Social and Traditional Mainstream Media of Communication: Synergy and Variance Perspective

Abstract

Social media are computer mediated tools that allow people to create, share or exchange information, ideas, pictures/videos in implicit communities and networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Baddo, Instagram among others. Whereas Traditional Media refer to those media that communicates identical messages in a one-way route to very large mass audiences, which are assumed to be homogeneous. Social media is at variance with Traditional media in production of media content; whereby social media content  have now become more generally dispersed throughout the population, rather than restricted to media professionals, and there is more accessibility, quality and interactivity. Social media and the Traditional media share a relationship in advertisement, entertainment and news among others. The study postulates that although social media have come to stay, the traditional media will continue to strive in complimenting the social media.

Keywords: Social Media, Facebook, Twitter, Traditional Media, Synergy, Variance