In today’s world, our generation known as Millennials tends to get our news from
social media. Instead of taking the time to watch the news on television or
reading the newspaper, many of us are more likely to just look at our social
media platforms. “As more social networking sites recognize and adapt to their
role in the news environment, each will offer unique features for news users,
and these features may foster shifts in news use. Those different uses around
news features have implications for how Americans learn about the world and
their communities, and for how they take part in the democratic process”
(Mitchell, Page). We are the age group that has grown up with all this
technology and the birth of social media, so it only makes sense that we would
turn to it for news purposes as well, right? I believe that this habit is
happening due to many factors including: an increase of social media, advancing
technology and the amount of time in the day. Many of us do not even have time
to watch the nightly news because of school, work and other activities.
Sometimes there is just simply not enough time for us to do everything.
Personally, I know that I do not have the time to
watch the news on television. However in my spare time between classes, before
or after work, I know I can turn to my social media platforms to be informed
quickly on what may be happening. The most common social media platforms our
generation is using to get the news are Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Below in
the chart you can see that those are the top three social media platforms being
used. In the darker red area of the chart is the percentage of those who
actually get their news from those platforms. From this chart we can tell that
not only are Facebook, YouTube and Twitter being used the most often, but also
that they are the top three being used to receive news.
Is it a bad thing that we turn to social media instead of watching the
news? To us it may not seem like such a bad deal because it is so easy and
simple to do. But it may be taking away from what we are informed on. “Much of
the concern has come from data that suggest adults age 18-34 — so-called
Millennials — do not visit news sites, read print newspapers, watch television
news, or seek out news in great numbers. This generation, instead, spends more
time on social networks, often on mobile devices. The worry is that
Millennials’ awareness of the world, as a result, is narrow, their discovery of
events is incidental and passive, and that news is just one of many random
elements in a social feed” (The Media Insight Project). Do you have this
concern as well? Do you think our awareness of the world is much more narrow
than it should be?
VS. 
Due to the fact that
most of us turn to social media for news may mean that we are mostly focusing
on entertainment content. Many of us follow our favorite celebrities and idols
on different social media platforms so we are constantly getting updated with
everything they are doing. In addition some of us may follow or like accounts
like FOX, CNN, MSNBC, and many more. What type of accounts do you follow to get
your news? And if so, do you find that most of the news you are getting is
entertainment based?
Another point that I
wanted to bring up is that many of us these days are even participating in
posting the news through social media. “Engagement
with the news plays a key role in the social media news experience. Not
only are social network users sharing news stories, but, particularly with the
growth in mobile devices, a certain portion is contributing to the reporting by
taking photos or videos” (Masta, Mitchell). Many of us spread the news
ourselves though social media from something we have previous heard and are now
tweeting or posting about. In addition we are often finding ourselves simply
re-tweeting or sharing news stories, images or videos.
I
think it is important to understand and recognize that the growth and
advancement of social media is changing our lives daily. The influence that
social media has on the news industry has led to an increased focus on news as
entertainment. It has even evolved to allowing us to share and create our own
news.
Lastly,
I wanted to relay a cool website I came across that shares the top 10 accounts
to follow. These 10 accounts have been listed the “10 Must-Follow Breaking News Accounts on Twitter,” according to Mashable. After doing my research, I
found that I am guilty of only getting my news from social media which made the
content highly entertainment based. After following some of these accounts on
Twitter I now receive news on politics, current events and other breaking news
nationally and globally. Here is the website if you would also like to visit: http://mashable.com/2013/04/08/breaking-news-twitter/
Work Cited:
"How Millennials Get
News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.
Matsa, Katrina Eva and Amy
Mitchell. "8 Key Takeaways About Social Media and
News." Pew Research Journalism Project.
26 March 2014. Web.
Mitchell, Amy and Dana Page.
"The Evolving Role of News on Twitter and Facebook."
Pew Research Center. 15 July 2015. Web.
Mitchell, Amy and Dana Page.
“The State of the News Media 2015." Pew Research
Journalism Project. 29 April 2015. Web.
"10 Must-Follow
Breaking News Accounts on Twitter." Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 20
Feb. 2016.
Becca raises a very great issue about the influence of social media on the news industry. I know personally, I never watch the news. I usually will follow news sites on Twitter to read articles, or I will look at the “trending topics” on Facebook and Twitter to see what is going on around the world. I can definitely agree with you that the reason behind my use in social media to get news is because of my constant use of social media and my lack of time to watch the news. However, I feel that this is having a somewhat negative impact on what type of news we receive.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that social media is a massive part of the way people get their news media. The Pew Research Center states that they found about sixty-three percent of Twitter and Facebook users find each platform as a source of news (Mitchell et al., 2015). Personally, I only know about major world events because I see it on social media. I will usually see CNN tweet about a major even that just occurred or a trending topic about a social issue that is ongoing. There is also a report that Twitter users are “more likely to follow news organizations” (Mitchell et al., 2015). I know this is true for me because I follow several news outlets on Twitter, but tend to only pay attention to the side bar of “trending topics” on Facebook.
I do believe that it is becoming a bad thing that our generation is turning to social media instead of watching the news. Social media seems to be specifically targeted towards 18-24 year olds. Although we are receiving our news in some way, I feel social media is somewhat putting light to certain aspects of pop culture that should not be of concern to news outlets. According to the Pew Research Center, entertainment news and sports news are the principal topics that Facebook news users see (Matsa & Mitchell, 2015). I know I sometimes see CNN tweet things like “Harry Styles falls at concert.” I love One Direction, but I’m not looking at CNN to tweet about entertainment news. I want CNN to tell me what is going on in the country and around the world. I feel that the growing use of social media to get news is causing news sites to try to appeal to the younger generation. By doing so, they are deterring from actual news and moving towards news about pop culture, such as what Harry Styles did on stage or what Kim Kardashian wore walking out of her hotel yesterday.
We also are getting a very narrow view of the world like Becca said because we truly are only looking towards social media for all aspects of our news, so if something is not on social media, we do not hear about it. This becomes an issue because people do not have the time to go research other news outlets, so they will just look at one source on social media. This can shape their viewpoints in a biased manner, and it essentially is a very negative aspect of social media.
Overall, I do love social media. I also do get all my news from social media. However, I feel that there is now a negative to getting news from social media because of how entertainment based it is and how there is a narrow view of the world.
Works Cited
Matsa, Katrina Eva and Amy Mitchell. "8 Key Takeaways About Social Media and
News." Pew Research Journalism Project. 26 March 2014. Web.
Mitchell, A., Barthel, M., Shearer, E., Gottfried, J., Matsa, K.E., Keeter, S., … Greenwood, S.
"The Evolving Role of News on Twitter and Facebook."
Pew Research Center. 15 July 2015. Web.
Becca does bring up great points about possibly having a narrow view of the world most of one's news is entertainment but I don't believe this applies to every person because we all use social media differently.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the typical college student does not watch the news on TV anymore for either time reasons or just not interested. I have never really liked watching the news on TV. When watching it recently with my grandparents for 3 days, i heard the same news story told 4 times and I reminded me of why I don't like TV news.
Most people get their news on facebook and in "8 Key Takeaways About Social Media and News." they say that most people getting “news” on Facebook is an incidental experience that happens when they are not looking for it. (Matsa & Mitchell, 2015) however I use facebook and I see this to be true but facebook is not my main news source, Reddit is.
My social media of choice is Reddit and I go there for both entertainment and news because I subscribe to a lot of news sections such as world news, science, Technology, politics as well as movies, games, and other pop culture stuff so I can stay on top of everything. the great thing about the site is that it is a link aggregator which means that users post links from all of the news sites and the most newsworthy links get voted to the top so that I can see all the important headlines from all the sites on one page.
For me, i don't believe that getting my news from Reddit contributes to a narrow world view because not only am I able to read significant articles from all of the news sites but Reddit has one of the best commenting functionality of any news or social media site. in the comments, i like to read about opposing views or people's predictions of how it will affect the country and stuff like that.
Would much rather browse Reddit then turn on the TV news and see a story that I already know about. The worst part is that you can't skip ahead if you already know about the story being shown.
I do think it is great that you included the mashable link because when it comes to social media, you choose how much news you want to see. it is a great suggestion to people who want to be more aware of current and breaking news. it is also a great suggestion because Pew Research says that people who use twitter are more two times more likely to have kept up with a news event as it was happening as opposed to facebook. (Mitchell et al., 2015)
Works Cited
Matsa, Katrina Eva and Amy Mitchell. "8 Key Takeaways About Social Media and News." Pew Research Journalism Project. 26 March 2014. Web.
Mitchell, Amy and Dana Page. “The State of the News Media 2015." Pew Research Journalism Project. 29 April 2015. Web.
I was really interested in the Mashable list of “10 Must-Follow Breaking News Accounts on Twitter,” Becca included at the end of her post. I went to the site immediately after reading to compare my own list of Twitter news follows. I was somewhat surprised to see The Weather Channel at the end of their top 10 for breaking news. I guess The Weather Channel is not something I necessarily associated with breaking news off the bat, however I understand why it would be. I followed some of the feeds I wasn’t already following (like Reuters Live), but my list differed for the most part. My top news sources on Twitter include: @nytimes, @AP, @BBCBreaking, @cnnbrk, @NewYorker and @HuffingtonPost.
ReplyDeleteThis comparison got me thinking about why I even followed these news sources to begin with. I think my primary motivation for these particular sources was to diversify my newsfeed with various reliable sources. As Becca said in her post, there is not always time to watch the news, but you can turn to social media at anytime. Keeping that in mind I know that when I am at home I look forward to reading The New York Times on the weekends. When I initially subscribed to the paper about a year ago I received daily papers, but I quickly changed to only weekend subscription. I did this because I realized my newspapers were going unread and I was checking the Times online or on Twitter during the week. As a reader of the Times I was interested to see that the Times reportedly gets more millennial readers than Vice (Moses). I read Vice as well, but I expect to get a different kind of story than what would typically be featured in the Times.
Becca’s post also prompted me to think further about the report, “How Millennials Get News.” Page 28 of the text focuses on Millennials who say social media exposes them to different opinions and views and I think this is something important to consider. The text refers to the “filter bubble” as people who are insulated from ideas and opinions other than their own (How Millennials Get News). I think even without the prominence of social media there are filter bubbles that threaten the individual opinions of consumers. For example, I remember much of the political conversation around my peers only a few years ago being, “I like whoever my parents like.” I think this creates a dangerous filter bubble because if there is only a certain exposure going on in any given household this may prevent people from actively seeking information elsewhere. I know that I generally grew up with FOX News on TV in my house and I didn’t want to become part of the political conversation if my only comment was, “I like such and such because my parents like them.” In this way I think that social media like Twitter has helped me develop my own sense of opinion because I’ve been exposed to so many different kinds of ideas and news. So, as much as Millennials are believed to be in their own “filter bubbles” I think they have helped us come into our own beliefs.
I think Millennials have used social media to get involved in and start their own conversations about what is going on in the world.
"How Millennials Get News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.
Moses, Lucia. "What We Learned About The New York Times This Year." Digiday. 31 Dec. 2014. Web.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlly D’Alia
ReplyDeleteI found similarities in Becca’s post to my post a few weeks about social media taking over our television experience. In Becca’s post she points out how social edia have taken over how we consume news, as Millennials. It couldn’t be more accurate – we rely so heavily on our smart phones, tablets, and lap tops in this generation it’s almost scary. “When asked how much of their news and information comes from online sources, 82 percent say at least half of it.” (Young). Being that we are twenty something, in college, with homework, part time jobs, internships, etc. it becomes almost impossible to turn on the news at peak hours to find out what’s going on.
I can completely agree with Becca’s point on that this fact that we rely on social media for news could be taking away from what we are informed on. First of all, Twitter and Facebook only allow a certain amount of characters in a single post which off the bat limits the amount of information we are actually taking in from someone’s “news alert” via Twitter. Granted, it is possible to leave a link to a news article or video in order to get the full story but still – us millennials sometimes barely have time for even that! Or are we just being the lazy generation we are commonly pegged as?
Personally, the main reason I have even kept my Facebook is because I highly enjoy seeing different news articles, videos, and updates that my variety of Facebook friends post each day. But the question is true, am I really getting the full story, the correct story, or different viewpoints of the story? Our viewpoint could arguably be very narrow and filtered to only what we allow on our feeds. According to our reading, 8 Key Takeaways about Social Media and News, 73% of Facebook news consumers who regularly see news on Facebook is all about entertainment. Now, is entertainment news really news? Is it really that important to be keeping up with the Kardashians in order to better our country, our global awareness, and help the real issues at hand? Kanye might disagree, but most likely not.
Young, Eric. "How Millennials Get News: Inside the Habits of America’s First Digital Generation." Media Insight. N.p., Mar. 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
Matsa, Katerina E. "8 Key Takeaways about Social Media and News." Pew Research Centers Journalism Project RSS. N.p., 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
Angela Holdorf
ReplyDeleteBecca’s blog post on “The Influence of Social Media on the News Industry,” highlights many key points on our generation and our usage of media to understand what is going on in the world. I know that I am guilty for never being updated with the news and what is going on in the world, nonetheless actually taking the time to watch the news. However, whatever I do find out comes through my social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. My top used social media platform would have to be Instagram and Facebook, and I follow magazines like People and networks like E! that commonly just update me on the news with the celebrities. Although I know this is not something to be proud of, I just have never been one that goes out of my way to watch the news. That being said, the website of the top 10 accounts to follow that Becca posted will really benefit me to get national and global breaking news, while still using social media.
Being a part of the Millennial generation, I feel as though we tend to use the excuse that we “don’t have the time” to watch the news. For most of us that is because we seem to be too busy watching Netflix’s. However, no matter how many times I try to get myself to sit down and watch the news I end up on my phone instead of actually watching. To answer Becca’s question, “Is it a bad thing that we turn to social media instead of watching the news?” I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. I don’t think our generation should be proud to say that most of us don’t take the time to watch the news or read a newspaper. That being said, if we use our social media platforms that we spend a huge majority of our lives on to get the essential news updates, I feel like that is better than nothing.
According to the study “How Millennial’s Get News: Inside the Habits of America’s First Digital Generation,” it states “Facebook has become a nearly ubiquitous part of digital Millennial life. On 24 separate news and information topics probed, Facebook was the No. 1 gateway to learn about 13 of those, and the second-most cited gateway for seven others” (Young). I thought that this accurately backed up Becca’s point that Facebook is a common platform for our generation to use to get daily news.
I also thought that the article “Who cares if Buzzfeed has more social shares than the New York Times?” was a really interesting and informative piece relating to Becca’s topic. It states, “Although both media outlets publish a great number of pieces of content both good and bad, they have very different business models” (Holmes). This can defend the debate a little that although we are getting the news from social media platforms, it is still different from receiving the news from the original sources. While this is becoming “different” and it is a change, I agree with Becca’s statement that it’s important to understand that this growth and advancement in social media is changing our lives daily.
Work Cited:
"How Millennials Get News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.
Holmes, David. "Who Cares If Buzzfeed Has More Social Shares than the New York Times?" PandoDaily. 19 Jan. 2015. Web.
Becca,
ReplyDeleteI found your post to be quite relevant and a really interesting read. I agree that our generation uses social media to obtain news and information over television/newspapers. The staggering increase in usage of social media as well as technological advancements seems to be why we are straying away from more traditional news formats. It is also apparent that there is more and more of this need to fill one’s day with so many things that there is not enough time in the day to sit down and watch the nightly news. We no longer live in a time where families sit down to watch the news because they can just receive it as they go throughout their day. However, I was a bit surprised that the number 1 method for receiving news was Facebook followed by YouTube. Perhaps this is because I think I like to check CNN, AOL, and Yahoo among other sites periodically throughout the day, but on the other hand it makes sense the more you look at it. People are usually on some type of social media when they are not occupied by something else, so it makes sense that Facebook would be a quick way to see what is going on. In a way, I do think that this is potentially harmful because things can become more gossip than news from a credible site. As you mention, perhaps our awareness of the world is becoming narrower and as we try to “connect” with more people. As we connect with others there is also this sense of engagement, which is important as mentioned in your post. I think that as long as the source is credible and there is an intended objective, I don’t see the harm in becoming more engaged with the news on social media.
One interesting article to look into was written by Katerina Eva Matsa and Amy Mitchell entitled “8 Key Takeaways about Social Media and News.” I think that the growing social and connective qualities in finding news have a lot to do with the different viewpoints that we come across. This article mentions, “78% of Facebook news users mostly see news when on Facebook for other reasons” which plays into the idea that our feeds have a lot of influence of what we consume (Matsa, Mitchell). The connectivity found with sites like Twitter shows that “people come together around news events they feel passionately about” although they might differ in opinion.
Similarly, it is interesting to note that in this report it mentions that “people have always ‘discovered’ news events partly by accident, by word-of-mouth, or by bumping into it while watching TV news or listening to the radio, and then turning to other sources to learn more” (“How Millenials Get News”). Social media simply serves and seemingly satisfies a new role for Millenials seeking news. As for the ways that Millenials use news this project found that the topic 3 were civic, social, and practical. Aside from uses the project noted that for Millenials “the news, in effect, is already contextualized as important to their lives because it is important to the members of their social networks” (“How Millenials Get News”). This might mean that we must also now reevaluate why we get news and not just how we get it. The prominence of social media has driven us to seek out news because others in our social networks have mentioned, posted, or liked something that others deem as worth giving a look too.
Works Cited:
"How Millennials Get News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.
Matsa, Katrina Eva and Amy Mitchell. "8 Key Takeaways About Social Media and News." Pew Research Journalism Project. 26 March 2014. Web.
Maya Cohen
ReplyDeleteBeccas’s blog, The Influence of Social Media on the News Industry, shines light on controversial yet important opinions regarding the impact social media platforms have on people keeping up on local and global news. The general population, including people in all age groups, have the desire to learn about the world around them. Modern technology and today’s society have made it known that the fastest and most efficient way to gain access to information is through various social media platforms. This being said, the stigma attached to the millennial generation defending the notion that we care less about local and global news and more about entertainment gossip bothers me, as I see media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, as bases where people come together to find, share, and interact with others about news stories and current events. When discussing the influence of social media on the news industry, I agree with the notion that time is taken away from direct contact with news through television and print newspapers, but disagree with the idea that the news itself is getting less attention. The article regarding how those considered a part of the millennial group get their news says, “People actively navigate and make choices about which sources in their social media feeds they consider to be reliable, and they take other steps of participating in news as well, including posting news stories, commenting on them, liking or favoriting them, and forwarding them to others,” (The Media Insight Project). It may be better to understand the shift in how people are obtaining news by seeing the change as one that allows individuals in society to discuss, debate, and share opinions about news stories with others.
Another concept discussed by Becca in her blog, The Influence of Social Media On The News Industry, argues that the knowledge Millennials have regarding world news is significantly decreased, and that whatever news they hear, see, or read about wasn’t necessarily what they originally went on social media to learn about. As a diverse selection of individuals make up the Millennial age range, I find it unjust to categorize the entirety of the group into the more shallow image that cares more about Kim Kardashian’s latest scandal over the Presidential headlines or the current on-goings in the Middle East. In the article discussing Millennials and political news, it is argued that, “The experience is individualized through one’s own choices, through the friends in one’s network and their proclivities, and through algorithms – all of which can change over time. We are only beginning to understand these complex interactions,” (Mitchell, Page). While it is true that many individuals in the younger generation spend hours of their days pouring over entertainment media rather than focusing on news media, it is also true that many others in the same generation either give attention to both, or even show more of an interest in news. As such, I definitely agree with the idea that social media has a substantial impact on the news industry, but that the impression it leaves me lead to a more interactive and quicker way to obtain news stories for individuals in today’s society.
Works Cited:
"How Millennials Get News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.
Mitchell, Amy and Dana Page. "Millennials and Political News: Social Media - Local TV for the Next Generation?" Pew Research Center. 1 June 2015. Web.
There is no question as to whether our generation is informed primarily through social media sites. They are easy, convenient, and quick. Our generation is more active than the generations before us in the sense that we now feel we have to do everything to be noticed. Getting into college is now more competitive than ever, so instead of sitting down and watching the news we’re too busy going from volleyball practice to singing lessons. One common theme in everything we do is that we have our phones on us. They have become our lifeline to the outside world. We rely on our phones to tell us the weather, the time, and what is going on in the world.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a new Pew Research Center analysis, “About six-in-ten online Millennials (61%) report getting political news on Facebook in a given week, a much larger percentage than turn to any other news source” (Mitchell). This statistic is not surprising considering our generation’s constant reliance on social media for information. Facebook and Twitter, I believe, have become hubs for relaying political news and information to users. According to the same analysis as mentioned above, “Roughly a quarter (24%) of Millennials who use Facebook say at least half of the posts they see on the site relate to government and politics, higher than both Gen Xers (18%) and Baby Boomers (16%)” (Mitchell). These numbers are astounding, and the switch to a politically centered news hub is something relatively recent with Facebook. Although a lot of the posts that show up in a person’s newsfeed can be from a friend sharing an article the majority of them aren’t. When scrolling through the home page of Facebook I notice that many of the political posts are ‘suggested’ rather than shared. Now, this could be due to cookies that are implemented as a way to track our behavior online, but I try my best to steer clear of political news. In this case, what could be causing my newsfeed to be overrun with political banter?
In terms of how our generation receives news, I can see why our generation has been deemed a more liberal one. We tend to get our news from a number of different places. Even if Facebook is the main hub from which we receive our political information, it is still comprised of several different sites relaying information in a unified forum. According to another study, “Liberals Trust Many, Conservatives Trust Few” (Mitchell). This statement, though brief, is very powerful in what it is saying. Liberals tend to get their information from multiple sites that they “trust;” whereas, conservatives only have a handful of places from which they receive their news. In this case, I believe that social media is playing into the fact that our generation has more of an identifiable liberal lean.
Works Cited:
Mitchell, Amy et al. "Political Polarization & Media Habits." Pew Research Center. 24 Oct. 2014. Web.
Mitchell. Amy and Dana Page. "Millennials and Political News: Social Media - Local TV for the Next Generation?" Pew Research Center. 1 June 2015. Web.
I agree with Becca when she states that our generation, known as the Millennials tend to get our news from social media outlets oppose to a more traditional way like watching the news on tv or even reading a newspaper. I also agree that more news companies are adapting to our lifestyle and that the way we go about finding out information has changed over the years and they have to keep up with it. I think it benefits news companies to use social media as a way to give out important information not only because they will be reaching all of our generation but because it really is a faster more convenient way to reach people in general.
ReplyDeleteWith newspapers you will have to wait until the next day to hear about breaking news, and with tv you will have to wait until someone gets ready to get on the air and start talking about it. I think tv news is still up there with social media because they can inform people faster than newspapers, but I personally do not watch news on tv and I especially do not read newspapers. I have an app on my phone that I downloaded when I was taking journalism classes because my professors suggested that we keep up to date with news. Having an app was way better than having to read newspapers, online news articles, and even watch tv. My app made it possible to keep me up to date with the latest breaking news by sending me a notification as soon as something happened and I could just click on it to read more. Also, I follow a couple news social media accounts on twitter because the app only informs me of breaking news, and their social media account post several times a day with updates and basic news that I come across and read during my hourly twitter feed check. As Becca mentioned in her blog many of us do not have time or the desire to go home after a long day to watch the daily news which is usually an hour or so long especially after being in school, work or doing other activities.
NICOLE CONTINUED.......
ReplyDeleteIn Becca’s blog she talks about how technology and cell phones and social media may be an issue because we are so focused on other things that we will not take the time to inform ourselves with important information. I do think that our awareness of the world is much more narrow than it should be which is why I decided to follow news companies on twitter because I know that I am not as informed as I should be. Sometimes, when I am in class we discuss politics and or breaking news and I have found my self not knowing what people were talking about. In the article “Millennials and Political News” they talk about the importance of news to millennials. “Millennials lag behind older generations in their interest in government and politics. When asked to choose among a list of nine topics, only about a quarter (26%) of Millennials name government and politics as one of the three topics they are most interested in”(Mitchell). This just confirms my point that me and obviously other students or people my age are not as informed as they should be or even interested in being informed.
When I do see tweets on breaking news I retweet them so my followers and friends can see them as well. I do not know if I retweet it because I want them to be informed as well or just because it is almost just a reflex when I see something I like or interesting, I click retweet. In the article “8 Takeaways About Social Media and News” they say “On Twitter, groups of people come together around news events they feel passionately about”(Matsa). I have personally seen people go on twitter rants or even just begin to tweet about breaking news such as the Newtown shooting. I think this could be a good thing or a bad thing because people may go back and fourth with different opinions but at least they are somewhat informed on what is going on. I think it is important like Becca said that we understand and recognize that the growth of social media and the influence it has on news industry.
Matsa, Katrina Eva and Amy Mitchell. "8 Key Takeaways About Social Media and News." Pew Research Journalism Project. 26 March 2014. Web.
Mitchell. Amy and Dana Page. "Millennials and Political News: Social Media - Local TV for the Next Generation?" Pew Research Center. 1 June 2015. Web.
Katherine Chirillo
ReplyDeleteDr. Burns
MSS 495
23 February 2016
Social Media’s Influence on the News Industry
Becca,
I have to be honest when I say that I don’t judge people who receive their news off of social media. Like you mentioned, we are all guilty of this in one-way or another, and that includes myself. It’s so easy to look at the side bar on Facebook when logging in or glance at headlines on Twitter as you scroll. I like how you also comment on the blending that is occurring. A lot of millennials like us have found that there is not enough time to read the news. We get a lot of the news we see from social media, and it has definitely been blending into the platforms we use in different ways. In one of the readings we had, The Evolving Role of News on Twitter and Facebook, there was a very clear rise in the percentage of users engaging with the news on Facebook and Twitter. However, I think that it is important to note that this reading also stated that this rise could be seen across every demographic, and this increase is not limited to our own demographic (Mitchell).
Another point you make is that when we are receiving our news from social media platforms we are still not really aware of what’s actually going on. When we see the news like this we are a passive observer. We are looking at what is given to us on our newsfeed as opposed to actively searching for the news on our own. I do think I share the concern you have voiced in your blog post. Do I think our awareness of the world is much more narrow than it should be? Yes. I also think that this would also apply to physical news as well. I think that a lot of what we call “news” on social media is not news at all. Half the time people have no idea what’s going on in their own state or across the globe. They only see the gossip that pertains to celebrity news and the interesting headlines which are usually just heart-touching stories. Most of the content you see is entertainment.
A very common site that is shared on social media is Buzzfeed, and I’m not sure this would be as legitimate as the news you would see in a newspaper. I believe that sharing news on social media is a great way to engage with the news, which is an opportunity you don’t really have when the paper is delivered to your house daily. One reading states that, “…It’s often a lot easier to convince somebody to share a story than it is to convince them to read it” (Holmes). I think this is very relevant to your argument. Yes, people can now share the news and even create their own news, but does that matter unless others are even looking at what people are sometimes posting.
Works Cited
Holmes, David. "Who Cares If Buzzfeed Has More Social Shares than the New York Times?" PandoDaily. 19 Jan. 2015. Web.
Mitchell, Amy and Dana Page. "The Evolving Role of News on Twitter and Facebook." Pew Research Center. 15 July 2015. Web.
I 100% agree with everything that is being said in Becca’s blog. It is extremely obvious that Social Media is one of the most prominent aspects of today’s society, culture, etc. Between connecting with friends, photo sharing, article sharing, and overall just be a platform to receive news, social media has collectively made itself a “go-to” for everything. “Not only are social network users sharing news stories, but, particularly with the growth in mobile devices, a certain portion is contributing to the reporting by taking photos or videos” (Mitchell 2015). The reason why we receive all of our news worthy information from social media is because these outlets live in our pocket, and in our hand. EVERYTHING we need is at our disposal at all times. Unless you forget your cell phone at home, are asleep, or actually decided to do something different for a change, you will be checking social media.
ReplyDelete“Much of the concern has come from data that suggest adults age 18-34 — so-called Millennials — do not visit news sites, read print newspapers, watch television news, or seek out news in great numbers. This generation, instead, spends more time on social networks, often on mobile devices” (Mitchell 2015). Do I turn on the Television to watch the news? Well, I’m not going to say no. But it depends what kind of news. At 11p.m every night, I turn on the E! Channel and watch E! News to catch up on all of my celebrity gossip. But there is a catch… 90% of the time, I already knew the news that they were exposing due to seeing it on Twitter or Facebook hours prior. So, my point is – that even when I am watching the news on television, most of the time, I already know the news. These social media sites are quicker, and more convenient. There is someone at every news outlet manning these social media sites 24 hours a day. This is literally what they get paid to do.
To be honest, one of the main reasons I have kept my Facebook account is because I follow so many different pages that reveal daily news. And my entire timeline is filled with articles all day. Whether it is a video, breaking news, or a Buzzfeed article, I’ll usually click on it. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that we use social media apposed to watching the news on Television. This is life – we move on and technology rebuilds itself constantly. Did people get mad when we switched from the horse and buggy to the automobile? Probably not, because it was more convenient. Well, having the news at your disposal 24/7 on your iPhone is convenient as well.
WORK CITED:
"How Millennials Get News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.
Matsa, Katrina Eva and Amy Mitchell. "8 Key Takeaways About Social Media and News." Pew Research Journalism Project. 26 March 2014. Web.
Becca has made some very valid points. Todays generation tends to turn toward social media in order to keep up with the news because our schedules don’t allow us to watch live broadcasts. Work, school, extracurricular activities, and spending time with family and friends fill up our schedules. I personally enjoy watching the news when ever I have the chance to. I am always interested in the current events and whats going on in the world. It is important to keep up with what is going on because it allows you to carry on a conversation with others and it also allows you to form your own opinion. Most other millennials see the importance of news in many different ways. For example, the Media Insight Project conducted a survey about what makes news important to younger adults. Lauren, age 23 who was surveyed stated, “I have so much faith in my generation to change the course of this country, and I love seeing that play out in the news, whether it be through health care changes, gay marriage acceptance, sexual education and access to information, and race issues,” (Media Insight Project). This is an example of what aspects of the news are important to millennials.
ReplyDeleteThe news stations are genius for making the news assessable through social media outlets. They understand the needs of our generation. We live around convenience and accessibility in order to keep up with our busy schedules and lives. Twitter and Facebook have especially got the hang of providing its users with news. According to the Pew Research Center article, “As of early 2015, 63% of Facebook and Twitter users get news on their respective sites” (Pew Research Center).I can see how this would be true. This is how my peers and I are able to keep up with the news. Just by checking our feed we are bombarded with top current events. By discovering news events on social media we can also see what people are saying about the events. This is how we form our own opinions based on the opinions of others.
Getting news via social media outlets is great for convenience purposes, but there is also a downside. Most of the news found on Facebook and Twitter are centered around entertainment news. Like Becca had stated, many of us follow our favorite celebrities on social media. This keeps us updated with everything thats going on in their lives. Most of us consider it news but actually we are missing out on many other important news events that are not presented in social media outlets. Even if we are following news outlets like FOX, CNN, and MSNBC we still are missing out on most news. As Becca had brought up in concern, the lack of getting news from other traditional sources like news papers and live news stations makes this generation passive to world awareness.
I agree that you can’t possibly learn everything about the news through just social media. In order to fully be culturally rounded you should take a look at traditional sources like newspapers and live news once in a while. Getting news through social media is great to keep you updated on basic news happenings but pairing it with other sources will give you more knowledge and awareness of the major happenings in the world.
Works Cited
"How Millennials Get News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.
Mitchell, Amy and Dana Page. "The Evolving Role of News on Twitter and Facebook."
Pew Research Center. 15 July 2015.Web.
Hi Becca!
ReplyDeleteMillennials spend a considerable amount of their time of leisure on social medias. Majority of them spend more time on mass media than they spend on work, schoolwork, face-to-face communication and more. Social media is like an addiction, what is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Personally I grab my iPhone to check the time, my text messages and of course my social media accounts. It has become a way of life. I check it before I go to bed and then again when I wake up to see what has happened overnight. After I do that I turn on the news, which is not common for people of my generation to do. Social media platforms have consumed our life and since we are always on them why not get our news on there as well.
You mentioned in the second paragraph, “Personally, I know that I do not have the time to watch the news on television. However in my spare time between classes, before or after work, I know I can turn to my social media platforms to be informed quickly on what may be happening.” It is all about convenience for millennials. For myself, I like to stay away from political news on social medias because I find it to be bias but when it comes to news about sports, education, local, international, celebrity news and so on I easily find it on my social media feeds. “The data also suggest that social networks are exposing Millennials to more news than they were initially seeking. Overall, just 47 percent who use Facebook say that getting news is a main motivation for visiting, but it has become one of the significant activities they engage in once they are there. Fully 88 percent of Millennials get news from Facebook regularly, for instance, and more than half of them do so daily” (The Media Insight Project: "How Millennials Get News"). But the question Becca asks in her blog is, “Is it a bad thing that we turn to social media instead of watching the news?” I believe it all depends on what type of news is being obtained. Political news I believe to be liberal biased, therefore I don’t consider it to be a good source. As for other types of news I think that it is okay to turn to social media, only if it is coming from a reliable source. “…On both social sites, younger users place greater importance on it for news. Nearly half (49%) of Twitter news users under 35 years of age say the site is the most important or an important way they get news, compared with 31% of those 35 years of age and over. This same relationship is true when it comes to Facebook (49% vs. 34%)” (Mitchell, A. and Page, D.) I believe that younger people use social media as a “top source of news” but I think it is always good to find other ways to get news like watching it on TV. But it is just super convenient to turn to your iPhone and go on Facebook and convenience is what its all about today especially for millennials who have grown up with access to technology.
Works Cited
"How Millennials Get News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.
Mitchell, Amy and Dana Page. "The Evolving Role of News on Twitter and Facebook." Pew Research Center. 15 July 2015. Web.
The growth of social media has changed the way we do everything, including the way we get our news. I haven’t watched the news in a very long time, but I still feel like I am in the loop with current events because if it’s important enough, it will appear somewhere either on my Twitter timeline or my Facebook newsfeed.
ReplyDeleteAs millenials, we are used to speediness and efficiency at the palm of our hands. We don’t like waiting. In fact, I don’t even think many of us know how to wait. That’s because we are able to obtain endless amounts of information with all of the technological advancements that we have access to. We also (sadly) have poor management skills in the sense that we always think that we don’t have enough time. This leads to us not being able to see why it would be logical to sit and watch an hour news program and having to sit through some news stories that aren’t of our interest when platforms such as Twitter and Facebook exist. On social media, we get a preview of a headline and we are able to choose what we want to further read that is of interest to us.
It was actually a little surprising that the article “How Millenials Get News” said that 88 percent of those surveyed get news from Facebook at least occasionally, and that only 13 percent got their news from Twitter. A few years back, whenever something happened that impacted people nationally or globally, it created great conversation on Twitter. I remember when Obama became president, every single person on my timeline was commenting about it and had something to say. The shift of getting news on other platforms like Facebook is evident, but I did not think it was that big of a shift.
Still, there’s more of a variety now on how we find out what’s happening in our country and around the globe. For example, Snapchat provided a “Story” (or a live feed) of people in Paris named “Je Suis Charlie,” otherwise known as “I am Charlie”, where people showed their support for the French city and those affected by the terrorist attacks on the magazine, Charlie Hebdo. In the beginning of the Story, it briefly explained what it was. This is how I found out about this news story and was able to research more about it.
Although there are many advantages to getting our news from social media, there are also some disadvantages. One of the main disadvantages is that we have lost the value of what truly is newsworthy so sometimes we aren’t able to see the gravity of a situation because a lot of useless information is being thrown at us. There are A LOT of pointless news stories nowadays, especially when it comes to entertainment news. The fact someone can make a whole news story based on a celebrity’s tweet is pretty ridiculous. I guess it’s because fandom is so powerful that they are guaranteed to get readers regardless of how pointless the news story is. But Adam Levine finishing his back tattoo or Louis Tomlinson grocery shopping with his new girlfriend is NOT news.
The article “8 Key Takeaways about Social Media and News” shows that entertainment news tops the list of topics Facebook news consumers report seeing. 73% of Facebook news consumers see entertainment news. The two topics that follow are people in their community and sports, while only 39% news consumers see international news. I think that this is an issue, but it shows a lot about our society. Sadly, it seems like we care and know more about celebrity news than what is going on in our nation and around the world.
Works Cited
"How Millennials Get News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.
Matsa, Katrina Eva and Amy Mitchell. "8 Key Takeaways About Social Media and News." Pew Research Journalism Project. 26 March 2014. Web.
I don't entirely agree with you. Obviously millenials have drifted away from using the mainstream news media as their news source, but I don't see this as a negative at all. Mainstream TV and print news has been totally corrupted, and I don't even mean by any particular political bias (that has been a fact of life for a while now). In the age of advertising, mainstream news media has been bought out, for one. Often times they cannot or will not report on a story in its entirety, or at all, because would reflect negatively on a sponsor. Also, as I commented last week, the mainstream news media is so desperate for ratings, that they have totally sacrificed quality reporting for the 24 hour news cycle. Every news station so desperately tries to get the edge by being the first to cover a story, that quality, factual, and in depth reporting get thrown out the window. I don't think the mainstream news media would be doing as poorly as they are now with millenials if they were thought to be trust worthy to begin with. We just don't trust the news, that's why we don't watch it on TV.
ReplyDelete"Buzzfeed has an average of 7,950 shares per article, and if you discount the outliers, the median is 966. For the Times, those numbers are only 829 and 11, respectively." (Who Cares if Buzzfeed Has More Social Shares Than The New York Times) Yes, millenials do get most of their news from social media, and no, I don't see that as being a bad thing. The idea that millenials have become more passive consumers of the news suggests that news intake was never passive to begin with. Before social media, when TV was the main source of the news, people would opt to put on a news network, but would then just sit there as the news was dictated to them without any say in what news they were receiving. Millenials, very non-passively, click on articles and headlines that interest them. Then they share it. This is the most non-passive way to take in the news I can possibly think of. I really think this new level of interaction actually helps to remember the news stories we are posting about. I also do not think that social media has a liberal bias. Yes, more millenials are liberal slanted, and most people on social media are millenials or younger generations. But the news bias you see on social media entirely depends on what your bias is to begin with. If you are conservative and associate with mostly conservative people and have mostly conservative friends on Facebook, then you are going to see mostly conservative slanted news stories.
In conclusion, I find that my fellow students are more informed then ever and I rarely ever see a case where someone is totally clueless to major current events. Statistics might tell you otherwise, but that's just because they have not figured out a way to accurately measure our knowledge yet.
Works Cited:
Holmes, David. "Who Cares If Buzzfeed Has More Social Shares than the New York Times?" PandoDaily. 19 Jan. 2015. Web.
I absolutely agree with Becca when she says that Millennials tend to lean towards social media platforms when they are looking for news. As a Millennial myself, I have never been able to sit through a two-hour news program due to commercials and “outdated information.” What I mean by this is that because social media has been my source of information for a while now, stories from three hours ago are now considered “late” and “outdated” to me. In times of natural disaster and violence going on every day, no one wants to be “two minutes too late” when it comes to their own safety and I believe that social media platforms are creating a positive change to that. For example, last week when there were two shooters on the University of Massachusetts – Amherst campus I heard about it through Facebook, even before my friend did who actually lives in Amherst. With platforms like Facebook and Twitter you’re up-to-date to the second, which would especially be helpful in times of danger, natural disaster or violent.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly it is not only the younger generations that are finding social media to be the new wave of finding news. According to a 2015 study, “news usage among those under 35 increased at roughly the same rate as among those ages 35 and older,” (Mitchell). I think that when news became available on our smartphones, older generations judged us being immersed in our phones, but now they are seeing the convenience of it all.
Another thing that Becca pointed out was how news has become an interactive thing. Prior to social media, people would hear about new information from either reading about it or hearing about it through word-of-mouth. No one is going to memorize the entire news article when they are retelling their friends so obviously some very important details would be left out. Now with of a push of a button we can directly show our friends exactly what we ourselves read isn’t of relaying the highlights, so no details are left out. Currently, according to a study done by the Pew Research Center, 50% of social network users share or repost news stories, images, and videos (Matsa). Instead of typing your own post analyzing what you read or say, which could take one minute or one hour, you can instantly share with all your Facebook or Twitter friends in a second.
I think what I personally love about news on social media platforms is that everything you want to know about anything is on it. There are only so many pages in a newspaper, but there are endless places to read articles on the Internet. Social media platforms show me the news that I want to read about even though it may not fit newspapers demographic. For example, the New York Times wouldn’t put the first picture of Kim and Kanye’s baby, Saint West, on the cover of the newspaper but it would be on the top of my Facebook feed because social media platforms show me news that I would be interested in, not what the general public would like to know.
Work Cited
Matsa, Katrina Eva and Amy Mitchell. "8 Key Takeaways About Social Media and News." Pew Research Journalism Project. 26 March 2014. Web.
Mitchell, Amy and Dana Page. "The Evolving Role of News on Twitter and Facebook." Pew Research Center. 15 July 2015. Web.