VS.

Social Networking

The Media Images courtesy of Flickr.

An example of ‘remix culture’: picture courtesy of Flickr (uploaded by Judson Dunn) and edited through Photobucket.

According to Dana. M Boyd and Nicole B. Ellison, both contributors to the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, While their key technological integrants are moderately homogenous, the cultures that emerge around Social Networking sites (such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Tumblr and Blogger) are heterogeneous. Most ‘SN’ sites support the maintenance of pre-existing social networks, but others help strangers connect based on mutual interests, similar political and religious views, or associated activities. In short, the two Communication theorists define the Social Networking conjecture as web-based services that permit individuals to firstly “construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and finally, view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.” (2007,P 13.)

Picture courtesy of Ruth. A Harper, 2009

Screen shot courtesy of Facebook.

Social Networking (SN) has made way for a new style of journalism; it has unreservedly advanced the way news is sourced and disseminated to audiences amongst our digitally and technologically proficient culture.

Academic Ruth A. Harper asserts that: “In the traditional world newspapers, corporations, governments, or other types of leading organisations simply had to give out information, and people would consume it by reading or looking at it…this seemingly tried-and-true method has started to transform; simply making information available is not enough for today’s public. Today’s audiences expect to be able to choose what they read, and most believe they should be able to contribute content and opinions, too.” (December 4, 2009.) Harper goes on to coin the aforementioned as ‘the social media revolution’, and contends it is not the death of journalism, but rather the birth of an autonomous movement provoked by SN’s; inclusive of every individual.

“Facebook gives reporters a means to connect with communities involved with stories, find sources, and generate leads.”

“Journalists and the institutions they write for are finding Facebook to be an important resource in conducting the reporting that they do.”

-Leah Betancourt, August 4, 2009.

Screen shot courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald’s official Facebook page.

Journalist and Communication Academic Suellen Tapsall asserts that Social Networking provides immediacy of paramount events and the ability to apprise and update news stories as they happen, therefore aiding modern journalistic practice. (2011)

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance contend: “after a sceptical start among news executives, social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter are gaining increasing acceptance as ways to source stories.” (MEAA, 2010, P. 22.) According to ‘Guardian UK’ blogger Mercedes Bunz, (2010) BBC news journalists were told to implement social networking sites, i.e. Facebook and Twitter, as a chief initiator of sourcing information by the director of Global News, Peter Horrocks, when he took over the esteemed position in 2010.

Screen shot courtesy of ‘The Guardian, UK,’ 2010.

BBC director of Global News, Peter Horrocks; Image courtesy of Martin Godwin, ‘The Guardian, UK’, 2010.

"If you don't like it, if you think that level of change or that different way of working isn't right for me, then go and do something else, because it's going to happen. You're not going to be able to stop it."

"This isn't just a kind of fad from someone who's an enthusiast of technology. I'm afraid you're not doing your job if you can't do those things. It's not discretionary"

-Peter Horrocks Re Social Networking’s prominence in contemporary journalism, (Cited in Bunz, 2010.)

Communication theorist Eduardo Collado complied a table of “news production stages”: As noted in the accompanying table, Social Networking can easily be placed under the category of “Access/Observation”: The inceptive information-gathering stage at which source material for a news story/article is generated. Citizen-style journalism such as eyewitness accounts and audio-visual contributions are an example of user generated journalism, and are heavily aided by Social Networking sites, i.e. Facebook. (Collado, 2011.)

Table courtesy of Eduardo Collado , 2011.

Image courtesy of the MEAA, December 2010

In the 2010 Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance report titled ‘Life in the Clickstream’, it states that while Facebook is by no means a new technological phenomenon, it is still the most ‘versatile’ and ‘popular’ way to source news. “It allows users to upload stories, post images and videos and participate in forum discussions.” (MEAA, 2010, P 35.) With the average Facebook user boasting 100-300 virtual friends, it is a heterogeneousMedium forNewsgathering(Ibid).

The MEAA in their bi-annual report list a relevant example of an instance where Social Networking is used to generate news and opinions in modern journalism. Below is a screen shot from the official Facebook of ‘SBS Insight’, a current affair-style program hosted by gold Walkley winning journalist, Jenny Brockie.

Screen shot courtesy of ‘SBS Insight’ official Facebook, 2011.

The example of ‘SBS’s Insight’ on Facebook reinforces the Social Networking conjecture, where by the page is used to generate and source interviews and ask for participants to vote on informal polls; the implementation of Social Networking sites in all aspects of the media (print and radio also inclusive) are using Facebook more and more. (MEAA, 2010, P 35.)

Screen shot courtesy of ‘SBS Insight’ Facebook.

“Understanding how to use new opportunities (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) for journalism is central” (Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, 2008, P. 37). As a result of an apparent demand to use Social Networking in sourcing news stories, the MEAA have introduced dedicated training courses in adapting to such technology, including ‘The Wired Scribe: Telling Digital Stories.’

The MEAA contend that the concentrated two day course helps to introduce and acquaint seasoned journalists with the “online media landscape” and “provide an overview of changes to the media industry and help participants engage with online media through online tools such as RSS feeders and social networking tools. (The Walkley Foundation, 2011.)

Teaching an old dog new tricks:

Photo courtesy of the MEAA website, 2010.

Picture courtesy of Lindsay Oberst, 2011.

Lindsay Oberst asserts that journalists no longer seek out the news; instead, they have it easily and efficiently disseminated to them via Social Networking. From the references mentioned in the previous slides of this presentation, it could easily be contended that Social Media in news gathering is a trend that doesn’t appear to be slowing down. ‘SustainableJournalism.org’ complied a study endeavoring to determine the top ways that journalists, and media proprietors alike, have utilised Social Networking in gathering important, breaking news.

‘New York Times Columnist Uses Facebook to Report from Egypt’:

Journalist Nick Kristof used Facebook to report on his harrowing time amidst the most recent Egyptian riots. His moment-by-moment status updates received hundreds of comments and generated reputable leads. “While news stories tell what happened, Social Media feeds report on the present,” asserts Lindsay Oberst. (Oberst, October 26, 2011.) Screen shot courtesy of Megan

Garber, Nieman Journalism Lab, January 30, 2011.

Mind map explaining the process of Social Networking in dissemination of news stories; courtesy of ‘Mindomo.com.’

YouTube Video from ‘The press club of Long island’, talking about how Social Media has changed the way they (the journalists) engage and disseminate information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34cdYF0w08s&feature=related

Image courtesy of Flickr.

• Flickr: http://www.flickr.com • Photobucket: http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk267/elyse_anne/ • Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/ • Moyea Powerpoint templates:http://www.dvd-ppt-slideshow.com/powerpoint-background/ • Mindomo: http://www.mindomo.com/#editor• Facebook: www.facebook.com

Betancourt, L 2009, The journalists guide to Facebook, Mashable, viewed October 2011,http://mashable.com/2009/08/03/facebook-journalism/ Boyd, D.M and Ellison, N.B 2007, Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, P 13, article 11, Viewed October 2011http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html Bunz, M 2010, ‘BBC Tells News Staff to Embrace Social Media’, The Guardian, 10 February, viewed October 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/feb/10/bbc-news-social-mediaCollado, E 2011, Twitter, Citizen Journalism and News production Stages, viewed October 2011, http://eduardocollado.com/en/ Garber, M 2011, Nick Kristof turns to Facebook to report from Egypt, viewed October 2011,http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/01/nick-kristof-turns-to-facebook-to-report-from-egypt/Harper, R.A 2009, The social media revolution: exploring the impact on journalism and news media organisations, Student Pulse, viewed October 2011, http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/202/the-social-media-revolution-exploring-the-impact-on-journalism-and-news-media-organizations Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance 2010, Life in the Clickstream II: The Future of Journalism, viewed October 2011, http://www.thefutureofjournalism.org.au/Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance 2008, Life in the Clickstream: The Future of Journalism, viewed October 2011, http://www.alliance.org.au/documents/foj_report_final.pdf

Oberst, L 2011, Journalism and social media: 15 examples worth learning from, Sustainable Journalism, viewed October 2011,http://sustainablejournalism.org/socialmedia/journalism-social-media-examples The Walkley Foundation, 2011, Media Alliance Training Courses, viewed October, 2011,http://www.walkleys.com/training Tapsall, S 2011, ‘The Media is the Message’, in S Tapsall & C Varley (eds), Journalism: Theory in Practice, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne