Business journalist and author, David Amerland, once said, "social media is addictive precisely because it gives us something which the real world lacks: it gives us immediacy, direction, a sense of clarity value as an individual." Social media also gives us another channel for receiving news, whether it be completely accurate, somewhat accurate, or just completely false. Like Amerland said, social media is immediate and that is what attracts so many of us when we are looking for news. We as a society have become accustomed to the mindset of wanting the news quickly and wanting it right away and social media gives us just that. Ultimately, it really is changing how the news industry works and how society perceives any form of news.
According to an article from Pew Research Center, about two-thirds of Americans get their news from social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Reddit and others like YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat. The article states, "the prominence of each social media site in the news ecosystem depends on two factors: its overall popularity and the extent to which people see news on the site." I mostly use Facebook and Twitter when it comes to my exposure of the news because I find these two the most credible, especially with the "verified" feature to prove an account's credibility.
But because of how much news is reported false through social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, it does become difficult for people to differentiate what is accurately being reported and what is not. The article states that 57% of Americans expect the news to be inaccurate from social media. While I am somewhat surprised with this number, I am glad to know that most people are cautious when they read about the news on social media sites and it makes me think they are somewhat checking the credibility of such stories before they believe it is true.
As I have gotten older and the longer I have used social media, I have noticed that when I initially created my accounts with social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, my primary goal was to connect with "friends" and to use these platforms on more of a leisurely and personal basis, such as looking at other people's life happenings, posting about my own life happenings, and ultimately just to have something to scroll through when experiencing boredom or lack of energy.
However, I have noticed recently that I have become more accustomed to using these social media sites, more so with Facebook and Twitter, as sources for news and networking with people on more of a professional basis. I like how social media allows me to physically pull my phone out of my pocket, tap the app, and the news will be right then and there. Whenever I hear about a breaking news story, I know I can pick up my phone and the story will be on at least one of those social media sites right away, therefore allowing me to be informed as quickly as possible and at the most convenient rate.
The convenience and reliability that social media has to offer is studied in the previously mentioned article where it states that 21% of Americans enjoy the convenience of social media the most, along with being able to interact with other people. I think this is a huge advantage for social media users because we will always be in the know of what is happening around us at all times.
Although, when I use social media for news, I take the information with a grain of salt and check the sources. Most of the time, if the news I am reading is from verified accounts like ABC, CNN or FOX, I assume that it is an accurate reporting since it is from a verified account. Occasionally, I will stumble upon news on different social platforms when I am not even actively looking for it. I think this can be an issue for some when using such platforms because they will stumble upon a piece of news and automatically think it is true and accurate without checking the source, even when it is not a verified account.
Furthermore, news sources are becoming more and more clever with the headlines they write, which in most cases work pretty effectively. The more clever or eye-catching a headline is, the more likely the story will be read, even if the headline is completely inaccurate or has nothing to do with the actual story.
But while getting news from social media sites has its disadvantages, there are benefits that I think are important to the news industry today. Social media does allow for conversation among users and news reporting. While some conversation may be healthy and constructive and the rest may be negative and demeaning, I think it is a benefit that when news is published on a social media site, users can react and talk about it, right then and there.
So yes, social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit are great for things like connecting with long-lost relatives and building your networks and your name and brand, but they are also even greater sources for getting the news, with it hopefully be true and accurate news. In other words, they allow you to "stay connected" and to "be in the know," (maybe some more than others) at the same time, at all times, and whenever you want.
One thing that I hope you got from this blog post is to always check your sources and to be weary of the news you read on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit because news from these sites are not always true or completely accurate. The main thing is to not believe what you read right away without checking that where you are getting this information is from a credible source and the facts have been checked.
So, where do you get your news from? Are you tech savvy and solely just use social media sites or are you more traditional and read newspapers or watch television news? Or are you well-versed and use a little bit of everything? I would love to know how you get your news, so leave a comment below!
Thank you for coming back to my 'column.' Stay tuned for next week's post!
-CC
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