The Future of Social Media & Film

I predict that social media and film will not change much beyond what we currently have. Although, as more and more people use social media the more companies will be able to track people who use social media technologies to see how the general populace thinks of a film. There are already critic review sites that aggregate scores and try to gauge the quality of a film, although a lot of the times general movie audiences do not share the same reception as these professional reviewers. Social media in the future will still play a strong role in allowing users to share how they feel about a film and in turn this will let others who are close to them decide whether they want to see the film too. If the models for this future are correct then whether or not people like a film on social media or not should also correlate with how well the films do in the box office as well. It will be interesting to see how the future of social media and how it relates to film plays out.

Access, Equity, & Film

Social Media is a valuable tool for filmmakers looking to advertise and market their films. If a good marketing team uses a social media site like Facebook to advertise their film that alone has the potential to reach a little over 50% of the entire US population. However, not everybody has access to high-speed broadband internet, or they can't afford it even if they wanted to have it. High-speed internet is definitely a luxury that not everyone has access to.

In regards to film, a company with a good marketing team can dominate the box office simply by putting together a few quality trailers and posting them on Facebook or Youtube. Millions of people will see these trailers and allow for more people to spread the word and get the general public to do some of the work in marketing. If people are not using the internet or have a social media account which many people don't. Their awareness of the film's quality and release in theaters has decreased compared to those who are constantly updated on social media sites. It also allows people who regularly use social media sites to talk about and discuss the films they have seen, which many people enjoy doing.

A major drawback of not having access to social media technologies is the declined perception of updates and news that gets spread on those sites. Many people have started to use Facebook as their main source of news and if more and more news and media companies decide to use Facebook and other social media sites to cover the news, then those who do not have access to it will be informed less quickly than those who have social media sites. Also, as more and more of the world gains access and usage of social media sites like Facebook, those without it, will be at a severe disadvantage to pop news or media related information. With film, people can get behind the scenes information, box office data, just general more information on the films they love. If you don't have access to this technology you are missing out.