Social Media Credibility

Posted by 33interactions under Social Media
From http://33interactions.com.au 5587 days ago
Made Hot by: on July 16, 2009 4:29 pm

The recent deaths of Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett demonstrated the immense the power of Twitter, and social media in general, to generate news across the globe in a matter of hours.This raises a real question — can social media be trusted as a news source?

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Written by ShawnHessinger
5587 days ago

An interesting take on a subject that seems at the heart of questions over the new media, credibility. Yet, arguably the general public has never at any point in history been in such an excellent position to debunk, or just to ignore, such information because there are so many sources from which to compare and decide individually on the credibility of a message. Compare this with the world of traditional media where, in the 1930's, the credibility of a single network unwittingly created the impression that Martians were invading the Earth or when, according to author Dennis McDougal in his book Priviledged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the LA Times Dynasty, the Times reported a non-existent Japanese air attack on Los Angeles during the World War II era. There are many other examples. Certainly users of new media must be sure of their sources and honest in their dealings, but the idea that the public is somehow safer in a world with fewer media outlets makes little sense and is the complaint of traditionalists who long for the good old days without seeing any potential in the future.

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