Week 5: Another week done!

 Hello and welcome to week five! 

Today's blog post focus is going to be on user-generated content and how it plays into our role as consumers of social media. 

So what is user-generated content? 

User-generated content refers to any type of content (photos, videos, text, images, etc.) that is created and shared by individual people rather than large professional organizations. 

Yes, that dance video you created on Tiktok counts.

Although UGC is a great way for people to express their creativity, it does come with some challenges. For instance, there is little to no fact-checking with can lead to huge cases of misinformation being spread. Especially regarding major topics such as the election where misinformation ran wild with people believing anything they saw on Facebook, X, Instagram, and Tiktok. Brookings did an article on misinformation and its impact on the election which really goes to show how quickly and rampantly it spreads, but also how it can quickly switch the narrative on events people should be informed on. 

Personally when it comes to my own professional and personal interests, I think user-generated content allows me to be informed and see first hand experiences in an easy and accessible way. For instance, when I wanted to learn more about the true experiences of SLPs I would watch videos, day in my life's, and first hand accounts of what the field actually entails. Both the positive and the negatives. I find this type of personal content to be positive to my academic interests because it gives me a more realistic outlook of the field. While textbooks, readings, and homework are essential it doesn't always encapsulate the common problems or work of a career.

In my opinion, user-generated content also fosters creativity and connectivity among people. A great example of this is Tiktok where millions of people are able to quickly access videos tailored to their interests. There is this sort of online community that translates into real life where I hear a lot of "Did you see that viral video on Tiktok?". 

One concern that I do have about user-generated content was also touched upon in Larry Lessing's Ted-Talk. Where this is instances of copyright issues where artists are not given credit for their own work, and it is a hard battle especially if a video is being shared thousands of times. However, I agreed with Lessing's argument that we shouldn't criminalize creativity but find ways to embrace it. Another concern I have is about the disputes around AI generated content. In a world where AI is becoming more common and evolving more, the generated work it puts out (deep-fakes, art, movies, videos) are a cause for concern not only for real artists, but can be used for harmful reasons. Personally, I am seeing more and more AI generated content that looks so convincing it is hard to discern what is real or not. 

Despite all of this, I believe user-generated content really helps to foster creativity among people. It allows for work or art to be shared in an easy and accessible way, where many people now are making livelihoods from it. UGC is definitely something that is not going to slow down anytime soon and will continue to grow with this new age of developing technology, AI, and social media. As consumers and creators, we just need to be aware of the consequences of what is put out on the internet, especially since it never goes away. 


Brookings Article: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-disinformation-defined-the-2024-election-narrative/

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