By Maria Perry |Staff Writer|
Source: Maria Perry (iPhone)
Increased use of social media causes people to forget that it isn’t the only source of news and it is not always the best source of news.
It is best to think of Internet news sites as different newspapers because some may be more accurate than others and even more importantly, more truthful than others.
The increase of social media has also caused the news to become more and more transient because people want their news instantaneously.
Why pick up a newspaper when you can use your cell phone to type a few words into Google?
Well, it is difficult to know for certain whether the news found on social media sites is credible or accurate. Even though news organizations post stories on the Internet, we rely on posts made by our friends and other sources outside news organizations.
I believe that most news obtained from social media is done at a glance, which means that we tend to see it, acknowledge it and then scroll through it.
When asked about getting news from social media, Elysa Huntington, student, said, “When people normally post things about the news, I don’t just look at their post. Most of the time, I look further into the story through TV news or perhaps the net. I worry that the news that is being spread through maybe Facebook or Twitter is more of a game of telephone.”
I think that getting the news from social media has come down to the lesson that we have been taught how to write research papers in high school consider the source.
Most social media sites also tend to tell people what they want to hear and not what they need to hear.
They’re programmed to filter down the information that reaches the users of social media sites based on the responses to the post.
Perhaps it is best to use more than one source or research about the news found on social media in other outside sources.
Many people may wonder why newspapers are necessary if we have all these other outlets to get the news.
Social media may give the news, but in the form of abstracts and a newspaper has more solid information because it is more detailed.
“Newspapers are still relevant and useful and I’m not talking about using it for art or other home needs,” Huntington said. “We need a hard copy of the news and what is going on with the world.”
“So many articles can be changed through hacking and Photoshop alone,” continued Huntington.” We need something that is set in stone.”
It’s not that social media is a bad source for news, it’s more that social media isn’t the only source of news.
The newspaper and social media can both be news sources but that does not mean they are better than each other or that one should be rid of because it’s not a popular way of getting news.
They can be used alternatively and have a balance between them.
A site, such as a reader is a good way to start accumulating different sources of news.
A RSS reader is an online news aggregation software where the users can tailor a continuous flow of news updates from sites they trust.
These sites are useful because they not only allow people to stay up to date from the sources they prefer they also allow them more control over where they are getting their news from.
When asked if social media was better or worse than getting the news from the newspaper, Amanda Luckett, student said, “It is better because it is more convenient and much faster, but the newspaper is better because it is more credible. It is hard to choose which is better.”
Different people find different ways to get the news and both can be tools, but it all comes down to educating ourselves about where we may be getting our news.
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