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16 December
Final Straw For Student Issues?
The Power Of Influence
by
SoftwareGuru
A fragile economy, a fragile planet and fragile hopes.
As 2010 approaches, students must be wondering how their elders
have failed so spectacularly to improve things for the next
generation.
There are many unhappy students right now in the UK who
are going to voice their disapproval in a Generation Y, web 2.0,
call-it-what-you-like, new online way of expressing themselves.
Before we discuss some of the various issues affecting students,
let's remind ourselves of why politicians should be wary of
word-of-mouth in the web 2.0 era.
Take the example of mother and Twitter user @dooce who has over a million followers
on the social networking site.
She had major problems with her new Whirlpool washing machine
and when poor customer service offered no solutions, she told
everyone on twitter to not buy that model from the company and
started a trending topic to highlight her frustration.
Immediately, Whirlpool had to react and offer her a real
solution for fear of the massive negative publicity it could
cause and seriously damage their sales.
In relation to student issues and the type of people that are
likely to go out and vote for change, is that likely to be a
social media user or a reader of The Sun newspaper?
Could UK students deliver a message to the politicians
in the same fashion as those in America did in helping to get
President Obama elected?
The stock line from stand-up comedians is that old people vote
because they have nothing else better to do.
However, when the next election comes round students may decide
their grievances are worthy of being heard.
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Final Straw?
If Digital Rights Laws and Climate Change
aren't immediate enough issues to drive students in their
thousands to the polls come election day - the pain of financial
struggle may prove the final straw.
With unemployment rising, parental financial support harder on
families than ever and third level fees adding extra burden, the
last thing students needed was a loans fiasco that has continued
into December 2009.
Students have every right to be angry and to express their
disgust at the system in constructive ways.
As reported by
TheGuardian.co.uk, Liberal Democrat universities spokesman,
Stephen Williams, said:
"The Student Loans Company is a complete shambles. The SLC
failed to do its job and ministers failed to intervene. This
postponement is further evidence that the time has come for
heads to roll."
Sally Hunt, leader of the UCU lecturers' union:
"Considering three-quarters of universities have had to find
money for broke students and 19 out of 20 calls from students
desperately chasing money they were promised went unanswered, I
am glad that the current system is being reviewed. We need to
ensure this fiasco is sorted out once and for all."
Factor in the gloomy employment outlook for college and
university graduates and the need for change regarding student
concerns grows ever stronger.
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New Media Landscape
The availability of home broadband and the internet has brought
information to the masses like never before.
Twitter can break news to the internet before traditional news
outlets have time to prepare a TV broadcast or the headlines for
tomorrow's morning papers.
Students are at the forefront when it comes to using the latest
social media technology and they have a lot of grievances to
vent - that's a potent combination.
The window of opportunity for students in this new digital era
will not last forever.
As more and more older people adapt to the latest changes,
students lose their competitive advantage.
A lack of speed in adapting to evolving technologies has already
cost traditional industries dearly such as the recorded music
industry and news media empires.
Students must seize this rare opportunity with both hands to
make their voices heard.
Shadow Universities and Skills Secretary, David Willetts
of the Conservatives summed it up four weeks ago:
"More than a month into the new university term, thousands
of students are experiencing real hardship because of the
Government’s mismanagement.
"Ministers have failed to deliver the improved service they
promised, failed to recognise the scale of the problem, and
failed to help students struggling to stay afloat."
The power of online influence should not be underestimated, just
ask Whirlpool and John McCain.
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Posted by
admin
at
09:17
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Final Straw For Student Issues?