Social Media in The Newsroom: One Million of New guys in Town
In about two decades since social media networking became what we know today, this platform has turned into the second largest medium of communication in our world.[1] Over one billion people from around the planet have at least one profile on some type of social media platform.[2] There are lots of well-known sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, WordPress, Blogger, Typepad, LiveJournal, Wikipedia, Wetpaint, Wikidot, Second Life, Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Lulu, Instragram and many others, that offer anyone the opportunity to become involved and have their voice heard.
“At least 1 out of every 5 people will visit a social media networking page when they log onto the internet. Television is the only medium that has a larger audience than social media networking sites. Since so many people are connected to each other online, businesses and various organizations now use the convenience of these sites to have access to millions.”[3] Of course, new technological platforms have redefined the landscape of classic forms of broadcasting media, and the role of the journalist within it.
Power to the people?
For the first time in human history, there are more people producing information, writing their opinions, taking pictures, recording videos and sending them to all over the world thanks to the social networking platforms that the internet offers. The role of journalists has changed: now they are not the only people that have the “hot story,” and the traditional media can´t fight against the omnipresence of affordable pocket devices equipped with High Definition cameras and fast internet connections. These devices allow a general public to tell any story from multiple angles and, what is more valuable, with multiple voices. In this new scenario, the newsroom has the challenge of redefining its shape, and journalists their jobs. Little by little, news has become a 24 hours- a-day phenomena; immediate and available on new platforms and mobile devices. And finally with the most recent and powerful tool of social media, all of this new noise converges. Of course, there are readers that still value well-written and well-reported classic journalism. Any romantic journalist that loves his profession feels that the old newspaper is not completely dead when, travelling in a train, for example, he sees some honorable citizens submerged in the printed editions of “The Boston Globe,” “The Wall Street Journal” or “The New York Times.” But upon second look, it is easy to find young hipster look-a-like professionals, reading the online version of the same newspapers on their tablets, with additional access to fresh news provided by unregulated sites such as The Huffington Post, laughing at the superficial yet witty Buzzfeed gifs, or enjoying the mix between entertainment and news provided by the new Ipad application recently launched by Vice Magazine.
Journalistic Darwinism: evolve or die
Kevin Bakhurst, ex-editor of BBC News, observes that the most important news providers in the world–like BBC, CNN and Al- Jazeera, amongst others, will survive depending in their ability of reconsider their relation with the public in this new scenario.[4] In his role at the British Broadcasting Channel, his perception of social media is optimistic, because these platforms have become fundamental in three areas: -Newsgathering: Social networking helps gather more, and sometimes better, material, and it is easier to provide a wider range of voices, ideas and eyewitnesses quickly. -Audience engagement: It allows the media to listen to and talk to its audiences, providing valuable feedback. -A platform for content: Social media is a way of getting the journalism “out there,” in short form or as a tool to take people to the news on the website, TV or radio. BBC News is not the only news corporation that has accepted the social media. An international survey by the global public relations group, ECCO International, recently conducted with 1149 journalists from 12 countries about their social media habits and preferences, found that their perception of social media viewed it as “complementary” and not as a threat to their work. Also, according to ECCO’s survey ,Facebook is the most popular platform for journalists internationally (86%), except in the UK where LinkedIn is slightly bigger. Behind the social network created by Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter voted the second most popular tool among journalists (61%).