THE SOCIAL MEDIA (R)EVOLUTION? Asian Perspectives on New Media
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THE SOCIAL MEDIA (R)EVOLUTION? Asian Perspectives On New Media CONTRIBUTIONS BY: APOSTOL, AVASADANOND, BHADURI, NAZAKAT, PUNG, SOM, TAM, TORRES, UTAMA, VILLANUEVA, YAP EDITED BY: SIMON WINKELMANN Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Singapore Media Programme Asia The Social Media (R)evolution? Asian Perspectives On New Media Edited by Simon Winkelmann Copyright © 2012 by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Singapore Publisher Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 34 Bukit Pasoh Road Singapore 089848 Tel: +65 6603 6181 Fax: +65 6603 6180 Email: [email protected] www.kas.de/medien-asien/en/ All rights reserved Requests for review copies and other enquiries concerning this publication are to be sent to the publisher. The responsibility for facts, opinions and cross references to external sources in this publication rests exclusively with the contributors and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Layout and Design Hotfusion 7 Kallang Place #04-02 Singapore 339153 www.hotfusion.com.sg CONTENTS Foreword 5 Ratana Som Evolution Or Revolution - 11 Social Media In Cambodian Newsrooms Edi Utama The Other Side Of Social Media: Indonesia’s Experience 23 Anisha Bhaduri Paper Chase – Information Technology Powerhouse 35 Still Prefers Newsprint Sherrie Ann Torres “Philippine’s Television Network War Going Online – 47 Is The Filipino Audience Ready To Do The Click?” Engelbert Apostol Maximising Social Media 65 Bruce Avasadanond Making Money From Social Media: Cases From Thailand 87 KY Pung Social Media: Engaging Audiences – A Malaysian Perspective 99 Susan Tam Social Media - A Cash Cow Or Communication Tool? 113 Malaysian Impressions Syed Nazakat Social Media And Investigative Journalism 127 Karen Yap China’s Social Media Revolution: Control 2.0 139 Michael Josh Villanueva Issues In Social Media 151 Social Media In TV News: The Philippine Landscape 163 Social Media For Social Change 175 About the Authors 183 Foreword ithin the last few years, social media has radically changed the media Wsphere as we know it. Social media has never been so prevalent. Almost every major product launched these days has a Twitter account, almost every brand a Facebook page. Nowadays, it is inevitable for television channels, newspapers, organisations and companies to have a social media presence. Politicians, celebrities, journalists and even reality show contestants are linked to the big social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, or to domestic social media platforms, for example, in China, Japan and Korea. People use social media not just to connect with friends, but as a source of news, information and entertainment, while broadcasting outlets and companies use social media to connect with their audience, push out content, and promote their brands across this new medium. Internet usage is sky-rocketing throughout the Asia-Pacific region, making the growth rate of social media the fastest in the world. Consequently, it is worthwhile to examine the developments and changes in media that Asian countries have been exposed to in recent years. In this context, the question arises to what extent this new communication tool has affected the traditional media landscape in Asia – can social media be characterised as a revolution or merely an evolution? In order to resolve this question, we invited some alumni of the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism (ACFJ) at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, to provide us with their perspectives on this emerging topic. In total, eleven authors from six different countries contributed to this publication, giving insight into their on-the-job experience with social media, as well as reviewing its influence on traditional media. In the first article, Ratana Som assesses the integration of social media in Cambodian newsrooms, which he affirms is a very new phenomenon. He gives examples of how traditional media in Cambodia is slowly evolving into a new era, but also identifies obstacles such as high Internet connection THE SOCIAL MEDIA (R)EVOLUTION? - ASIAN PERSPECTIVES ON NEW MEDIA | 5 costs, inadequate infrastructure support within media organisations and the lack of IT staff and development plans. Edi Utama’s article portrays Indonesia’s challenges with social media. Discussions on social media issues in Indonesia are most relevant, as Indonesia is the world’s second largest Facebook “nation”, with over 40 million users. Almost half of all Indonesian Internet users access the net via their mobile phones, making Indonesia the most reliant Southeast Asian country, on this form of Internet access. With the prospect of advanced technology being used by social media to engage audiences, the author points out risks and dangers of social media- for instance abuse, prostitution, Internet fraud and other criminal activities occurring in social networks. Anisha Bhaduri takes a different approach in her article by focusing on newsprint, which she feels is often underestimated in these times of social and digital media - at least as far as India is concerned. While newspaper circulation is waning across the world, in India it has grown from 127 million in 2000 to 207 million in 2008. The author describes the potential of newspaper advertising in India, in comparison to social media advertising, which is still in an early stage of development. According to a report titled, “Where print makes profits” (The Economist, 23 September 2010), during 2009 and 2010 alone the amount spent on newspaper advertising in India increased by 30 per cent - the swiftest increase in the Asia-Pacific region. Sherrie Ann Torres from the Philippines deals with the online news industry in her piece “Philippine’s television network war going online – is the Filipino audience ready to do the click?”. According to a recent study conducted by ComScore Inc., a global digital marketing intelligence agency, the Philippines is number one in the Asia-Pacific region for citizens spending their time browsing the net, specifically on social networking sites. In the study, Internet use was recorded in the Asia-Pacific region at an average of 2.5 hours per day. In the Philippines, a regular Internet user browses the net for an average of 5.5 hours per day. However, do Filipinos also prefer reading news online rather than turning on the TV? Sherrie Ann Torres analyses whether the television industry is taking over the web and competing with other TV networks for the “Pinoy” audience. 6 | THE SOCIAL MEDIA (R)EVOLUTION? - ASIAN PERSPECTIVES ON NEW MEDIA THE SOCIAL MEDIA (R)EVOLUTION? - ASIAN PERSPECTIVES ON NEW MEDIA | 7 In another article, Engelbert Apostol describes ways to maximise social media while benefiting traditional media, using Filipino television network, ABS-CBN, as an example. Currently, forty-six of ABS-CBN’s pool of fifty Manila-based reporters maintain a Facebook and/or Twitter account. Speaking from his own experience, social media has had a two-fold impact in the traditional newsroom, in the sense that it has changed the way journalists perform their jobs, and how people communicate and share information. According to Engelbert Apostol, the use of social media in the traditional newsroom can complement or even maximise the effects of reporting. Bruce Avasadanond’s chapter looks at case studies concerning two news organisations in Thailand that are actively involved in social media. Although social media helps in terms of hits to a website and in promoting a two-way dialogue between news organisations and their readers/listeners, the benefits are intangible and do not yet lead directly to increased earnings. This article is based on interviews with key informants at the Nation Multimedia Group (Thailand) and Radio Thailand English Language Service. It includes an analysis of how social media is benefiting these news organisations, and the future impact on their financial earnings. KY Pung discusses how social media has been effectively utilised to engage targeted audiences in mobilising popular support in Malaysia; as seen in the case of Bersih 2.0, a mass protest movement in Malaysia demanding clean and fair elections. His article examines this online phenomenon as a potent communication tool for shaping public opinion. Being omnipresent in our daily lives, it can be similarly used to mobilise and carry out a campaign with negative intent, such as character assassination of a person from either side of the political divide. The chapter further highlights how in its current form and practice, social media has yet to command a strong impact in the commercial arena, even though the potential for marketing consumer products is huge. Susan Tam’s contribution “Social media - a cash cow or communication tool? Malaysian impressions”, looks into the feasibility and complexity of using social media, both as an advertising platform and as a tool for communicating branding messages to online communities. About 17 million Malaysians (60 per cent of the total population) spend most of their time online; 12 million of them are Facebook users. The article discusses 6 | THE SOCIAL MEDIA (R)EVOLUTION? - ASIAN PERSPECTIVES ON NEW MEDIA THE SOCIAL MEDIA (R)EVOLUTION? - ASIAN PERSPECTIVES ON NEW MEDIA | 7 how corporations are looking at different ways to monetise social media. Critics have argued that it is not simple to measure return on investments in social media marketing of products and services, due to the lack of tangible sales results. This piece also examines the successes and failures of Malaysian companies