Social Media and our Everyday Citizens

Does quantity equal quality? I don't think so, everyday citizens give us quantity but not always quality news. Though news is often posted in the opinion of one person I feel that when it is presented from a reputable source such as the Toronto Star of CTV News the person writing the story has an obligation to keep the story as unbiased as possible, they are also representing the entire news station or company. Such a responsibility keeps the story as close to the truth as possible and less likely from becoming someone's point of view and opinion.

Everyday citizens are free to report the news as they see it. One point of view, one person's life experience to compare with. Do these stories still grip us, still open our hearts and minds? Of course. Will we continue to read the work of everyday citizen, I believe so. However when it comes down to hard facts and larger than your neighbourhood stories will we change our tone and look to larger news providers? Without a doubt!

The deciding factor on who we seek out for our daily information in the future will depend on what and how much we want to know. Do we want the inside story on the church bake sale? Are we wondering what our children's curriculum outline is? Though every citizen has the opportunity to be a great reporter and by default a great detective there is still only so much information they are privy to and the human bias is always up for debate. 

Has social media increased the quality of news and information? I don't believe so. Has it decreased it? No it hasn't done that either. It has however given us many options and channels in which we receive news. Our daily email, online, and on our mobile devices. We choose where and when to read the news and decide who we want to receive the message from. What doesn't change....if we are reading it, it's already history.

SOCIAL MEDIA - Fad or the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

 I'm going to take this time to focus on only three 'categories' if you will...Content Communities, Social Networking Sites and Virtual Social Worlds.

Content communities such as YouTube have opened up the gateways of sharing information globally through video. We are now able to learn to cook a dish from someone in the country of the dishes' origin! Pause, rewind and replay it. Watch the next pop stars humble beginnings and journey. Laugh with someone hours away as we watch a toddler dance to Beyoncé.

Facebook the most famous of Social Networking Sites has bridged that loss of connection we may experience after moving away from our home town, starting College and University or the growth of families as they start a new life further away from home. We upload pictures and comment of funny moments in each other’s life. We play catch up, get caught up and get connected. How wonderful technology can be.

Do you know what an Avatar is? I hope you said no cause I didn’t know much about it. The Virtual Social Worlds have taken real life and twisted it into the fantasy of your choice. In a way you play God, you design how you look, what you wear, your location and much more. An escape from reality? Hmm I think so. I think as long as you keep at least one foot well planted in the real world you’ll be okay. How does this connect with social networking? Well just like Facebook and YouTube you’re connecting with people from around the world, you just happen to talk, live and co-mingle outside our standard of reality. People begin friendships and even online relationships within these virtual social worlds.

What’s next for Social Networking? Well that’s up to us and the next generations imagination the internet has made the possibilities endless. So do I think Social Media is the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? Well in a word….YES.

-Stephanie Nunes