Social Media's Impact on Journalism

With the growing use of social media to report news the consumer perception of real time news is changing - people now expect to receive news instantaneously and expect constant updates of developments. This is significantly influencing the direction and practice of journalism. The availability of these online blogs and social media networks has changed the way that journalists are able to operate and it can be a valuable tool aiding journalists in their newsgathering, audience engagement and it can act as another platform for content.

Image – http://roymorejon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/social-media-news-facebook-twitter.jpg

It is important to note that social media and blogs are not replacing journalism, but they are adding another layer of information to existing news sources. One key way that social media has changed how journalists approach the news is through helping journalists in newsgathering and crowdsourcing. This has helped them to collect more material on news stories and has provided access to a wider range of voices who are able to tell their own stories and opinions on the matter. Social media also helps journalists to source eyewitnesses quickly, as people are keen to tweet or post about interesting things they have witnessed to tell their friends about what they saw. This can be a significant benefit making it easier for journalists to track down those who might have a first-hand account of an event.

 However, this also means that in some cases journalists are having to compete with the average citizen for breaking news as sites, such as Twitter, are increasingly being used as a source of news and a way to spread news by the younger generations. Furthermore, journalists still need to check, verify and evaluate news claims found on social media before they report on them.

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The demand for instant news stories has changed the way that journalists traditionally function. For example, when the bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston marathon in April 2013, many of the members of staff of the local news team – the Boston Globe - were actually running in the marathon or were already covering it live. The changing consumer perception of news and the desire for real-time updates has encouraged journalists to step into their roles in situations like this, live-tweeting from the scene and updating readers with vital information on the events. Twitter has even created a new system , released yesterday, that reflects the way that emergency news can instantly be relayed to a large audience in times of need. Twitter Alerts enables public institutions to send out emergency alerts via text message and push notifications – “a new feature that brings us one step closer to helping users get important and accurate information from credible organizations during emergencies, natural disasters or moments when other communications services aren’t accessible”.

One of the greatest positives of social media for journalists is the way that it has the power to engage with greater audiences. Social media is able to move information quickly among a large group of people, and can provide a valuable two-way engagement with the audience, changing significantly how journalists talk to their audiences and listen to the audience’s response. This can mean that local news is able to transform into international news very quickly as social media has the power to transfer information across the world instantaneously.

The power of social media to expand audience engagement can also be seen through the way that it can act as a platform for content to redirect viewers to branded news sites. For instance the Telegraph has detected a significant upsurge in the importance of social networks as a form of distribution with over 8 per cent of all page views to the Telegraph Online now as a result of recommendations in networks like Digg, Facebook and Twitter. Established journalists may also choose to utilise social media because it can act as another way to distribute their content which they have researched but been unable to use in TV or radio – this way it ensures that their hard work and research does not go wasted.

What do you think?

Do you think social media has changed the way journalists report the news?

Pinterest Promoted Pins: This Week in Social Media

Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up to date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What’s New This Week?

Pinterest Tests Promoted Pins: Pinterest experiments with ads as its traffic moves from the web to mobile and will be ”promoting certain pins from a select group of businesses.”

Pinterest says promoted pins will be tasteful, transparent, relevant and improved based on your feedback.

Pinterest Makes Pinning Smarter: “Now when you click the Pin It button for browsers, you’ll see the images look a lot closer to how actual pins appear on Pinterest. You’ll see how big different images will be, and you can even edit the description before clicking Pin It.”

Check out the new features for the Pin It button.

Facebook Tests Easier Way to Watch Video: “Now when you see a video in your news feed, it comes to life and starts playing. Videos initially play silently, and if you want, you can tap to play with sound in full screen.”

Videos on mobile will also be easier to watch in the coming weeks.

Facebook Redesigns Mobile App: “The Facebook app for iPhone includes a new menu at the bottom that makes it easier to get around. The app also has a new look designed with iOS 7 in mind.”

"Now it's easier to switch from news feed to your friend requests, messages or notifications—just tap along the bottom of the screen."

Twitter Introduces New Version of Mobile App: The “new versions of Twitter for iPhone and iPad for iOS 7,” have “a refreshed design that looks and works great on iOS 7.”

"In addition to these updates for Twitter for iPhone and iPad, there are some new features on iOS 7 that make Twitter easier to use and more enjoyable."

Tumblr Adds Push Notifications: The “Android update features push notifications along with a newly designed activity screen. Now you can get updates whenever someone follows your blog or interacts with your posts.” Push notifications are also available on iPhone and iPad.

"To control which ones you see, go to the Account tab and tap Settings."

SlideShare Tests New Design for Mobile: The new design has a “more visual element, which better showcases presentation thumbnails to help you discover content more easily.”

"The design includes the ability for you to easily like, share and save SlideShares from any mobile device."

Here’s some upcoming news to follow:

YouTube to Allow Offline Viewing on Mobile in November: This new feature will “allow people to add videos to their device to watch for a short period when an Internet connection is unavailable. So your fans’ ability to enjoy your videos no longer has to be interrupted by something as commonplace as a morning commute.”

What do you think? Please share your comments below.

Social Media Monitoring - The Employability Spectrum

Online image and how your portray yourself is becoming very important for your career path.

Social media is the new major internet craze ever since the dot-com bubble, whilst the latter ended with large number of companies going from boom to bust in the space of three years, the social media phenomenon has seen social networks with original concepts and ingenious ideas going from strength to strength. Social media is here to stay, but with its strong influence and stature, inevitably it will cause major changes in how businesses see and do things. How social media is affecting people's employability and job security will be the subject we will touching on today.



Social Media Monitoring Can Be Used Against You

Having unseemly pictures of yourself on social networks will not warm you towards recruiters.

When we talk about social media monitoring it means to monitor and measure the social activity of a company or an organisation, but in this case we will be looking at how companies and recruitment agencies use social media to review their employees' conduct, and how they are using job candidates' social activity to vet them through the recruitment process.

Social Media Monitoring Recruitment Process

In the past, when we talk about an individual's employability we will be looking at their knowledge, skills and abilities, but social media has become a tool to assessing a candidate's suitability for a given role. Instead of simply evaluating the curriculum vitae and cover letter for applicants, more and more recruiters are using Facebook to do a thorough research on individuals.

The infographic by Jobvite highlights recruiters' sentiments to a candidate's profile.

In the US there are worries from privacy advocates with employers demanding access to candidates' Facebook logins. There will always be a limitation of how far social media vetting can go, but without a doubt your social activity will be definitely scrutinised, so it is vital that individuals be careful of the negative social media footprints they leave behind.

Although privacy concerns remain on the top of many people's agenda, there are positives to it. Personal social media profiles can be used as an additional selling point to land a job, by giving a positive and social self, candidates can warm themselves to the recruiter and win some brownie points to land that important interview.

Social Media Monitoring Your Employees' Conduct

Not only are job prospects finding themselves under scrutiny, but current employees are being monitored as well. In May, a civil servant was sacked for using Facebook during office hours and in another incident aftermisuse of social media led to council staff being warned of future misconduct that would lead to severe penalties.

In most circumstances, employers do not intrude into the lives of their employees. However, if an employee commits an act that would damage the employer/company's reputation it would lead to the employee's position in the company untenable. Let's see some of the things we should best avoid.

• Ranting about the company/superior/colleague/customers/partners/affiliates
• Disclosing classified/confidential information of a third party
• Racial Slurs/Profanity
• Sexual/Violent Imagery
• Party/Alcoholic Imagery

A wrong move can take you down the path of despair...being fired.

All employers and companies expect from their staff is to conduct themselves accordingly as expected of a professional. Even though people are out of the work place after working hours and should be allowed to do whatever they desire, they have to remember they remain a representative of their company. So long as they are under the payroll of the flagship, they belong as a part of that entity. There will be many questioning whether the line between work and personal life are becoming blurred, but in actuality the line has never really existed.

What do you think?

Do you believe recruiters should evaluate candidates base on their social media footprints? Is there still a blurred line between work and personal life? 

Feel free to share with us your thoughts.