Introduction
EVER SINCE THE FIRST recognizable social media site, Six Degrees, was created in 1997, social media has come a long way. Today, social media sites such as Facebook handle 1.5 billion updates daily from 600 million active users, with 73% of all American internet users having an account. Other social media sites like Tumblr deal with over 1 billion page views a week and 10 million posts per day.
It is an undeniable fact that social media affects a large number of people worldwide, and Singaporeans are no exception. A ComScore report showed that out of the nearly 3 million Internet users in Singapore, more than 90% visit social networking sites. But social media sites not only provide us with entertainment; they also are a source of news.
It is an undeniable fact that social media affects a large number of people worldwide, and Singaporeans are no exception. A ComScore report showed that out of the nearly 3 million Internet users in Singapore, more than 90% visit social networking sites. But social media sites not only provide us with entertainment; they also are a source of news.
MAIN AIM OF STUDY
The main aim of this study is to explore how fast the use of social media increases Singaporeans' knowledge of events happening in countries apart from Singapore as compared to local newspapers.
OBJECTIVES FULFILLED IN PROJECT
The objectives that were fulfilled in this research project were:
- Finding out the most common types of social media platforms Singaporeans use.
- Finding out how often Singaporeans use social media.
- Finding out which social media sites Singaporeans consider a source of news.
- Finding out how often Singaporeans read about events in other countries on social media.
- Finding out how often Singaporeans read the newspaper.
- Finding out if Singaporeans are more likely to view social media as a platform that provides news as compared to local newspapers and in turn finding out how much of the news Singaporeans read comes from social media sites.
- Finding out if the use of social media increases Singaporeans' knowledge of events happening in countries apart from Singapore faster than as compared to local newspapers.
HYPOTHESIS
Our hypothesis was that the use of social media increases Singaporeans' knowledge of events happening in countries apart from Singapore faster than local newspapers.
LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
The limitations of this study was that only 146 people answered our survey and most of them were students between the age of 13-18 years, apart from several interviewees who were around 20-50 years old. This affected our results due to the limited scope of data we could analyze.
HOW THE STUDY IMPACTS US
The results of this study would contribute greatly to our understanding of social media as a whole. Through this study, we would be able to understand how social media impacts the people of Singapore and shapes their views of the world through how they view the news. Hopefully, with this data, the impact of social media on Singaporeans can be better explored.
Literature Review
SOCIAL MEDIA IS DEFINED by the Oxford dictionary as "websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking". In recent years, networking on social media has become one of the most popular online activities, with high user engagement rates and an ever-growing user population.
In the August of 2015, worldwide social media users exceeded 2 billion, a whopping 222 million increase from the number of active social media accounts in the previous year. This means that approximately 29% of the total population on Earth has an active social media account. One brilliant example of a social media platform is Facebook. With over 1.1 billion monthly active users, Facebook is currently the market leader in terms of reach and scope. The site has been shaping the social media landscape since its launch in 2004.
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According to a recent report released by We Are Social on 8 January 2015, Singaporeans are one of the most active social media consumers in the world. The Republic of Singapore has the world’s second highest social penetration rate in Singapore at 59 per cent, more than double the global average of 26 per cent. The report suggests that social media users in Singapore spend 2.2 hours on average per day on all social media channels, slightly above the world average of 2.0 hours. This shows that on the average, Singaporeans are more connected to the Internet as compared to the rest of the world. Along with this, 66% of Singaporeans have an active social media account, which means that around 3.5 million Singaporeans have an active social media account.
However, social media does not only allow Singaporeans to network with others from around the world, it also allows Singaporeans to increase their knowledge of events happening in other countries apart from Singapore by acting as an alternative platform to the print editions of newspapers, or in other words, the "traditional" form of newspapers.
However, social media does not only allow Singaporeans to network with others from around the world, it also allows Singaporeans to increase their knowledge of events happening in other countries apart from Singapore by acting as an alternative platform to the print editions of newspapers, or in other words, the "traditional" form of newspapers.
Recently, with the rise of social media, "traditional" print editions of newspapers have turned to digital platforms as well.
In Singapore, The Straits Times remains the most-read English newspaper, with readership from print and digital editions reaching about a third (32 per cent) of the population. The print version of the title is read by 27 per cent of the adult population, while the digital edition registers an average daily readership of 10 per cent. Meanwhile, the daily average local newspapers circulation is 1,038,800, combining the print editions of The Straits Times/The Sunday Times, The Business Times/The Business Times Weekend, The New Paper/The New Paper Sunday, Lianhe Zaobao/Lianhe Zaobao Sunday, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News, Berita Harian/Berita Minggu, Tamil Murasu, zbCOMMA, Thumbs Up, Thumbs Up Junior. |
Managing director of Nielsen's Media business in Singapore and Malaysia, Ms Rebecca Tan notes that "Newspapers are embracing the opportunity to connect with their readers, and with the availability of apps from many major Singapore newspaper titles... mobile readership continues to grow. Along with increasing connected device ownership and time spent online, consumers' media consumption habits are shifting beyond traditional media formats. As a result, it is becoming increasingly important for media owners to understand when, where and how consumers are accessing media content in order to uncover new opportunities to engage and connect with consumers."
All in all, social media is a platform that is capable of sending news to all corners of the globe within a few seconds, making it an ideal and effective way to spread the news. This is due to its fast sharing speed and high user engagement rates. However, the question still remains as to whether the use of social media really increases Singaporeans' knowledge of events happening in countries apart from Singapore faster than local newspapers.
All in all, social media is a platform that is capable of sending news to all corners of the globe within a few seconds, making it an ideal and effective way to spread the news. This is due to its fast sharing speed and high user engagement rates. However, the question still remains as to whether the use of social media really increases Singaporeans' knowledge of events happening in countries apart from Singapore faster than local newspapers.
FACEBOOK
Facebook headquarters is located at 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California 9402. As of June 30, 2015, it had 10,955 employees and an average of 968 million daily active users, 1.49 billion monthly active users, 1.31 billion mobile monthly active users and approximately 83.1% daily active users outside the US and Canada. In 2014, its revenue was US$12.466 billion.
Its founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is Mark Zuckerberg who founded Facebook in 2004. It is the 2nd most popular site on the web according to Alexa.
Facebook allows users to connect and communicate with friends, share their thoughts and pictures, promote causes and businesses or even plan events and create groups. It also allows users to play games. |
Mark Zuckerberg |
TWITTER
Twitter headquarters is located at 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. As of June 30, 2015, it had 4,100 employees globally and 316 million monthly active users. Every day, 500 million tweets are sent on average and Twitter supports more than 35 languages. In 2014, its revenue was US$1.4 billion.
Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass and launched by July 2006. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity and is the 9th most popular site on the web according to Alexa.
Twitter allows users to tweet messages, share files, music, videos, images and even play games! |
TUMBLR
Tumblr headquarters is located at 35 E 21st Street, New York, NY 10010, USA. As of 27th August 2015, it has 327 employees, 251.8 million blogs, 118.8 billion posts and an average of 70,146,704 posts daily. It also supports 16 languages.
Tumblr was founded in February 2007 by David Karp who is now the CEO of Tumblr. It is the 42nd most popular site on the web according to Alexa.
Tumblr is a blog hosting platform offering customizable templates, bookmarklets, photos and social network integration, allowing users to effortlessly share anything such as text, photos, quotes, links, music, and even videos. |
INSTAGRAM
Instagram headquarters is located at 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California 9402, sharing Facebook Headquarters. This is because Facebook acquired Instagram on April 12, 2012. As of December 2014, Instagram had 300 million monthly active users and 75 million daily active users.
Instagram was launched in October 2010, created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. It is the 26th most popular site on the web according to Alexa.
Instagram is an online photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them on a variety of social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr. |
THE STRAITS TIMES/THE SUNDAY TIMES
The Straits Times was launched on July 15, 1845, and is the most-read newspaper in Singapore. With 20 bureaus in major cities around the world, The Straits Times correspondents bring world news to readers. The Straits Times also has an online presence at www.straitstimes.com. The site features top stories, blogs and online forum threads.
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THE BUSINESS TIMES/THE BUSINESS TIMES WEEKEND
Singapore's only financial daily, The Business Times provides a complete guide on the local, regional and international business scene, with a weekend edition titled 'The Business Times Weekend'. First launched on October 1, 1976, The Business Times is an authoritative newspaper and a key source of business intelligence for investors, managers and businessmen in Singapore and the Asian region.
As of August 2013, The Business Times/The Business Times Weekend had 31,200 daily readers in print form. |
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THE NEW PAPER/THE NEW PAPER SUNDAY
The New Paper is the second most-read English newspaper in Singapore, after The Straits Times (Nielsen Media Survey, 2008) and was launched on 26 July 1988. It covers both Singapore news and world news.
The New Paper on Sunday was launched on 11 April 1999. As of August 2013, The New Paper/The New Paper Sunday had 85,600 daily readers in print form. |
LIANHE ZAOBAO/LIANHE ZAOBAO SUNDAY
Lianhe Zaobao was launched in March 16, 1983, it is the most-read Chinese newspaper in Singapore. With an extensive correspondent network in Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo, and experienced stringers in the Philippines, Japan, Europe and America, Lianhe Zaobao is able to give readers timely and in-depth coverage of significant events taking place in the region and beyond.
Besides Singapore, Lianhe Zaobao is circulated in Indonesia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Vietnam and major cities of China like Beijing and Shanghai. Lianhe Zaobao Sunday was launched on 29, August 2004 by Lianhe Zaobao. As of August 2013, Lianhe Zaobao/Lianhe Zaobao Sunday had 156,400 daily readers in print form. |
LIANHE WANBAO
SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
BERITA HARIAN/BERITA MINGGU
Berita Harian was established on July 1, 1957. It presents news and issues from home, the region and the world, featuring a wide spectrum of topics from sports to politics and religion.
Berita Minggu, the Sunday edition of the Berita Harian, was first published on July 10, 1960. As of August 2013, Berita Harian/Berita Minggu had 50,600 daily readers in print form. |
TAMIL MURASU
Launched in 1935, Tamil Murasu is Singapore's only Tamil language newspaper.
Tamil Murasu is the main information source for the Tamil-speaking Indian community with its coverage of wide-ranging news, from current affairs to local and foreign news. As of August 2013, Tamil Murasu had 15,700 daily readers in print form. |
ZBCOMMA
The new student paper zbCOMMA was launched in Jan 7, 2009. Previously known as Friday Weekly, it is a 17 year old Chinese paper targeted at secondary school students.
zbCOMMA is distributed to schools together with Lianhe Zaobao on Wednesdays, acting as the “ bridge ” for students to get in touch with Zaobao (ZB). It consists of follow-ups on news in ZB, articles written by ZB reporters and blurbs for ZB news that serve to connect students with ZB. Students can go online at zbCOMMA.sg to listen to recordings of the content from the Newspapers in Education section of the publication. As of August 2013, zbCOMMA had 54,400 daily readers in print form. |
THUMBS UP
Thumbs Up was started in 15 Jan 2000, targeted at students between Primary 3-6. The tabloid-sized Chinese newspaper presents news to students in a perspective that their young mind can understand, so as to improve their general knowledge and Chinese language ability.
As of August 2013, Thumbs Up had 27,500 daily readers in print form. |
THUMBS UP JUNIOR
Launched by Lianhe Zaobao in 2011, Thumbs Up Junior is a bi-weekly student publication targeted at Primary 1 and 2 students, providing them with interesting news and lively stories to read and learn.
Thumbs Up Junior is in line with the Ministry of Education's efforts to enhance the use of Mother Tongue Languages through the Active Learners, Proficient Users (乐学善用) approach. Aside from strengthening skills in news listening and reading, Thumbs Up Junior also provides a rich source of verbal, reading and language practice material closely related to students' daily lives. As of August 2013, Thumbs Up Junior had 13,500 daily readers in print form. |