Social media , a catalyst for change ?
Social media is becoming the new catalyst for change . Twitter, Facebook and blog posts are providing users with a huge platform to communicate ideas. An idea transformed into words and posted online can change the way people think. It may encourage supporters or call out for critiques.
The question here is does social media actually encourage change in the mind set of an individual? The answer should be yes. A persons opinion about an idea is mainly because of the following factors:
- The level of knowledge he or she has about that idea.
- The influence of his/her experiences or the people that he/she grew up with.
Coming across an idea which contradicts his/her own beliefs , and than looking at that idea being appreciated by the society at large compels him/her to think about the idea if not like it. Hence , encouraging change in one’s opinion. Social media whether you like it or not gives constant feedback on anything and everything posted online. Moreover , online idea sharing and feedback platforms encourage ideas from all sorts of users. Be it naive people or professionals, the platform known as internet is open to all.
As a designer, it is a well known fact that at the start of a project the possibilities are endless. We begin by joining the dots and filling spaces with uncertain experiments. We make thousands of quick decisions which we think will resonate with the user requirements. But , the actual picture for the project comes from the user.
Here , our users are the citizens and the feedback attained from them through social media platforms is what helps in building a smart and sustainable product. But, how do we know that the feedback we gathered is absolutely true to the cause and unaffected by any of the social media campaigns ? The answer lies in the way we frame our questions.