Social Media

After looking at the social media content for this week, I have come to the conclusion that there is a possibility that revenues should not be part of their business models and they should take the form more of openshare projects that anyone can participate in but nobody profits from. I think about the instability right now in the Middle East with the reform spreading throughout that region and can not help but relate the movement to the internet. I am not sure that type of sweeping change would be possible without social media as a catalyst. With that being said, should advertising, subscription, or any other type of revenue producing model be incorporated into social media if it is going to limit, skew or distort social movements as they occur? I am not sure revenue has any, or should have any place in social media models. I think the value in social media is that the content is created by the masses for free and it can ignore the media bias that everyone has complained about for the last half decade. People turn to social media today to get there news--when Osama bin Laden was killed I know a lot of people who were checking Facebook before they turned on the news. People without a voice, such as those who were suppressed for decades under authoritative rule, can now post a video of an injustice being done and incite action. It may not be right to dilute the influence of social media to make it profitable.