LESSON 11: PEOPLE

AND MEDIA
 PEOPLE AS MEDIA
• People as media - when you yourselves are well-
oriented to media sources and messages and when you
are able to provide information as accurate and reliable as
possible. People as media are highly expected to be
responsible disseminators of information.
 Examples:
• OPINION LEADERS
• CITIZEN JOURNALIST
• SOCIAL JOURNALIST
• CROWDSOURCER
 POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
• Political Communication - The exchange of information
within the context of politics and governance, is perhaps
one of the most apparent examples of how humans act as
media. In the Philippines, election campaigns will never
be the same way without the voices of the members of
the campaign trail going to places and promoting the
candidacy of their electoral bet. Going to door-to-door as
that of using media technology also because of greater
chance for feedback from the audience.
 LIKES AND STATUS UPDATES
• Likes and Status Updates - Social media networking will
not make sense without the actual people who conceived
and shared these online posts. In a sense, the tool does
not manifest or run without the operator. Social media is
pinned on the principle of people media because as
online account holders/owners are the ones responsible
for these accounts to even exist and be able to share
content. The statistics of social media users is one of the
opportunities that entice people to promote ideas and
share information.
 ONLINE VIRALITY
• Online Virality - which you may attribute as more of a
technological phenomenon, is surprisingly very much people
media. This is because ordinary people can actually gain an
audience even with the most trivial content such as the “Pabebe”
phenomenon that had been going viral in the recent past. Or, the
instant fame earned by so-called “online sensations.” These
examples illustrate that people can produce or author random
content, perhaps out of whim, but are still very personal and direct
in their transmission or relay of these content. The content is
picked up also by random strangers, and the information spreads .
 INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF PEOPLE
AS MEDIA
• In a Web log by King Fish Media (2013), it is interesting
to note how people as media is defined in the light of
marketing approach that a famous shoe brand employs.
People as media has been described as way of “turning
your customer into brand advocates by starting
conversations and bringing like-minded people together.”
Customers guide fellow customers about the product or
service at hand. This can be seen when consumers
discuss in an online forum their level of satisfaction with a
particular product and promote to other people.
• According to Lalla (2012), traditional media have
diminished in providing profitable returns for consumer
goods/brands. In the words of Lalla: “The ripples of
influence come from the people carrying a message,
instead of the channel carrying it. These ripples spread
and create waves . . . get powerful as they overlap and
spread further and farther.” This means that more than
the technology used to relay the message, it is the people
that uses the technology who influences the receivers of
the said message.
 OPINION LEADERS AS PEOPLE MEDIA
• Opinion leaders - You are considered an opinion leader
when you are highly exposed to and actively using media.
You become a source of a viable interpretation of
messages for lower-end media users. Leaders must hold
an esteemed position among members of a group for the
opinions to be accepted by the group.
• Opinion followers - Who are assumed to have less
exposure or contact with media (Baran, 2010).
• Littlejohn (2008) argued that “opinion leadership
changes from time to time and from issue to issue” and
that an opinion leader may be monomorphic (or some
influential in one topic) or polymorphic (or some who is
well-versed on a variety of topic). Gate keeping is also
one of the perceived functions of opinion leader because
they “screen media messages and pass on those
messages and help others share their views.”
 CITIZEN JOURNALISM
• It is also known as “public,” “participatory,”
“democratic,” or “street” journalism, citizen journalism
occurs when members of the public become active
participants in the collection, reportage, analysis, and
dissemination of news and information to other citizens.
• Citizen journalism has become of new media technology
such as social media and other means over the Internet.
It provide immediate and, real-time information on events
the mainstream reporters would normally have no instant
access to.
• Social Journalism - The expectation of delivering a
credible and reliable source of information. Social
journalism likened to open publishing where readers
intentionally contribute content just by sharing through
their online social media accounts.
• Crowdsourcing - This is when a group of people or a crowd is
solicited for information by certain entities or institutions. A person
over a social media network can post a question or inquiry in his
or her social media account where other people can openly share
their answers or thoughts. Crowdsourcing is also called collective
mobilization.