Output 4:

After going through seminar 4, something that really related to me and was interesting was the area which discussed the topic of digital disruption. This is something which I see occurring around me on a daily basis and a threat to any industry moving forward. In fact, it is a common occurrence in terms of the job my dad partakes in and even the jobs and studies that my friends partake in on a daily basis.

Referring back to the lesson slides, I note the new age of the digital media, along with how social media is able to influence not only the different decisions we make, but along with those of large corporations. The evolvement of the internet drastically changes the landscape of business within Singapore, and along with those of the wide world. 

A great insight I have gained out of this is that the communication landscape is constantly evolving. This applies to not only the business landscape, but every other aspect of our lives as well. A great example would perhaps relate to a friend of mine who was evaluating the options he had in terms of which education institution he would choose to further his studies. His evaluation between the different institutions eventually went down to the different forms of media that the universities put out. This is a huge contrast compared to the age of our parents in which the media has not hugely evolved yet. In terms of my parents along with those of my peers, decisions were mostly based on word of mouth along with reputation, and perhaps the media dissipated on the newspaper.

Drawing a contrast with how decisions are made today, we see a stark contrast. Decisions now are mostly based on online news with the advent of the internet. This can be accounted for with the ease of accessibility of the internet nowadays compared to previously. Aside from that, the new generations are much more in touch with technology, further enhancing such a notion. 

Drawing on such an insight I gained, I now further value the different opinions given online, but at the same time hold my scepticism. While the new age revolves much around social media, much false news could be spread on such a platform. At the same time, I further recognise the prowess of the deep web and the extents as to which it may influence the decisions of many reading such news and articles. This is particularly useful for a student like me reading a communications module as it allows me to better relate to and understand the various potential users of the work I may put out in the future.

In terms of the future, this has shifted my views on how I am able to use social media for the better. The new age of social media as explained above has a wide influence, and it is ultimately to us content creators to make good use of it to create better content suited for the needs of the users we are targeting.