Social media provides many opportunities, but whether those opportunities are proactive or digressive is up to the user. Now that the Internet has created a way for people to connect and contribute to newsworthy events citizen journalism has become a popular hobby taken up by many individuals. Through Twitter and Facebook citizens are able to connect and contribute to current news and events taking place in society. By interacting with others through social media sites it allows the opportunity for commentary and discussion which “compiles information and can therefore be seen as a form of news curation: of tracking a story and highlighting its origins and implications” (Burns 6).
The article “Blogs, Twitter and Breaking News” talks about how the community is able to engage and learn newsworthy events by posting their own thoughts and contributions through social media sites like Twitter (Burns). By sites like Twitter, the ability to connect with others on specific topics is easier because of trends and hashtags. Hashtags keep the discussions and topics connected and easy to find by being linked through a common trend everyone is aware of.
In some ways this New Journalism is beneficial to allowing the community and others to engage in what is happening around the world, but it also leaves room for problems. Sometimes people may take things to great lengths such as Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crash that recently took place. I recently heard on the radio (102.1 the edge) that people are searching Google maps and finding pictures of planes that have crashed and claiming that it is the Flight 370, then posting it on Twitter. When in fact those picture could have been taken many years prior. Thus, allowing the online community to spread false information leading to the notion of conspiracy theories and other improbable events.
Yet in a more productive sense, Twitter is allowing others to connect through the hashtags #MH370 and #MASalert. Here people are able to follow the news and keep track of any leads and updates that may occur. Also, people are able to contribute with commentary and communicate with others on the tragedy of the event. This allows others to be involved in what is taking place around the world and informing themselves and others through the information they may have more access to then others. In the following picture there are multiple tweets that show how the community is engaging in citizen journalism.
“Traditional and New Media Coverage” notes how “Twitter describes itself as ‘a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting’’” (Hermida 660). Twitter is a space to connect with others that share similar interests all over the world and allows others to be active in participating in journalistic qualities such a reporting and informing.
Overall, citizen journalism is seen mostly through social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. I would say that I probably don’t contribute as much to citizen journalism as I liked too seeing as I want to get my self more involved with what events are happening around the world. I was never a big fan of Facebook so inevitably I never got involved with understanding how it worked and how it connected with others through news worthy events. Through Twitter I would say I have actively involved myself with citizen journalism, as I tend to look through popular trends with events that are taking place around the world through news room social media sites. I feel that I am more likely to contribute to social activism through Twitter and Facebook as it is a place where it can reach millions of people so important things like Tsunami reliefs and Mental Heath awareness can be raised. In recent years a girl committed suicide at my high school and as a school people created a page on Facebook to raise awareness and commemorate the girl and her family. This is just a small contribution in how social media can affect opportunities for citizen journalism and social activism.
Works Cited:
Bruns, A. & T. Highfield. (2012). Blogs, Twitter, and breaking news: The produsage of citizen journalism.
Hermida, A. (2012). TWEETS AND TRUTH: Journalism as a discipline of collaborative verification. Journalism Practice. 6:5-6, p659-668
Esspresso Yourself 