More Quantity, Less Quality

The question for today’s blog posting asks if social media has increased or decreased the quality of news and information… while I definitely do not think that something the average citizen regularly posts of their own account will be newsworthy, I do think that social media is able to spread news stories at a much faster pace than it did before.  Social media is quantity over quality in my opinion.

Unless you follow a reputable source like CNN, The New York Times, People, Entertainment Weekly and the like, the news stories that we see on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are not always very accurate. The times that I have seen a breaking news item posted on these social media sites, I have always double-checked with the reputable source before I believe anything.  I remember finding out on Twitter that Michael Jackson had passed away, I hadn’t believed it until I checked on the news and saw that it was true.  But I also remember the days when I read that Justin Bieber, Johnny Depp, Lil Wayne, and Rihanna had died, only to find out that those were all untrue. I think the reason we're not believing what we see and read on these social media sites come from the fact that there have been multiple hoaxes.

In class we discussed KONY 2012, the story spread like wildfire on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter last year.  While it’s great that people are taking the time to share stories like these when they see them, I’m unsure if any of them are really making a difference to actually help any causes or organizations.  An issue I have with my generation and those younger is that mostly everyone is all about appearances, people want to look like they’re concerned for the well being of others, but if you asked them to donate in any way, would they?  I came across a great term online, “slacktivism -- the idea that sharing, liking or retweeting will solve a problem -- across the social web.”  After finding that term, I completely understand that’s what those 20 friends are doing when they share the same video on Facebook.

Yes, social media can distribute the news at a rapid pace, but I do not think that it will ever override the quality of news that CNN provides. Unless everyone retweets CNN’s news post of course! ;)

Reference:

Fox, Zoe.  Mashable. Wright’s Media, 8 Mar. 2012.  Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <http://mashable.com/2012/03/08/kony-2012-scam/>