Ryerson University recently welcomed the addition of a new social media lab, where they will study how social media and web technologies impact the ways society communicates.
The lab is affiliated with the Ted Rogers School of Management at the university’s downtown Toronto campus. Directed by Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd, who initially founded the lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax, the social media lab’s main research goals are to provide information to be used by various organizations to better understand their online audience.
The lab is still in the process of being set up at Ryerson.
From Sept. 27-28, Ryerson University also played host to the fifth annual Social Media and Society Conference through the lab.
The Social Media Conference is an international conference held to showcase the impact and implications of social media on society. Speakers came from as far away as Australia, in addition to representatives from several Canadian universities. Attendees were encouraged to use social media platforms prolifically during the entire weekend, racking up an impressive Tweet count of over 2,000 by the end of the first day.
The topics covered ranged from analysis of serious political impacts of social media to the issue of privacy online.
“Television and audience is no longer one-way. Do audiences have power to affect the writing of characters? #SMSociety14,” tweeted user @JennyKorn, who took the title of “Most Prolific Tweeter” during the conference.
Presenter Bonnie Stewart from the University of Prince Edward Island also Tweeted that “users with the highest status and most followers seem to do the most complaining, within their communities.”
Stewart’s talk covered the issue of maintaining one’s online image, and what it does to perspectives of us in real life, particularly in the work place.
By expanding on these topics, the social media lab will achieve a more accurate perspective on how everyday users can harness the power of these influential networks.
