We’re All a Twitter! Journalism and its negotiation of online, the blogosphere and social media.

With an instant click of a button, a piece of information or source of news is transmitted to the world. Allan (2006) describes this practice made possible by the advent of digital technologies. The platforms of social media like blogging, Twitter, Facebook has brought the world closer together. This week's seminar was relative interesting about the world of social media and its influence and impact.

In Singapore, STOMP and RazorTV has come into prominence to introduce citizen journalism. However, over the course of time, it proved to be lacking in standards compared to international counterparts. STOMP was plagued with trivialities, personal opinions directed at that small issues. While RazorTV covered soft news compared to the mainstream's focus on hard, factual news. However, both platforms have shown interactivity - allowing users to post and choose what news they want to read and feedback they want to post. The mainstream is slowly absorbing social media to attract more users to select news from their associated newspaper brand. Some examples are Ng Tze Yong and Jessica Cheam social media correspondent for The Straits Times in Singapore.

The influences of social media cannot be ignored. It allows mainstream to cut cost and utilise social media as a channel of feedback for readers. It provides almost instantaneous broadcast of news - disaster news or important events are reported faster on social media compared to mainstream. However, social media sometimes lack credibility and there were numerous accounts of a mix-up between personal and corporate social-media accounts.

In my personal opinion, this is what the journalistic world required. It was not possible before and has taken reporters and journalists by storm. In the 1990's when the Internet proliferated, analysts speculated the drop in readership and circulation of newspapers as there was an Internet-craze to digitalise everything onto the online domain. This also includes news reporting, with a laptop at hand and internet connection at home, there was no real need to listen to the radio, read the newspapers or watch the television for primetime broadcasts. As an upgrade to the social-media platforms, journalists are closer to their readers. It is no longer a one-way communication. Journalists can better understand their target readers and pressing issues and problems. At the end of the day, journalism is not just reporting but generating news content for people to discuss and be informed. With channels of feedback and discussion provided by social media, journalists should take advantage of technology to not only allow readers follow them, but to follow readers as well.

References:

Allan, S 2006, Online News: Journalism and the Internet, Open University Press, Maidenhead.