The Associated Press created a new position: social media and user-generated content editor.
Fergus Bell is now responsible for making sure the global news network takes heed of user-generated content on an international level.
Social media is everywhere, and it’s not leaving any time soon. In certain circumstances, I’ll check a social networking site before an actual news source for updates about something.
I suppose people most enjoy the personalization inside each tweet, status update, photo upload or blog post.
Social media makes it possible to notify friends and colleagues of news stories and events with the click of a share button. From television programs to live events, I can log on to Twitter or Facebook and get a play-by-play of what is happening and how people feel about various topics. The social media world going crazy with comments during each of the recent political debates is just one of many examples.
However, some disagree and think that social media is diminishing the value of personal communication between people.
Many complain that we are always “plugged in,” but is that necessarily a bad thing?
The sole purpose of social media is to offer more ways to connect with people.
We find out about devastating situations in war-torn countries by these nontraditional means. Sometimes such information can only be shared through the posting of user-generated content to social networks.
Social media is also convenient.
Television news stations and radio programs have off-peak hours, while social media does not.
Some news organizations even designate employees to be responsible for updating the networks’ social media profiles all hours of the day with breaking news.
In my opinion, having constant access to news seems to keep people more informed by much easier means.
The number of social media networks is continually growing.
Different networks cater to different audiences and provide various services, but each is successful in fulfilling its own specific purpose. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram are just a few of the channels that currently see more popular use.
Even in the corporate world, a business isn’t fully catering to its customers if it doesn’t have profiles on at least a majority of the main social networks.
LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. Members of the working world can make a profile comprised of their resumes, recommendations from references, links to portfolios and more. It’s crazy to be able to say that you got a job or internship essentially through the use of online social networking.
Some feel that social media has been taken out of hand and strongly advise against its use. It’s true that people have lost jobs over tweeting messages their supervisors didn’t approve of.
People can also ruin many potential opportunities by having unfavorable social networking profiles.
Several have frowned upon social media use with trends such as cyberbullying reaching the public eye.
An optimistic quote says, “If anything can go well, it will.” If that’s true, then it’s also fair for pessimists to say, “If anything can go badly, it will.”
However, I don’t believe social networks were intended to provide means for inappropriate behavior or deviant use.
Social media networks should be used for personal, professional, political and recreational benefits.
They should have a better reputation. As long as people use social media in a responsible manner, it shouldn’t be to blame for some of the issues that will naturally come along with it.
If social media is good enough for the AP, it should be good enough for the world’s media consumers.
Anayo Ordu is an advertising sophomore at UF. Her column appears on Tuesdays. You can contact her via opinions@alligator.org.
