Page 53 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

platforms, consisting in choosing how to struc- ture this information, selecting the placement model and identifying the target group at which the information is aimed, is undoubtedly active. Active intermediation in transmitting informa- tion can be labelled as negative or positive, but it can hardly be denied. Creating and distributing quality content based on true facts is expensive compared to the simple and amateur work which is nevertheless sufficient to establish and distribute disinformation and fake news.
Individual human existence is merging with
the social media in an unprecedented way. The social media phenomenon has influenced human behavior much more deeply than any other previous media revolution. The development of social media communities is only partly moder- ated but boosted through highly personalized advertising and influencer marketing that expand into every part of human life. In the near future there will be more and more integration among traditional media and social media and among social media and any type of digital service supporting Hyper-personalized Digital Lifestyle. Today’s Social Media platforms have the domi- nant position to further exploit data economy in the data-driven society, creating new business opportunities based on Big Social Data collection and processing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques in combina- tion with the Internet of Things (IoT).
Is the future of Social Media equal to the future of the Internet itself?
Social Media platforms and a few other digital online companies are strongly trying to control our Digital Lifestyle by putting those companies under the pressure of countries’ governments. Some countries are creating new laws to govern proper digital space (e.g., USA, Europe, China...) – quite a different situation from the original idea of an Internet without borders.
The question is by whom is our Digital Lifestyle going to be governed and controlled? By compa- nies (e.g., Facebook’s standards and algorithms) or by countries’ governments’ (hopefully dem- ocratically elected) rules? Whose values are we following? Should we accept Facebook’s values (which?) and feed its algorithms in order to be heard and in order to exist digitally? Even under- standing Facebook’s values could be very difficult – in many places and cases Facebook promotes free speech while in other places and situations it fights against existing privacy laws and promotes encryption. Facebook claims to be about just connecting people, yet it is doing a very prof- itable business. It is not about democracy – it
is about business, but business influencing the digital lives of billions of people in the Internet- and data-driven economy and society.
The social media phenomenon has influenced human behavior much more deeply than any other previous media revolution.
How will Social Media platforms continue to evolve over the next years? What are main chal- lenges and topics to be addressed and solved, and by whom?
Big Social Data – collection and analytics
Social Media platforms have increasingly been changing people’s way of living and interacting with the rest of the world. They have managed to attract an enormous number of users in a very short period (a few years) by providing proper services according to a business model that is perceived by users as being “for free”. By entering the Social Media, users have access to a commu- nity that shares information, contents, emotions with the possibility of being constantly in touch with personal contacts, whatever the physical distance in between them. In return, users are asked to provide essentially the following:
AC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 2018
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Digital Trends in Culture