privacy/distraction and the list goes on. The fact is that, we all do enjoy surfing the Internet and the social media for no reason and most of the time it is also because we want to waste time or get caught to it. It is a syndrome called 'Internet Addiction Disorder' also known as IAD, where people over-use social media and it turns out to be addicted to it.

And that is how we, Malaysia use the social media and how it works, actually.



Resources :

- http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2011/03/25/the-most-influential-news-orgs-according-to-google/
- http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2013/11/17/malaysian-media-watchdog-or-running-dog/
- http://www.ifex.org/malaysia/2013/05/02/media_coverage_infographs/
- http://www.monash.edu.my/news/researchers-say/social-media-and-the-future-of-malaysian-democracy
- http://www.necf.org.my/newsmaster.cfm?&menuid=12&action=view&retrieveid=706
- http://www.rsog.com.my/media/558.pdf
- http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/bar_news/berita_badan_peguam/the_role_of_the_mass_media_in_a_country.html