Just a thought: Social Media's Negative Effect on Journalism

Literally, social media are media for social communication through the use of the internet. Social media is made possible through the use of web based and mobile technologies to make communication into interactive dialogue.

Though social media has a very significant role to internet marketers to social media, for journalists and journalism, it has its positive and negative effect.

The greatest positive effect of social media is its ability to transfer information quickly among a large group of people. However, its foremost negative effect is that you can pass misinformation quickly too.



News organizations always want to report live news and social media has also the same offer. However, the bad side here is that after years of responsible reporting, many reporters have been dismissed from a job due to poorly constructed 140 – character tweet.

Every now and then, reporters emphasize the significance of keeping a journalistic uprightness in front of the real time social media assault and the 24 hours news cycle, where journalists have to compete with average citizens for breaking news. It is stressed out that journalist doesn't only have to spread out the news and information but to verify and confirm it. A journalist's responsibility on social media is higher than the average citizens.

Remember when news about a fake death of hollywood stars spread all over the social media? But hey, we can still see these fake issues up to present alive and kicking. And remember when social media have been essential to the 2011 Arab revolutions and revolts? Activists used Facebook to schedule the protest, twitter to coordinate and YouTube to shout their message to the whole world. These are just an example of the negative aspects that social media.

“If reporters are not on twitter, they're lazy. And if they're only on twitter, they're lazy” said by one of the social media advocates. Many agreed on that matter.  Though, many journalists see social media as the answer, still there are some journalistic value that they must sustain no matter the channel.

Just a thought! :)

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