Setting a day to celebrate or commemorate a certain issue is an appropriate formula, among other things, to generate debate and, if appropriate, go further in the development of policies that benefit the group. Because exposure and analysis from different perspectives allow drawing conclusions that fit into the famous and useful Dofa matrix (weaknesses, opportunities, strengths and threats).
This is how the young Scottish businessman Peter Cashmore, founder of the news and technology portal Mashable, saw it when he proposed that June 30 be declared World Social Media Day. Already in 2010, the blogger detected the importance that these alternative media would acquire in the society of the 21st century.
Back to the beginning, the date is a valuable occasion to talk about the challenge that the RRSS represent. Certainly, they democratized opinion, speeded up access to information, created a direct link between personalities and the public, made it easier to report irregularities, and narrowed borders.
But it is also true that they became caves for haters who hide their faces and do not take responsibility for their words, pigsties that generate insults, shields against the lack of empathy, factors that threaten mental health and tools for transmission of fake news, with interests of different kinds.
For all this and because of the undeniable role they have in today’s life, it is time for them to be taken seriously. In the first place, by governments, which must promote the promulgation of laws that regulate its use, because giving an opinion is not saying anything without legal consequences, when there is an attack on honor, insult or defamation. Beware: regulate, not prohibit, which is not the same or spelled the same, when trying to preserve freedom.
And, secondly, by the educational system as a whole, which must set among its objectives the training of citizens who know how to behave responsibly in the virtual world. This is a priority, if one takes into account that the number of children and adolescents who live on social media and dream of becoming influencers is increasing. Also among university students who aspire to work with information and must respect the basic principles of journalism, regardless of the platform used to communicate.
In this way, if they reach the 431 million followers that Cristiano Ronaldo has on Instagram, the 114 million of Justin Bieber on Twitter or the 64 million of Will Smith on TikTok, future content generators will do it more sensibly and less lightness, empowering the new media that are here to stay.
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