Has social media increased the quality of news and information? Not a chance. Social media has helped the general public become more aware of what is going on out there in a more worldly perspective but to only basic credibility. Sure these blog posts, tweets, Facebook postings, may attract attention by others, but I think if readers are really interested they will do further research which, in our case ‘Googling’ for a more credible source’s opinion. In too many cases the people who speak out or write a post are often one sided and have blurred the truth to increase that WOW factor. Most people will realize this but the problem lays in the cult followers who accept this. Kind of like the tabloids for celebrities.
Now I won’t leave out the fact that social media has helped raise awareness and support for things like the Tsunami and Earthquake disaster helping to fund the recovery of these places that were in need. And I’m a huge fan of Facebook’s ability for helping raise awareness on global initiatives like Earth Hour. These things are made possible by regular everyday people posting and helping create a bigger following but this is different than the latest and greatest dirt on Justin Beiber or Political drama that people make up.
I feel that articles and postings that involve truth and point to a direction for further reading are an asset and will continue to be a part in how the modern world gets there information . But there’s nothing like watching TV news Like the Agenda or the National and getting full detail on touchy articles and you know they’re going to be fairly accurate with their reports.
The days of believing one information source are over as new websites and gossipers take charge on the internet. It will even be increasingly convenient as you can have full time coverage of their actions with smartphones! But people will still want to have information they don’t have to cross reference to make sure it’s correct. For that reason I can say that while social media has made it easier people to contribute to public information, they still will not hold the accuracy and accountability that a proper Newspaper or TV broadcasting can provide. How far do you think I’m off?
