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Do you think social media makes people journalists?
Do you think with all the social media tools and apps available today that the general public are now all becoming journalists- publishing content for free on anything from blogs to social media sites, etc.?
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4 Answers
I agree with the above. I also think that social media is creating a sort of 'public eye' on events. Much of social media works through individuals piggy-backing on one another (people retweet on Twitter, 'like' on Facebook, up vote on Reddit.) This effect in turn creates a 'collective view' on events where multiple accounts of a single event can be given from every single angle.
Some would say this is simply a bunch of amateurs recounting what they saw / heard / think / like. However, if taken from a purely quantitative view, a social media perspective may actually be more objective than any single professional journalist's perspective.
Hi Karen,
If your definition of a journalist is one who publishes content, then I would agree with your statement. For me, a journalist is one who understands the importance of weaving a story with a factual basis and to present it objectively.
From that perspective, most individuals are not journalists. Rather, I see the general public as an important aspect of the larger journalistic cycle. The general public will be able to capture news as it's happening - whether through video, twitter or blogs. Journalists will then take this source material and determine what is relevant for the story.
And with the amount of information - both factual and fake - the role of the journalist is more valuable than ever.
Hi Karen,
Interesting question.
I would say, social media is creating a new class of amateur journalists. Journalists, who are not professionals, but also observe and interpret the world around them and write about it.
Most of us who use social media are not journalists. but the 10% of us who constantly write a blog and are improving all the time are journalists. They have a fairly large audiences and influence too!
Professionals will always be respected for factual news, but for interpretations, these amateurs are creating a whole new market of news for specific niches.
- Rushabh
I agree completely with Mr. Rothschild.
Social media, especially Twitter, is similar to headlines in newspaper. Tweets are eye catching pieces of information, but the details are often missing. The advantage is that you can instantly get a multitude of views about an event. Often faster than traditional media.
But social media does not turn people into journalists. It gives them a medium in which they can provide relevant information to a large audience. The substance of that information is where I draw the line in the sand. I feel that journalists provide in-depth information, that social media doesn't have time for. If you spend time to research a news event, by the time you post it on Twitter it is "old news".
This could be me wanting to preserve the idea of what a journalist is. In time, social media could change this perception. For now, I say no.
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