Social Media and Truth

How do I know what I know? This is a really good question that I've never really thought about. I consider myself a pretty trusting person so when I read an article or watch a news program, I usually consider the source and then determine whether it’s real or not. Although some news organizations have made errors while broadcasting a story, it doesn't happen often. So when I’m watching Bay News 9 or CNN, I tend not to do research because I have faith that the reporters know what they are talking about. I can’t say the same with social media. When I read things online or in my Facebook news feed, I don’t automatically think everything is on the up-and-up. Thanks to stories on social media, I am now very proficient at using Google. I will investigate a story until I’m confident it’s true. For example, today I read an article shared on my Facebook page in regards to President Obama and his take on working families. He’s supposed to have a white house summit on the issue of the US not having paid maternity leave, work flexibility, and other basic needs of a working-class family. At first glance, I wasn't sure if this was true because I honestly didn't know the US didn't have paid maternity leave. Not knowing information and then learning it for the first time will make some people skeptical of its validity. I first read about this summit in the Huffington Post via President Obama’s blog. After reading the blog, I then did a Google search and found the story again in the New York Daily News and on the White House website. Obviously, this is really going to happen.

This was an easy story to make credible, but unfortunately, it isn't always. I would say that social media sites fall under the following news models -- Journalism of Assertion and Journalism of Affirmation. The first news model, Journalism of Assertion, “puts the highest value on immediacy and volume and in so doing tends to become a passive conduit of information” and the second news model, Journalism of Affirmation, “builds loyalty less on accuracy, completeness, or verification than on affirming the beliefs of its audiences, and so tends to cherry-pick information that serves that purpose” (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 2010). I believe social media was created for exactly that…for media, stories, news, etc. to be shared socially among friends, colleagues, family, and even strangers. Just like the everyday news journalist, social media sites want to be the first to have ‘breaking news’ and in order for stories to be shared right away, the sites will post something without knowing all the facts. This isn't in every case, but it quite a few. Due to this “need to be first” mentality, not all social media sites are dependable for trustworthy information. I think a site can still be the first to break a story as long as they include “story still developing”. With this simple statement, it’s okay for them not to have all the facts, as long as everyone knows they are working to update the public as soon as they can. So as of right now, I take some social media stories with a grain of salt unless I have credible back-up from a news station or newspaper whose reputation is solid.

Influence of the Media

I thought that I used different types of new media a great deal, but knowing the many media outlets that are available, I only use 2-3 on a daily basis. My smartphone is like an extension of me and if I don’t have it on me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week I wouldn’t know what to do. It makes me a bit sad realizing how dependent I am on my phone, but in today’s society, technology runs the world and I jumped on the bandwagon a long time ago like almost everyone else. Facebook, Twitter, and TMZ (sad, but true) are the applications that I use on a daily basis. These sites keep me in touch with the current events, whether they are important like an unfortunate school shooting or frivolous like who’s wearing what on the red carpet. I check each site a few times a day and even after I’m done with my daily ‘sessions’, I may put the phone down for a couple of minutes and without even realizing it, I pick it right back up to go on the internet or type in a note/reminder for myself. I feel a bit scared to get attached to other media, such as, Pinterest and Instagram in fear of me wasting more time on unnecessary information.

Social media has grown so much over the last decade that it’s practically impossible not to participate in one way or another. There are still some people, mostly older, who have chosen not to get a Facebook account or anything of that nature; however, these same people are still a part of social media when they choose to comment on an online article or ‘share’ information they receive via e-mail. As mentioned in Blur, “Communication’s history also suggests that new technologies do not change human nature. They simply allow us to express and satisfy our curiosity about the world beyond our own direct experience in different ways” (Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2010). The older generation will still pick up a newspaper to read about current events, but they may also get on the computer and pass information they’ve learned onto their friends and colleagues. With today’s social media, information is passed from person to person a lot quicker than in the past.

As far as how it’s influenced my perspective on events, I would say social media has made me see some events as less important than I would have seen them in the past. There are so many posting’s out there from small topics to large, important ones; however, since everyone is allowed to share information through social media it’s sometimes hard to distinguish what is major and what isn’t. Obviously, the multiple school shootings around the US are major stories, but what happens when one shooting is bypassed by the next, and then the next, and then the next. Once a new tragedy occurs, the ones directly before it tend to come out of the public’s focus and they’re on to the next. Then we have stories about celebrities that will literally take over social media sites, even if there critical news to discuss. So I may go from reading a piece about growing hunger in third-world countries to becoming engulfed in what Kim and Kanye are going to have for breakfast…it’s a bit absurd. While I like the concept of social media and its availability for the masses to give their two cents and share what they want the world to know, I also think it can be a lot to handle at times.