More than 400 people gathered at the Antel Auditorium to attend the fifth edition of Social Media Day, organized by the state-owned telecommunications company and Universidad ORT Uruguay Monday, July 24. In addition, thousands of viewers watched the talks via the live stream on Vera+.
One of the highlights of the event was a live appearance from Madrid by Uruguayan musician Jorge Drexler, a 2004 Oscar winner, who stated that social media "is neither the panacea that Silicon Valley sees it as, nor is it a demon; it is a tool." The artist added that "social media is an extension and complement to the individual."
For his part, Tomás Balmaceda, an Argentine philosopher, university professor, and journalist, noted that "it doesn't matter what happens, but rather what we are willing to believe."
Germán and Nicolás Kronfeld run A la Vuelta, a social media platform that showcases different realities through the brothers’ two-year journey around the world. The young men reflected on the equality that comes from access to social media, noting that, as they put it, “it allows us all to have the same opportunities.”
Marcos Hecht, director of the production company Pardelion Films, highlighted the importance of the data provided by various digital communication channels. "Today we know who our audience is, what age group they belong to, and where they're watching us from," he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF66ZDeDj0A&list=PLdInbF47KVC1Pw_EcFpXIGLM4OyNwXa4q&t=1s
Speakers
- Laura Raffo - Economist, Director of TAO
- Germán and Nicolás Kronfeld- Directors of A la Vuelta
- Fernando De Clemente - Digital Creative Director at The Electric Factory Group, guest speaker at CUP
- Agustín Serrate (Argentina) - Online marketing consultant
- Marcos Mansueti (Argentina) - Director of Socialify
- Rafael Cotelo - Comedian, broadcaster
- Pablo Buela - Founder of PIMOD
- Marcos Hecht - Co-founder of Pardelion Films
- Gerardo Sotelo - Journalist
- Ariel Benedetti (Argentina) - Author ofSocial Media Marketing: Behind the Scenes
- Tomás Balmaceda (Argentina) - Ph.D., journalist
Five years of history
For the past five years, we in Uruguay have been calling on people to speak out and discuss the scope of social media from a 360-degree perspective, driven by the emergence of phenomena and practices that have changed far more than just the way we communicate globally: they have transformed economic models and, fundamentally, power structures.
Over the past five years, through hashtags, images, videos, and speeches, a dress and more than one president, celebrities and refugees, silenced artists, and a #Brexit with global repercussions have made headlines around the world. Through social media, we organize a trip or a revolution; we expose an adulterer or a murderer. Without any intermediaries, we decide what to share, what to support, and, ultimately, whom to believe.
Everyone is talking about and through social media. While academia studies them, industry promotes them, and society uses them with increasing mastery and skill: social media empowers people, and people empower the phenomenon. And questions are beginning to be answered through collective and collaborative wisdom. It changes the way we learn and interact with the world and, consequently, the way we build power: an augmented sovereignty.
Social Media Day Uruguay has featured more than 60 speakers selected based on a single principle: a diversity of voices and a variety of ideas. We’ve discussed education, entertainment, and politics; soccer, video games, and e-commerce; trends, citizenship, and entrepreneurship. Through their words, technophiles and technophobes have debated on social media, and each has drawn their own conclusions. A narrative is beginning to take shape: nothing human is alien to social media.
That is why new topics emerge every year: speakers of all ages, backgrounds, expectations, interests, and fields of expertise, with the goal not only of understanding but also of envisioning where we are headed.
The obvious is starting to become clear: communication can change the world.
That's why SMDUy is becoming more and more of a community for everyone. That's why we invite you to join us.
More than 60 communications professionals took part in Social Media Day Uruguay. The diversity of perspectives and experiences has given rise to a rich collective discourse.
Experts in communications and digital marketing, rising stars facing major challenges, advertisers and media outlets, influential figures, and even accounts with unknown identities. We invite you to relive this story.