Jessica Jackley and Reza Aslan speak on social media
The Georgia Southern University Russell Union Ballroom was packed on Jan. 30, as Jessica Jackley and Reza Aslan spoke to faculty and students on “The Promise and Peril of Social Media.”
Georgia Southern is among one of the first universities to host this husband and wife duo. The audience knew it was going to be an exciting night as the couple opened with slides of their newborn babies from their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The couple began with a short history and explanation of social media. Jackley explained that ‘identity’ (the extent to which users reveal themselves) makes up the core function of all of social media. According to the couple, understanding the different types of functions helps people to understand the landscape that social media provides.
Aslan went on to point out how traditional media and social media are working together in parallel but also are in conflict with one another. He described a time when he turned on the television during one of the revolutions in the Arab World. The news anchor was showing a Facebook page of one young adult’s plan to rally.
“I remember thinking to myself, why should I even watch this when I could just be on Facebook?” said Aslan. “That’s when it really struck me how much social media was changing the way news is consumed.”
Aslan claimed that what once was a news monologue is now a dialogue. Instead of just listening to the news, the public is creating news through their conversations on social media. Instead of a passive way of consuming media, people are functioning at a participatory level. The public is engaged and active with current events. These are the reasons why the couple declares social media has become “the language of the world.”
According to Jackley and Aslan, social media gives promises of “new information, ideas, experiences and relationships.” However, it also holds perils of “no privacy, spam, less control, theft and fraud.”
Jackley described her story as an entrepreneur and demonstrated how social media helped her achieve success. Affected by all the advertisements asking to give to the poor, Jackley wanted to make a difference. Questioning what the traditional media was portraying, she quit her job two years out of college and moved to east Africa for three months. During this time she listened to stories of different entrepreneurs and realized something.
“After those three months I saw people who were perfectly as capable as me who only lacked access to resources,” said Jackley. “These were the types of resources I had access to all my life.”
After learning about the idea of micro-loaning (lending small amounts of money), the website ‘Kiva’ was born and has been growing ever since. After seven years, Kiva has a global community of people following entrepreneurs from all over the world. All of this would not have been possible without the use of the Internet and social media explained Jackley.
In closing, the couple left the audience with one main message. “Speak for yourself, speak for others, and speak for the truth.” The belief in a person’s own ability and in the ability of others is what really changes the world, explained Jackley.
“Have the conviction to do things, do great things and you will succeed,” said Jackley.
Senior psychology major Stephen Warner decided to attend the lecture. An avid Facebook and Twitter user and was interested in seeing what Jackley and Aslan had to say about social media.
“I really enjoyed the lecture,” said Warner. “A lot of people are critical of Facebook and Twitter but this lecture really showed although there are negatives there are also positives as well. If the world gets plugged in the right way it is a good connection.”
Emily Allen, also a senior psychology major, believed the lecture was inspiring for anyone interested in making a change in the world.
“I decided to attend because I’m interested in how social media has become more important in our day and age,” said Allen. “The lecture showed how influential social media can be on all levels of the economy.”
(photo courtesy: Sean Payne)
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