Social media has allowed everyday citizens to become authors, editors, and publishers of news and information. Do you believe that social media has increased the quality of news and information or decreased it?

I believe that social media has increased the quantity of news that a person will be exposed to but the quality is another matter in itself. While social media, in many cases, will allow someone to see the news they wish to see, it can also alter their perception of that news depending on the way that they are exposed to the information. Directly from a news website will generally get them the facts, depending on how the website decides to lean on the story, so it is one of the best ways. However, they may end up getting the news through something a friend says and/or posts and it will likely be altered to how the posters sees fit, even if that information is not correct.

Even with saying that, this could cause a person to look at the news in a different way than they may have before. Seeing it from several perspectives can make a person think about the news and even go off to find more information of their own if they feel like something is not right with it. I know that I have done this a few times on my own and I found out more information than I thought I would when I had finished looking at several other sources. Still, the fact that the information can be altered between people and that the news story could end up as completely different from what the original story was is something that everyone needs to know about. Do not take everything you read on the internet at face value. It is something that people need to be taught from the time they begin using the internet. Always check information to make sure that it is correct and do not blindly assume that it is.

What is your perception of social media, do you think it is a fad or the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

I do not believe that Social Media is a fad, at least not completely. It is something that has been able to bring people together in a way that has never really failed to do what it has been meant to. It has recently received a boost in the last few years and has become more important than ever but it has been there, in a way, for a long time. While the original social media was not really something that was accessed by many, the introduction of sites such as Facebook and Twitter has exploded it into something much larger.

The shift from no social media to having social media is easier to see now than it has been in some time. Families that live far apart can be together thanks to the internet and many social sites. For example, Facebook allows people to tell others, who they know and accept onto their ‘friends’ list, how their day is going or when they will be doing something. In turn those people can comment on that and may even end up spending time with the person because of this.

While most of Social Media is not a fad, I believe that the sites (or tools) themselves will come and go. Years ago Myspace was the website to be on and to have friends talk to you, at least from my experience. Now Facebook is the most common site for this to occur. At least on the social level, other sites, such as LinkedIn, are used for a more professional view of social media.

Sites like Twitter, where the messages are short and to the point, may also be sustainable with the simple format that they adhere to. It depends on the trends and what happens with the sites in the future. The fact that Twitter, for this example, is so simple and easy to use also aids with it being sustainable as a social medium. With the simple interface and ease at which a post/tweet can be made people are signing up for the use of the site often. The celebrity presence on such sites is also a draw for people to use them. 

Hi there,

This is just a post to see if the blog is working properly. Hopefully everything is going on with the blog, and with anyone who reads this!

-C