St.Lucia Mirror Online HOMECATEGORIES POLICY STATEMENTCLASSIFIEDSCONTACT US RSS Feed The Impact Of Social Media GENERAL NEWS | APRIL 29, 2013 1:30 PM04 The Impact Of Social Media Primus Hutchinson Primus Hutchinson Long before I laid eyes on a telephone, much less used one, I already knew what a radio set looked like. That was in the late 1950’s and ‘60s. In St. Lucia, radio has served as the most effective medium for mass communication during that era and remains so even up to the present, despite the introduction of other form of communication, including the telegraph, letters, print media which has been the domain of the minority and literate few who have had much easier access to these forms of communications; today’s social media requires a certain techno-savvy (techno literacy). ,the most popular form of communication was by word of mouth. Letters took weeks back and forth; telegraph was a luxury mainly for the upper class. Verbal communication was the quickest The most popular means of communication has been and continues to be word-of-mouth. For those who hail from “Bitasyon” the small /sub communities, the country folks, and growing up in the late fifties, it was usual to hear a Ma James or a Misye Ti Paul “anjele” shouting to other in communities over the way, informing of an emergency or perhaps requesting assistance. In the event of death, for example, the ear-shattering screams echoed from the hill tops to the valleys below to signal the terrestrial demise of a community member. This would immediately trigger the query “ki moun ki mo-a”/”who died?” and within moments someone responded by shouting back: “misye Antoine ki mo”/ “Mr. Antoine has just passed away.” Minutes later almost the entire community would be mobilized to provide some form of comfort to the bereaved family. Telephone services at this time were only accessible in a few areas, so, throughout that day messages would be communicated verbally via designated messengers who travelled on foot to communities near and far to inform relatives and friends of the sad news. Unfortunately, not even the exigencies of death during that period of our history made it possible to communicate speedily with families in a distant village or town. On a Saturday Morning, the majority of ladies in the community would converged at the nearest river to take care of the family laundry. But this gathering also served as another means of sharing information, including juicy gossip of whose husband or wife, girlfriend or boyfriend was seen with someone else’s; who was christening a baby (and was or was not the father); whose husband was yet to buy her a springbed ( the popular bed of that era) or who received what from relatives overseas. The “kabawe”, the local rum-shops or bar, where men congregated for the evening grog after a day on the farm or on the larger estates, also served as medium for both accessing and exchanging of information. Yet another very popular social activity, which served as another opportunity to pass on information and generated much discourse was the “koudmen or jan jounen”, where both men and women collaborated in providing much needed help usually in farming and house construction. The advent of the transistor radio on island in the late sixties early seventies, ushered in the age of mass communication and which impacted on the social communication dynamics in our communities. The shouting of news through hills and valleys were replaced by obituaries on the airwaves; the foot messengers vanished and the personal social interactions gave way to invisible connections with radio announcers and news readers. Mass communications has the advantage of reaching large segments of the population at the same time. Radio allowed access to a more reliable and faster means of receiving information and changed how we were entertained and educated but did so simultaneously, albeit the content being predominantly foreign. Small communities could now avail themselves to information, entertainment and education. In the last ten years portability has been expanded to include mobility with the availability of a wider range of gadgets: from DVD players to Blue Ray technology which provides a new perspective on video home cinema entertainment; from PCs to mobile phones. Not only accessibility also availability on-the-go and on-demand. We have also seen the rapid increases in new technologies – including lap-tops, Ipods and tablets – all facilitating an even greater access to the transference and receiving of information. This influx of cutting edge communication technologies continue to impacted significantly the social, economic and political life of small neighborhoods island-wide, particularly the utilization of the personal computer, mobile phones, etc., making untold and unimagined connections through Facebook, Twitter, etc. These have also significantly impacted cultural values once so revered in our smaller communities in Saint Lucia. They are quickly becoming insular; gated households are now common where optimal privacy is regarded beyond the need for security; communication between neighbours seldom takes the traditional route of household visits, after church, for example, and where residents a few hundred yards apart, communicate not in-person but via mobile phones or on line. No one need to argue the immense value of utilizing social media, if used properly, to push an agenda of public good but it is handicapped by technologically challenged persons unable to effectively use social media. The argument is that those from small communities particularly are not sufficiently technologically savvy, consequently placing them at a disadvantage. They add that there are mobile phone owners who do not know how to text and due to their lack of literacy skills are missing out on many of the value added services that are being provided on their mobile handsets. In a bi-lingual nation where users may not be able to text or speak in English, the preferred language of social media ; it is not unusual when travelling on a public bus or standing in queue at a bank, to be witness to this scenario: mobile phone rings…he or she picks up after recognising the caller by the caller ID, shouts into the mouth piece in Kweyol, indicating to the caller the inability to carry a lengthy conversation , sometimes addressing the caller by name, explaining why he or she is unable to do so, much to the concealed amusement of witnesses. A quick scan of the screen and the user is able to identify the caller, having memorized the number or through the assistance of close family, were able to have certain symbols installed making callers easily identifiable. There are barely literate or functionally literate users who have learnt to access other applications on their mobile phone just as there are very literate people who are yet to fully grasp the technology. Social media, with its speed and instantaneousness, has created profoundly, a paradigm shift in small communities. Webcam communication and video texting can instantly provide information that otherwise may have required one to move from his or her comfort zone to view a particular photo or family activity or might have necessitated the use of video recording to make available to the interested party. Not only can a grandmother in Jacmel converse with her grandchild, that she is yet to see in person in North America, Canada or the UK, while sitting somewhere in the open, or a secluded area for privacy on her mobile, but is also able to chat on webcam, allowing for a video feed to transmit images back and forth. The introduction of the Magic Jack phone, a US telecommunication provider, has indisputably lessened, considerably, the cost of utilizing telecommunication services; users can chat for ridiculously extended periods for a meager annual fee! It is now common practice for a family member or friend from overseas to tell of a local incident happening in your own backyard; a video of thief caught in the act is uploaded to YouTube, where he can be viewed by a worldwide audience but much to the amusement and entertainment of the rest of the community members. Bizarre and gruesome images, x-rated videos and photos are available for watching on mobile phones. Yet, social media, notwithstanding its many advantages as a tool for breaking barriers of social connection and interactions, has also been exposed as a tool that has heightened the human penchant for airing dirty laundry. Can you top this? A sister, not on speaking terms with one of her siblings but curious to see the design of a kitchen under construction had her niece to capture the images on her mobile phone. Zafe moun! Everyone can recount similar experiences. Hearsay takes on wings and can spread to become an upscale version of the “yo di” syndrome, which, unfortunately, has existed among our people for years and is embedded in our culture but now transcend its prevalence at the community level with the likelihood of being an international spectacle. A simple family disagreement offends a particular member or a cross section of the group and it may appear on a Facebook or in a BB messages to people miles away. Family feud, almost taboo among closely knitted families in these small communities, are now being exposed in the open, much to the humiliation and sometimes shock of parties involved. As modern technology continues to be the purveyor of fresh brand and cutting edge attractions, the younger, more curious minds of our smaller communities are continually excited and captivated and they gravitate toward the open arms of these attractions. The unfortunate effect is that traditional values and unique cultures of these communities are sadly being ignored and erased as modern telecommunication technology dominates. Increasing application of new features on mobile phones, tablets, Ipods, etc will certainly augment the volume of usage, moreso by students and the younger folks. Features like video call, “Mo banking’ and soon to be introduced, blood pressure and sugar level testing, are just a few ‘apps’ that certainly will impact users in small communities. The advance applications on mobile phones will further empower users, particularly in these communities to be less dependent on other service providers, institutions and businesses, consequently reducing the need to commute to the main cities to transact certain operations which otherwise would have been inevitable. But no matter the circumstances surrounding the effective or ineffective use of social media, the livelihood of people of small communities have been impacted. They are caught in a melting pot of technological paraphernalia, that is already defining a new paradigm. By: Primus Hutchinson
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 00:55:16 +0000
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