Social 'Media': News Distribution + Consumption in the Interactive Age

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SOCIAL ‘MEDIA’: NEWS DISTRIBUTION + CONSUMPTION

Ben RubensteinTufts University EXP-50

““Society doesn’t need newspapers.

What we need is journalism.”Clay Shirky

TRADITIONAL ETHICS OF JOURNALISM

Accuracy

Proportionality/Fairness

Transparency

Independence

WHAT JOURNALISTIC INSTITUTIONS PROVIDE

Credibility/authority

Access

Tough questions (speak truth to power)

Money (for investigations)

CURRENT STATUS: UNCERTAIN

Ad revenue decline - Vast inventory = lower value- Craigslist (classifieds)

Free access to news onlineDemocratization of publishing

Business responses:Paywalls, rebundling, individual subscriptions, content archives...

SOCIAL NEWSGATHERING

Direct channel to the public

Increased transparency

Conversation research

New tools

SOCIAL NEWSGATHERING

SPEED AND STYLE FIRST

HOT TAKES

CURATION/AGGREGATION

Existing content gets redistributed

Stealing or ‘curation’?

SOCIAL MEDIA: THE NEW PAPER?

THE FORMER AUDIENCE

"We’re seeing the rise of the heavy-duty blogger, web site creator, mailing list owner, or SMS gadfly...who is becoming a key source of news for others."

- Dan Gillmor

THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE

Traditional news orgs being challenged by…● Blogs and citizen

journalists (‘mass amateurization’)

● Sources going direct

“There’s a new balance of power between you and us.”

CITIZEN JOURNALISM

CITIZEN JOURNALISM

“NOT ENOUGH AND TOO MUCH INFORMATION”

● False info spreads quickly

● Exposure breeds (bad) content

● Where/who are the gatekeepers?

“The internet means you don’t have to convince anyone else that something is a good idea before trying it.”

CITIZEN COMMENTARY

CITIZEN COMMENTARY

CITIZEN COMMENTARY

“As an online discussion grows

longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or

Hitler approaches.Godwin’s Law

Break

“What we’re seeing is more a

passing of the torch from human gatekeepers to algorithmic ones.

Eli Pariser

“[Writing provides] not truth, but only the semblance of truth.”Socrates

THE FILTER BUBBLE

GOOGLE PAGERANK

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