Social Media and The News

I believe that, like a lot of things when it comes to social media, the connection between social media and the news is a bit more complicated than just yay or nay. I do believe that there is a definite increase in the quantity and availability of the news because of social media, but I think that the quality of the news brought to us by social media has both increased and decreased.

Where I see the increase in the quality of the news is in the fact that it reaches a far wider audience than that group of the population who regularly watch the news, listen to the radio, or read the newspaper. Stories can now reach a far larger audience than they have previously (although it's also possible to argue that listening to or reading or watching the news used to be a far more widespread activity itself, but that's an argument for another time). Social media also offers the opportunity to see and discuss different opinions on news stories. This is something that was certainly far more difficult in the past. Yes you could, for example, have a conversation about a current event with your friends or family, but now it's possible to have an ongoing discussion of a news story with dozens or even hundreds of different people at a time, all of them bringing something of their own to the conversation.

I do also, however, see how social media has decreased the quality of news and information. One of the very things that I just praised as an aspect of quality -the reach and availability of a news story- unfortunately has a flip side to it. Because of how easy it is to broadcast a story or information to billions of people almost instantly, it has also become easier to market a falsified story or information to those same billions of people. This is probably because this information no longer has to make necessarily its way across the desk of a reputable news reporter who would have to fact check everything before passing it on to the public. Technology has made it very easy to Photoshop pictures and to make information seem legitimate, that users of social media must be sure to think for themselves and to question the information they receive so that they can be sure that they are being properly informed. There's nothing worse on the internet than ignorance and mass panic.

There are pros and cons to almost everything in life, social media and the news is no exception, but I think if I had to pick just one option I'd say that social media has increased the quality of news and information. Yes, you do have to be careful about what you're seeing and reading and learn to question everything you take in, but I believe that the reach of social media as well as the vast variety of subjects that it opens you up to more than make up for the care that needs to be taken (really you should be questioning all the information you take in, whether it supposedly comes from a reputable source or not!). Personally, I wasn't nearly so well informed before I found social media. I've learnt so much from the information that I've come across because of social media and I think that it's definitely a great thing and the way of the future.

My social media diet

When I did my social media diet last weekend, it coincided with the weekend we were going away for my cousin's wedding. Because of this, I personally didn't find the social media diet very difficult at all because I had no internet connection available for the majority of the weekend anyway. I began my diet on Friday morning and was tempted to push back my start time after we got to the hotel and I realised there was free Wi-Fi, but I resisted and, surprisingly, did not cheat once while we were there (as long as downloading a podcast doesn't count as cheating, fingers crossed). I also may have cheated very early on Friday when we stopped at a rest stop, but I can't remember properly. I remember thinking that I could check for a reply to a message from my friend, but I also remember thinking that it was still early in the morning and she probably hadn't replied, and so I can't clearly remember whether I actually checked or not. Nobody really missed me, as I was with my family the whole weekend and my friends knew where I was going, as well as the fact that I don't have a very vocal presence online in the first place and my online messages tend to be very intermittent. I rarely use Facebook and it is very rare for me to get messages on Tumblr, so I don't believe that there was anyone who was concerned about my whereabouts or my sudden "disappearance" from the internet. I think that I should probably try this experiment again, but on a weekend where I'm not without internet already so that I can actually test my willpower properly.

I don't really think that this experience has changed my social media habits in any way, mostly due to how easy it was for me to walk away in the first place. I also find that it's not that hard to ignore my usual social media haunts when I have something else to occupy myself with, such as family get-togethers or other gatherings or outings. I do believe that a lot of communication is migrating to the internet, but I also believe that there is a spectrum for everything. For example, there is obviously a difference in the use of social media between different age groups, as many older people may not know how to use a computer at all, but there can also be differences in how much individuals use social media within the age groups themselves. There are some teenagers and twenty-somethings that may seem like they have their eyes constantly glued to a screen, while there are others who never seem to touch an electronic device unless it is absolutely necessary to whatever task they are doing. I myself will probably not change my social media habits, although I know I do need to work on prioritizing them in amongst the other tasks I have to complete.