Social Media on Journalism
1August 29, 2012 by aliciamarie94
As a teenage girl, I am on many social network sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. Every time something happens that is newsworthy, like Melky Cabrera and Bartola Colon from the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s getting suspended for using steroids, it definitely blows up my news feed on all the sites. In fact, before joining these sites, I normally heard my newsworthy information from the bits and pieces I was able to catch from the morning news while getting ready for school. Social media has, in my opinion, definitely improved journalism in many ways and worsened it in some.
It’s had a positive impact on journalism because it provides an easier and quicker way to spread news. If we don’t live in New York, how would we know about the shooting at the Empire State Building? If it was only newspapers, we wouldn’t have received the shocking news until the next morning, and that is only if you get them at all. However, an important negative impact is that if we receive it from a type of social media, it can be biased and we also don’t know how reliable the source is. There could be misunderstandings, and one girl could post something on twitter that wasn’t exactly how the event happened, and then there is confusion.
ALICIAWORDS 
Social media has definitely improved the availability and access of information for many people. However, you are right, the quickness of delivery and sometimes lack of clarity could also result in misinformation and/or confusion for some.