#9// The Boston Marathon Bombings

The Boston Bombing Marathons: the first time social media is really used as a medium for news. When the Boston Marathon Bombings occurred, I was living in Zhongshan, China. For this reason… all my information came from facebook, twitter and instagram. Every morning my roommate and I would joke, “gotta read the morning newspaper!” as we scrolled through our feeds. Often times we were given bad information via social media, and were gullible enough to believe it. Did we ever once consider going to an actual news site to get the facts? Absolutely not. We just searched through hundreds of randomly posted articles or blogs or pictures.  Because of this… we were misinformed the majority of the time.

But I blame those problems on the user… on myself. Because I was silly enough to trust everything I read. I actually believe social media is a huge benefit in crisis situations. It spreads news faster than anything… but not just news… also relief efforts and missing peoples and ways to help.

This article is about social media helping the aid effort after typhoon Haiyan:

 http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24565-social-media-helps-aid-efforts-after-typhoon-haiyan.html#.UoKOK_lJOSo

This article is about how social media helped GM resolve complaints and keep customers happy:

http://www.autonews.com/article/20131021/OEM06/310219873/gms-social-media-team-helps-resolve-complaints-keep-customers#axzz2kSu0LwBm

See!! Although there are occasional misleading facts and untrusting scams, the active viewer can use social media to not only help others, but also reap the benefits when needed. As social media partakers, we must have an open and educated mind when receiving news via twitter and facebook. Otherwise, the benefits will slip through the cracks between falsely written and posted articles.

#8// The Future of Journalism

It's hard for me to write on the future of journalism... because that future is so unknown. However, there are many people (much smart than I) who can predict what my future holds. And no, they aren't fortune tellers or gypsies. They're just journalists, like us. 

First, read this:

http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/100726/The-Next-Journalisms-Objective-Reporting.aspx

In this article, Philip Meyer says that the future of Journalism lies within companies that are willing to put in the extra time and effort to make the truest of all sources; no objectivity whatsoever.

“But, sooner or later, publishers will learn that to stand out in the noisy buzz of the information marketplace, they will need more trustworthy products. Journalism that yields reproducible results, reviewable by peers, open about its sources and methods, stands to find a privileged place in this new marketplace. You can be its creators.”

(I just think that last line is particularly inspiring.)

Next, read this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-filippouli/journalism-in-a-new-era_b_3808928.html

In this second article, Elizabeth Filippouli talks about how technological innovation and adaptation is the key to our future.

“We are in a new, digital era of news coverage and storytelling. Today we live in the real-time, personal web: the way we find news (or news finds us) is novel, different.”

* * * * * * *

Sometimes it kind of bums me out that I am majoring in something that oh… doesn’t exist anymore? That the old forms of journalism are crumbling… and fast. And then I remember the kind of world we live in. You know, the kind that changes at every moment? So I believe we’re actually at an advantage. And a big one at that.