Facebook is now not only a SNS but it is now turning into a mass convergence platform which provides chat, messaging, video sharing and even citizen journalism providing information on local, national and international events. Who needs the news when you have Facebook?!
I am the type of person to read the paper/the news online to find out what's going on around the world. I personally don't rely on Facebook to find out what's going on in the world however how many of you do? Each month more than 30 billion pieces of content (including weblinks, news stories etc) are uploaded to Facebook news feeds with this excessive number its no wonder that people are now relying on Facebook to feed them with the latest news and 'goss'.
Honestly I found out about the death of Osama Bin Laden after logging into Facebook (I had been to uni and straight to work and hadn't checked the newspaper), thinking it was some sort of joke I searched the internet in order to confirm what was posted left, right and centre on Facebook. Yes there might be somethings that you can believe that are posted on Facebook but in terms of the news would you rely on status updates feeding you information on the world around you.
Would you believe what is posted on a status in regard to the news? or Would you believe it if it is linked to a reliable source?
Research has shown that "Facebook as a traffic driver to top news sites are on the up" meaning that people are beginning to externally research what they read on Facebook. "On five of the top 25 websites, Facebook was the second or third biggest driver of traffic" and it is interesting to note that "Twitter, barely registers as a referring source,” Facebook is really becoming a platform of convergence I wonder whether it will ever overtake news sites as an informer for news!
What do you think about Facebook as a news source?
Elise, I agree… many people do rely on social media as a way of receiving news and learning about current affairs. In fact, “A new Pew Research report that 75% of Americans who get news online get it through social networks, including email” (http://technorati.com/blogging/article/social-networks-are-major-news-source1). It is staggering just how much the younger generations (including myself) are attached to SNS such as Facebook and twitter, which are replacing conventional mass media forms in many ways. I found out about the Japan Tsunami on Facebook, went to tell one of my friends who doesn’t have Facebook (weird?), and they knew nothing about it!! It will be interesting to see how this progresses in the future, and whether large corporations will find a way to harness the shift to digital platforms and continue making big money.
ReplyDeletePeople definitely see facebook as their source for news and gossip. Ofcourse, many important events and similar things are discussed on the site, but so are 'today-i-did-this' statuses, incriminating photos and ofcourse petty gossip.
ReplyDeleteIf i had to trust any social network for news it would definately NOT be facebook. With the right people to follow, Twitter can be quite reliable as a source for news. We hear stories about how QLD flood victims had up-to-date information on twitter before contemporary news outlets had even gotten wind of it.
I wonder where news will sit in regards to convergence in the future, but I think only time will tell...
I agree with Olivia in that I believe Twitter is a much more reliable provider of news, as you are able to follow reputable news sources such as Al Jazeera and the like. I am surprised that Twitter barely registers as a traffic driver to top news sites, but then again when you think about the kinds of tweets made, they are directed to more specialised news sites and stories. I definitely do not rely on facebook for breaking news as many people on facebook tend to believe everything they read without further looking into it. An example of this can be seen in all of those groups claiming "We Will NOT Pay for Facebook" - facebook never said about charging for use!
ReplyDeleteNice post Elise. I too am guilty of finding out about news through sites such as Twitter and Facebook, but I don't seem to look at this as exactly a bad thing. As Ted has mentioned numerous times in his lectures and in the tutorial classes the feedback loop is much quicker as a result of SNS, in comparison to traditional news and media outlets. Even if we have to search and dig a bit deeper to find out if what we have read is true and reliable or not it is still much quicker. It can also be viewed as a free news feed, involving no or little involvement on our part. Since many people use these sites almost religiously, or to the point where it has become a habit involving little conscious thought, I see it as slightly different to actively searching for news and information. News and information is there for us no matter how mundane, stupid or important it may be. Again we have a choice on whether we want to see it or not and whether we want to absorb or take in new information, but the great thing is we might find out something that interests us without even looking for it.
ReplyDeleteI like that you talk about finding out about breaking news from facebook, its so funny i also found out, probs like a stack of other people that Bin Laden was killed via facebook. Its pretty wild hey. I think it works so well because its just like talking to your mate at the pub about some thing, you obviously trust them and if your interested enough you will go out and have another look in your own time. What the future of facebook holds who knows.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a blog similar to what you have written here.
ReplyDeletehttp://corrynqueenan.blogspot.com/2011/09/facebook-is-new-www.html
In my blog I also argue that Facebook has combined so many different platforms that it is replacing the internet as a whole. Although this statement is a little outrageous from observing the amount of Facebook pages open in the uni Library I am almost convinced that Facebook is all people do on the internet these days!
In an ideal world, Facebook and Twitter are a great way to spread the news. The problem (and I feel like I'm repeating myself over and over again) is filtering out the garbage from the genuine.
ReplyDeleteAd oddity of news spreading through social network occurred when Bin Laden died. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson seemed to tweet about it, before it was announced to the public.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/05/did-dwayne-johnson-tweet-first-about-osama-death/1
There wasn't much follow up on this, but I got a good laugh out of it.