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1. Abstract
This paper explains how social media (technology more in general) which now is part of our everyday life was shaped on the basis of the history and culture of the particular social and political needs of a restricted group of users (particularly in academic and military environments). Social media and smart devices arose from the use of basic methods of communication, such as signs, symbols, letter writing, flags, visual signals, lamps, bell ringing, or lights during the First World War. During the war itself, the military had some form of cumbersome transmitters which operated some long wave signals for communication purposes. As the war progressed, the Pilots in warships were using the voice-over radio for communication and were able to link up and share military skills and secrets with ease over very short distances. This was the birth of a new communication trend otherwise known as the birth of social media. The rise of social media and smart devices (Technology) also come about with some adverse consequences which I shall address in this paper.
1.0 Introduction
The history of social media can be traced to before the First World War when the different methods of communication were by the use of signs and symbols. During the war itself, the military started using some form of cumbersome transmitters which operated some long wave signals for communication purposes. As the war progressed, the Pilots in warships were using the voice-over radio for communication and were able to link up and share military skills and secrets with ease over very short distances. This was the birth of a new communication trend otherwise known as social media. In this paper, I will discuss the rise of social media and smart devices as well as some of the adverse consequences of social media. I will also look at the differences between social media and smart devices and how they have been used to shape modern forms of communication.
I will use as my case study, The Republic of Cameroon which is a developing country located in Central Africa to demonstrate how social media has been used in modern days as a liberation tool. I shall also use some African countries to back up my ideas.
1.0 Definitions
1.1a. Social Media
Social media has been defined by the Merriam-Webster website as “all forms of electronic communications through which users create communities to share ideas, personal messages, and other contents. “[1] I personally hold the belief that social media is an avenue where people, businesses, and the general public come together, with friends to communicate, interact, and share ideas of their personal interest using some kind of smart devices.
1.1b. Technology.
Throughout this paper, technology will be used to mean any form of device, system, or method that through any practical or scientific manipulation will yield knowledge and development. This brings about the idea or notion of progress as an extension of other manipulations. ‘To the minds of most people the desirable outcome of human development would be a condition of society in which all the inhabitants of the planet would enjoy a perfectly happy existence’ [2].
1.1c. Machines.
Machines in this paper will be used to mean some kind of defined functions or roles which if performed correctly will yield a particular task. This also brings about the idea that Machines (technology) development is shaped by historical and cultural context. ” the physical conformation and functionality of the machine we use is determined by the history of technologies from which it arose” [3]
2.0 Body:
History holds it that old methods of communication were done using signs, symbols, or even letter writing. Before the First World War, some basic methods of communication were using flags, visual signals, lamps, bell ringing, or lights. This birth of a new communication trend otherwise known as the birth of social media, actually started during the First World War with the military using better forms of communication which became a paradigmatic view on which we have to accommodate. During the years what emerged is just an effort to try to adapt the needs of the users to the machine and not vice versa. More so, what has prevailed is the idea of using social media as a liberation tool rather than a constriction due to its constantly changing functioning mechanism. ” A smart device is a context-aware electronic device capable of performing autonomous computing and connecting to other devices wire or wirelessly for data exchange” [6]I personally do not see a clear distinction between social media and smart devices. Since its inception, social network sites like WhatsApp, Instagram, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc, have attracted millions of users, and many of them have integrated these sites into their daily activities. Some share the view that it is a major means of communication while others use them as a tracking device. In this present generation, I can hardly remember someone who can be for about a day without browsing social media. As we browse, communicate, and use the media, the constantly changing behavior of this site becomes a danger to the public.
The development of social media creates a closed world discourse that shapes the way we think and behave. I will take a case study of Cameroon and its relationship with the mainstream media, located in the central part of Africa with little infrastructure and is deprived of all up-to-date communication facilities. In some areas or sections of the country, there are no roads or electricity thereby making life even more difficult. Social media in Cameroon around the early 1990s. I can remember this period when it was difficult to communicate and share ideas with some of my family members. We had to travel miles or kilometers to be able to talk to someone over a fixed telephone. Texting was not possible and cost was very expensive. More so, it became more difficult, complicated, or even almost impossible to request for someone to call back. The situation gradually began to change with the rise of new technologies like cell phones (old large NOKIA telephones). At this time few people who could afford the cost of cell phones could now communicate, text, and share ideas with families, friends, and business organizations. Towards the middle of the 1990s, there was a speedy rise in mobile and smart devices in the world.” Africa took the lead in the global shift from fixed to mobile telephones, as reported by the UN International Telecommunications Union. “[4]. During this same period, there was a boom in the business of what was popularly called the “Cyber cafes” a place where you could go and use a desktop computer to read and send emails using the desktop computers. Nowadays the use of cell phones and smart devices in Africa, Cameroon in particular is on a steady rise. There are many Internet platforms and applications such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook that allow users to communicate and share ideas, and resolve issues with less stress. Today if we carry out a comprehensive study of the most usable social media application, Facebook in Cameroon we will realise that its usage is on a steady increase. Many people now communicate; share ideas read the news online, and watch TV and football on their mobile phones tablets, etc. Thus social media now makes international news more reachable to everyone. “Social media is now considered the first port of call for news amongst a substantial proportion of the Affluent population”[5]. In Cameroon in particular, they enjoy the social media platform as a place or tool for free speech they often use it to call for democracy in their country.
Some may argue that this shift in paradigm from the normal use of cell phones to more interactive use has brought about civilization and has awakened awareness in the continent. Politicians and the government do not share this same view. The most recent event is in the crises of the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon, where the government through its Minister of Communications shut down the internet and the widely used social media platform for more than six months because it was believed to be widely used to give live updates to Cameroonians living in the Diaspora on the events taking place on the ground and to decimate information faster. The government argues here that social media was used as a medium to spread false images of the armed conflicts between government forces and separatist fighters in these two regions of the country. The government also cited social media as a threat to destroy the form of the unitary state of the country. The government and other political leaders now see social media as a threat to their leadership since it is capable of revealing some internal information about the government with just a click. Another most recent event in Africa was the social media app “#This Flag campaign” which was a popular Twitter campaign site to force the resignation of President Mugabe of Zimbabwe from power. Another recent event in Cameroon was the ANTISADINAS which is a current and popular site to force President Biya to step down from power In so far as social media is used to map out a communication chain between people bringing them into a social network to share ideas and communicate, I argue here that the governments of most African countries try to wrap the social media with politics thereby denying the acceptable shift in paradigm of the use of the social media as a liberation tool.
2.1 Conclusion:
Though we can perceive social media as a platform where people around the world come together with opinions, views, and ideas online to share, Its usage goes far beyond this. Africans use social media for personal development, and to raise money for education, health, and business purposes. At the same time, they use it to clamor for change in their country as we saw in the “#This Flag campaign”. ” ANTISADINAS” in Cameroon. One of the consequential effects of social media is that there could be a spread of false information from the original version through Photoshop which sometimes results in the clash of views from the information shared online compared with its “appropriate” content leading to cybercrimes and threats to national security. I argue here that to carry out a comprehensive study of social media we should create some kind of awareness of how the information of the past can inform and shape the present. We can therefore conclude that social media is the driving force of technological progress which we need to follow not the other way around.
References
- PolinaMarinova, Fortune, ‘Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman on Bitcoin: “I Was Raised in a World Where Someone Needs to Control Currencies”,’ 17 Sep. 2019
- Bury, J.B. The Idea of Progress. London: Macmillan, 1920.
- Penny, Simon. Experience and Abstraction, The arts and the logic of the machine. DAC 07 proceedings, also online at Fibreculture 08v1
- Measuring the Information Society: The ICT Development Index, 2009.
- The 5th Affluent Survey Africa, released by Ipsos on 13th September 2018
- Azhar, S., & Cox, A. J. (2015). Impact of mobile tools and technologies on job site operations. 51st ASC Annual International Conference Proceedings,]
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