Twitter and The New Age of Social Media

Welcome to the 21^st century, where technology plays a major role in daily life. The age of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube has drastically changed not only the world around us, but the journalism world as well.

            The Internet has made it easy to spread information around. A big news event could break out and millions of people around the world would know about it in minutes. News spreads so fast these days that it has caused many errors in the news room, including problems with verification and confirmation. Every journalist makes a few mistakes in their career, but now it happens too often. “Speed puts pressure on newsrooms to publish stories before they are adequately checked and verified as to the source of the story and the reliability of the alleged facts,” said Stephen J.A. Ward, Professor of Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Major news organizations pick up rumors on the internet too often these days, but not everything that is said on twitter should be trusted. A media that thrives on speed and sharing information creates potential for harm. Commentary and reports online are constantly being updated, and it causes error to journalists who are trying to keep up with what is actually happening and a deadline they have to meet.

            Social media is fundamentally changing the system that journalist have been relying on for years. Many journalists are now asking themselves, “Is Twitter overdoing it?” Everyone uses Twitter, and Journalists are constantly on their phones updating the world with interesting news every second, but tweeting is not note-taking. Tweeting is not these peoples job and they can hardly get a good analysis out in 140 characters. “Twitter turns everything into an argument, and enables the spread of bad information,” said Poynter. So much junk is put on Twitter every second, who should the public trust?

            Journalists cannot completely rely on the internet for important information, and they cannot completely ignore the internet either. There needs to be a healthy balance. “The ethical challenge is to articulate guidelines for dealing with rumors and corrections in an online world that are consistent with the principles of accuracy, verification, and transparency” said Ward. Another expert, Alfred Hermida said, “A good journalist will approach any issue with a critical eye. The ability to sort fact from fiction, assess and interpret information, and contextualize a story is just as valuable today as it was in the past, perhaps even more. What has changed is how a journalist does this and where they do it.”