Jumping on the social media bandwagon

I am sure I am not the first to say I don’t like Twitter. I don’t understand hashtags, I don’t understand tagging people, and above all, I don’t understand why people need to update the Twitter-sphere in 140 characters or less. However in my first tutorial in Online Journalism, I began to appreciate the value of Twitter, along with other types of social media, in a news environment. 

As Dave Earley stated on Friday, the readership of print media is decreasing due to the ease of accessing news online. News is becoming increasingly social, local and of course mobile, with smart phones and tablets allowing readers to access news at their convenience. Earley quoted a statistic saying that phone and tablet use has led to a 42% increase in web news traffic. 

Personally, I find it much easier to look up news on my iPhone or computer rather than buying a newspaper. As a student, I rarely buy a newspaper as it is another unnecessary expense. After some research of my own, I have decided upon three key strengths of social media broadcasting the news, allowing it to have the upper hand over print media. 

1. Social media is always first.

Popular sites including Facebook and Twitter can reach an enormous audience instantaneously. For example, take the moment when Lauren Jackson was announced as the flag bearer for Australia for the Olympics opening ceremony. The announcement was made early in the morning on 27 July, meaning it had missed the deadline for the morning newspapers. Journalists attending the function were able to post tweets seconds after the announcement was made, informing millions of people worldwide. 

2. Social media has the ability to attract an audience that may otherwise not be reached.

Earley discussed how social media has the potential to be a large driver of readers to news websites. Links, photographs, witty headlines and more can be used to direct readers to a more in-depth story published by a news organisation. This links directly to my third point:

3. Social media can be used for self-promotion.

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of self-promotion! News.com.au is a great example of an organisation that utilises social media to promote stories as they are published. Headlines and links are published on various social media outlets, directing their audience to the full story on their website. This is certainly one aspect of social media that I will be taking advantage of as an emerging journalist!

While the Twitter-sphere may be filled with tweets about what people are having for lunch or celebrity gossip, I am beginning to understand why it is time to wholeheartedly embrace social media. In a world where we are slowly losing readership of print media, it is vital to make the change to digital and social media in order to thrive in such a competitive environment. As the semester continues I hope that I can finally get a grasp on hash tags, tweeting and tagging and learn how to use it to my advantage. 

In the meantime, head over to my Twitter to see how I’m coping with new technology!