Chapter Six
Conclusion
As mentioned in the introduction, this book wanted to give the reader a new prospective of SM through different points of view and showing different SM applications.
There are a combination of communities and networks that support the sharing and spreading of information between people and smart devices (even if it will take more time for a complete and extended application to these objects). Too often SM are confused with SNs or they are limited by the definition of SN but as stated in Chapter One, they are something more extensive. Indeed, they do not represent a sum of single communities but they also represent a vehicle that gives to everyone (for those with an Internet connection at least) the possibility to acquire information and interact with someone outside of their trusted circle.
Despite the previous attempt to build forms of SM, today they have found the right combination of elements that has made their success possible, and these key elements are: the current technology that made smart devices possible; the increase of the Internet penetration in the population; the increase in world youth population; an economy based on globalisation; and the enlightenment of the current society that demands freedom, independency and application of human rights.
An excursus on the evolution of communication models has revealed how SM were adapted to them and the main changes they made. In particular, SM reduce the time from “sender” to “receiver”, and they guarantee reciprocity in communication because the receiver can also become the sender, and so on. Another aspect to consider is that there is no limit to the distance between the sender and the receiver. Is also important to keep in mind that SM are oriented to people that use devices with an Internet connection and this could be a limitation for people, but they also offer an element for better targeting.
The reasons that push people to communicate (and use SM) are found in four practical situations:
1. Physical need. People try to stay in contact with people that make feel them better due to the positive communication they have, and this influences them to improve their mood, reduce the stress, or receive the right dose of motivation for the day.
2. Identity need. This means that people seek a confrontation with others regarding, for example, career success, life experience and how resolve common problems. This need is triggered by a sense of “check-up”, in that they want to comprehend who they really are and if they are approaching things in same way that others do in order to find affinity and group identity. Too often, people believe that if they do things differently than others, that they are making a mistake or it is forbidden. Sometimes taking other routes creates pressure and discomfort due to uncertainty related to the new approach that can complicate reaching the goal. SM helps with that because users skip the physical world and interact with users located in different areas with a different culture and tradition from their own, and that have solved the same situation with different methods. This kind of exchange of information supports society’s development because it increases knowledge and experience among the world’s population.
3. Social need. People want to stay in contact to make their relationships work and benefit from the interaction.
4. The last element identified in this analysis is the desire to reach practical goals, in the sense that communication is essential to ask for something (e.g. information, documents, etc) obtain answers, clarify situations, etc. SM are also very valuable in this case because they represent another route for communication in general because they reach a wide audience, they support exchange of documents and information.
SM have specific characteristics:
1. They support a global communication;
2. They favour effective and concise messages, this means that few lines are the average for this communication systems in order to keep engaged the receiver.
3. They support instant messaging. This means that the time needed for the message to travel and to reach the receiver is in seconds and this creates the condition for a real time conversation.
Professor Ennis maintains that SM system is vehicle for information that has a high inclination for space- bias. This means that compared to TV, print and radio, it is faster and more effective but, in contrast, it loses in the size of the audience, content length and message detail.
In terms of market growth, market penetration and interest, SM depend, above all, on:
a) Hardware devices;
b) The inclination to use them;
c) The Internet connection.
According to the statistics in this book, there are more mobile device users than desktop ones, and this means that there are more opportunities for people to use SM for their activities. TV remains the first medium for population penetration but spend more time on online content rather than traditional TV.
In general, the newest models of TVs can support SM applications, the purchase of online programs, Skype calls, streaming programs, etc. In this way, traditional media and social media try to coexist and benefit from each other.
As has been said, one of the key characteristics of SM is the ability to spread a message to large communities. Indeed, SM are used by politicians, entrepreneurs and companies to reach their goals. This means that SM have an intrinsic power to communicate directly to the