I have heard mixed messages about Twitter from my friends. I hear the well it’s like just a bunch of Facebook statuses – except you’re limited to 140 characters. I invite you to look past the Twitter is just like Facebook statuses stage. Once you do look past this stage, then you can see what Twitter is all about.
Twitter is what you make of it and people have different uses for Twitter. Twitter could be simply one status update after another, if that’s what you make Twitter to be. That’s just half of Twitter, you see. Twitter is a conversation piece; a topic of conversation. Twitter holds many conversations that are going on across millions of people globally, nationally and locally. In the grand scheme of things, you are just a tiny speck in the large Twitter world.
Discovering and using Twitter as both a conversation piece and as a place to update your status, you’ll allow yourself to grow from a tiny speck to a large speck. A large speck which has hundreds and may be even thousands of followers – gravitating to your every word.
Twitter is scary and daunting at first. I didn’t really understand it and I too thought – hmm, this is just like Facebook statuses. Once I dug deeper, I found myself imersed in a world with conversation and life.
Don’t let Twitter scare you, because the longer you wait – the more opportunities could pass you by.
Who doesn’t have a Twitter these days? For many of us, tweeting has become a part of our lives. We tweet about where we are, what we are doing (or going to do), what we had for lunch, dinner and breakfast. We take pictures of the things around us, the cool coffee cup at the local cafe, a rare butterfly that landed on the flower in the park. Twitter has and will continue to revolutionize how we communicate with one another.
So how do we optimize our experience with Twitter? Well below is a list I have compiled that will help you share pictures, text and more through Twitter. Let’s face it Twitter is cool but these add-ons are even cooler!
I posted an article on how good social media is and how it has potential to revolutionize the journalist industry a couple weeks ago. Social media is here and is going to stay and will possibly evolve into something much bigger. Is there a downside to social media?
Online Impressions
I read an article on Poynter Online called Everyday Ethics. I encourage everyone to read it whether or not you’re a journalist or not. There is good points for everyone to read, especially those that are looking for a job. We have to remember that everything we do and post online can be read by anyone – including your employer. Our views and opinions on topics can be liked, commented and retweeted. Sometimes what we post becomes “viral” or spread quickly through the internet. What you post online can damage your reputation online and offline.
I think it’s important for people to realize that your impression online is important and can translate to how people view you in real life. I have seen profiles loaded with thousands of pictures, status updates and more. The problem is when majority of your profile is consumed with pictures and statuses of how drunk you will get or got the night before. What an employer think if they saw this?
Impact on Journalism
This could be devastating for journalists. Bias does not belong in our field. The article points out how just by favoriting, grouping, liking could show bias. Is social media the real problem for news bias? Everyone has an opinion about something – the question is should these views be made public? Is this really a concern for journalism?
I was taught that as a journalist you have to be independent from your sources. You should not accept bribes or payments from a source to cover a story. Does friending someone on Facebook, Myspace or any other social network demonstrate the same thing? Does friending someone equate to not being independent from a source? The answer to these questions are not clear and will vary from person to person.
The bigger issue…Balance!
I was also taught that the news piece needed to demonstrate balance. Unbalanced reporting can also show bias. So where is the balanced reporting? Social media can expose journalists as being a Democrat or Republican. It can show that we like ham sandwiches and that we just broke up with our boyfriend or girlfriend. This shows that we are human. Humans have opinions, we all have tastes. The key to journalism is to be unbiased in a sense that we tap into everyone’s tastes and not just our own. Balance is key. Input your taste into the story but counter it with the other tastes. The more tastes you put in the story, the better.
So what are your thoughts? Do you think that journalists should use discretion when posting online?
Social media is changing the journalism landscape. Websites like Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, Delicious, StumbleUpon are allowing users to share information at record breaking speeds. I find it fascinating to be able to share a link with all of my Twitter, Facebook and Myspace friends. I see something cool on the web – boom I share it. The same goes with my friends – they see something they think is interesting they share it with everyone. This is a new way of sharing information. Traditionally, we shared information through email, instant messengers and word of mouth. All of those forms were to one individual or may be a couple of people depending on how many people we emailed, instant messaged and or spoke to. However, now with social media we can reach a broad range of people; faster, quicker and easier. This new way of transmitting information is revolutionizing media and journalism field.
There are many questions and even doubts of how “real-time journalism” will affect the field. Over the past couple of years, I have noticed a distinct change in how mainstream media has used broadcasting. When I am watching the news, many of the stories are posted online after they are broadcasted on air. Anchors often guide viewers to go to their website for further information. News agencies are using Twitter and Facebook to bring attention to their stories. They want and hope that you share their stories with your friends. This gains them viewers, listeners and readers.
The real question is, where do citizens come into this process and do they? Journalists are like detectives, curiously trying to find information and get to the bottom of the story. Journalists try to find sources and determine whether the information they have gathered is fact or fiction. This is important because if journalists do not fact check their information – they personally lose credibility and so does the news agency they’re reporting for. In this business, your name and your credibility are everything.
Sometimes I wonder if citizens can produce accurate information and actual facts. Sites like Twitter are surging with information at the moment of breaking news. It’s almost like chaos with hundreds of tweets being sent every minute. How much of this information is accurate? Where is this information coming from? How do we find out what is true and what is not? I think a good example of this is with the Ford Hood incident. I saw people naming the suspect before CNN, MSNBC and other news agencies. It took some cable news stations up to ten to fifteen minutes to get that information out, while Twitter was already discussing who this person was, background information and his role in the army. All the background information that was provided wound up being correct, but we can not guarantee that this will be true in other cases. The media and Twitter both claimed that the gunman was killed – but later reports indicated he was injured and in a coma at a local hospital.
Citizens are an important aspect in journalism and I think we need their accounts to help us write our stories. I think Twitter and other social media websites are an excellent way to gather this information. I think journalists should be the ones to determine the facts from the fiction. I’m afraid that with all of this information being submitted to these sites – we lose a sense of clarity. There is such a thing called too much information.
I think the bigger issues here is that our society thrives on constant updates and needing that information right this second. It’s almost like a subconscious need for information. Television news, newspapers and radio can not keep up with these social media sites because they are too quick. Imagine if television news was like Twitter – it would drive you nuts! These social media websites have us all wanting up to the minute updates – which is not necessarily a good thing. As a society we want information right this minute and we want this information to be accurate. Unfortunately, you can not have both. You can’t have information updated every minute and expect them to be factual. It takes time to sort out the details and to make sure the information you have is credible. For me, I would much rather wait the extra ten to fifteen minutes and have accurate information then have it right away and have it changed a million times because it was incorrect.
I think the potential is there for real time journalism – we just need a way to organize all the clutter.
What do you think of real time journalism? Leave a comment and or vote on the poll! I am curious what you think and how it may change our field.
Social Media, everyone uses it in some fashion today. It’s hard to find someone without a Myspace, Facebook or Twitter account. It reminds me of back when I was in elementary school when AOL and AIM were just getting started. Everyone would ask each other, “What’s your SN?” AOL and AIM was another way of communicating and staying in touch with one another. At the time this was revolutionary technology – you no longer had to wait for someone to respond back to your email. That could take days! With AOL and AIM you could receive messages instantly and respond instantly. Just like AOL and AIM we now have a new technology that is behaving just like AOL and AIM. We now have these social networking sites that we can use to keep in touch with one another. We can add our friends, family and even strangers to our profile friend lists. Facebook, Myspace and Twitter allow us to stay connected with one another in a new way.
Since many people are congregating to these social networking websites – you have to imagine that companies and businesses will want to follow suit. The point of advertising is to get your product out there to as many people as you can. The internet is doubt one of the best ways to do this. As a journalism major, this new technology is something that will have to be utilized in order to be successful in the business. Journalists will have to be able to communicate and use these social networking tools. Telling the news is no longer just going on air at selected times during the day. The internet is allowing people to get the news whenever, wherever they want. Not only the news but people are able to watch many of the prime time shows online. Television news CAN NOT and WILL NOT succeed by trying to compete with it. The success of broadcast news will be determined based on how the news industry integrates the internet into their broadcast models.
I know for me, social media is another way to stay in contact. I will use Twitter, Facebook, Myspace to promote my articles to gain readership and viewers. Other companies are recognizing this as well and doing the same. News agencies will post a story on their website and then post a link on Twitter and Facebook for readers to check it out.
If you would like me to join any of your social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook or website leave a comment below!
