The introduction of social media has created a platform for many people from all over the world to come together. With a simple text message, email, Facebook invitation or even a blog post, hundreds and even thousands of people can unite for a common or dis-common purpose. An example of this is when the president of the Philippines Joseph Estrada was overthrown by public demand. It just shows how social media can be used for political communication and in this case, political upheaval.
Shirky (2011) presented two arguments against social media in national politics; "the first is that the tools are themselves ineffective, and the second is that they produce as much harm to democratization as good, because repressive governments are becoming better at using these tools to suppress dissent." I somewhat disagree with the first because it could be used to target people who are more tech-savvy so generally the younger generation. I feel neutral towards the second point because using social media will not always suppress dissent.
Therefore, social media can be used in many ways, but mostly to communicate and connect with others. Most of us have probably brought many people together through social media without even realising. For example, using Facebook to create events.
References:
Shirky, Clay. "The Political Power of Social Media." Foreign Affairs 90 (1). Accessed March 28, 2011. doi: 00157120.
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