Social Action within the media 'can broadly be defined as a practical action in the service of others, which is carried out by individuals or groups of people working together'. Social Action is usually 'not mandated and not for profit', but rather 'done for the good of other individuals, communities and/or society', and is there to 'bring about social change and/or value within communities'.
Social action media is aptly named in the sense that it is media produced with the intention of provoking social action. This form of media often takes on controversial subjects as a way of influencing change. Common subjects depicted in social action media include: smoking, drug addiction, alcoholism, politics, green peace, racism, sexism and many more.
The main purpose for social action media is to instigate and inspire change. This change can take place on a local, national or international level depending on the subject matter and scale of the production. Productions on a local level generally tackle causes relevant to their community or issues within their community. On the other hand, larger scale productions usually approach much more incendiary subjects with the knowing that they will attract more attention. Productions on a national scale will be subject to thorough planning, and much consideration will be put into the distribution. The reasons for this are obvious; large productions will need to reach people all over the country if they wish to have a worthwhile effect. To achieve this a certain level of marketing is required, which wouldn't necessarily be the case if the production was only to be circulated on a small scale. Social media is the modern way to target your audience. Some social media sites such as YouTube allow you to target your demographic more accurately.
The main difference between social action media and other forms of media is that it is usually non profit driven, so the agenda that drives it has totally different priorities. It prioritises audience awareness in order to affect change. It can be compared similarly to advertising perhaps, where it aims to influence its audience into certain beliefs, opinions and a call to action, however because it is not driven by financial gain, it strives to go to whatever lengths to better the community in a positive way. Infact, there are similarities between social action media and many other forms of media, however it manages to branch off away from the 'other' media codes and conventions, always in favour of affecting change. It can contain certain film conventions, especially documentary conventions, yet usually isn't as objective as a true documentary, and contains bias towards a certain opinion or perspective. It is not there primarily to entertain, yet can be entertaining.
Social action media is aptly named in the sense that it is media produced with the intention of provoking social action. This form of media often takes on controversial subjects as a way of influencing change. Common subjects depicted in social action media include: smoking, drug addiction, alcoholism, politics, green peace, racism, sexism and many more.
The main purpose for social action media is to instigate and inspire change. This change can take place on a local, national or international level depending on the subject matter and scale of the production. Productions on a local level generally tackle causes relevant to their community or issues within their community. On the other hand, larger scale productions usually approach much more incendiary subjects with the knowing that they will attract more attention. Productions on a national scale will be subject to thorough planning, and much consideration will be put into the distribution. The reasons for this are obvious; large productions will need to reach people all over the country if they wish to have a worthwhile effect. To achieve this a certain level of marketing is required, which wouldn't necessarily be the case if the production was only to be circulated on a small scale. Social media is the modern way to target your audience. Some social media sites such as YouTube allow you to target your demographic more accurately.
The main difference between social action media and other forms of media is that it is usually non profit driven, so the agenda that drives it has totally different priorities. It prioritises audience awareness in order to affect change. It can be compared similarly to advertising perhaps, where it aims to influence its audience into certain beliefs, opinions and a call to action, however because it is not driven by financial gain, it strives to go to whatever lengths to better the community in a positive way. Infact, there are similarities between social action media and many other forms of media, however it manages to branch off away from the 'other' media codes and conventions, always in favour of affecting change. It can contain certain film conventions, especially documentary conventions, yet usually isn't as objective as a true documentary, and contains bias towards a certain opinion or perspective. It is not there primarily to entertain, yet can be entertaining.
This short film is a good example of social action and community media. It was created with the intention to raise awareness on fat shaming and the idea of commercial beauty within the media. It also connects to the gay community of north London. This film was created not for profit, but rather to offer justice to a man who had been wronged within his community. I feel that this piece of social action media has been created to make the public aware of this injustice and to try and spread the idea of equality within the community. This film goes to show that the media will go to extreme lengths to tell the story they wish to tell, rather than that of the truth, and how that it can negatively effect someone's life. From reading the comments on this film, I feel that it has primarily been well received and will hopefully have instigated change for the better within the gay community's media coverage in the future.
I believe that social action definitely has an important place within media and it is an effective way to communicate ideas and philosophies through a community. I feel that obviously not everyone will see a piece of social action the same way. Some may see social action as a cause to strive behind and support, while others may see it as propaganda, so it has the potential to cause some controversy and debate within a group of people. However, I feel that without social action and community media little changes to a community will ever be made. With the access to the internet it is much easier than it has ever been to communicate and share ideas, so I feel that social action media is at an all time high, with various videos to be found on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter etc, which could be a bad thing as people may become desensitised to its conventions and it may prove ineffective. However it is also a good thing in the sense that individuals now have a stronger voice to interact with and create social action media which means they can be effectively more integrated within their community.
I believe that social action definitely has an important place within media and it is an effective way to communicate ideas and philosophies through a community. I feel that obviously not everyone will see a piece of social action the same way. Some may see social action as a cause to strive behind and support, while others may see it as propaganda, so it has the potential to cause some controversy and debate within a group of people. However, I feel that without social action and community media little changes to a community will ever be made. With the access to the internet it is much easier than it has ever been to communicate and share ideas, so I feel that social action media is at an all time high, with various videos to be found on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter etc, which could be a bad thing as people may become desensitised to its conventions and it may prove ineffective. However it is also a good thing in the sense that individuals now have a stronger voice to interact with and create social action media which means they can be effectively more integrated within their community.