how social media has changed the spread of news

How Social Media HasChanged the Spread of News

By: Isabella O'Malley

Images: cc via Flickr.com

The number of internet users worldwide isestimated at 3.17 billion people (1).

Approximately 60% of US adultsget their news from social media

(2).

66% of Facebook users and 59% ofTwitter users get their news from the

respective sites (2).Images: cc via Flickr.com

We check our phones approximately150 times a day, which allows us to

stay in constant reach of newsupdates, instead of waiting for the

morning paper the next day (3).

Image: cc via Flickr.com

Following news accounts on socialmedia allows for instantaneous

updates from verified and reputablesources, which allows us to learn

about, share, and follow accurate andlive updates from anywhere in the

world.

Images: cc via Flickr.com

The news section on Facebook has a trendingsection, which is determined by engagement,pages that the user has "liked", and the user's

location (4).


On a computer, the Facebook trending topics aregrouped into 5 categories: all news, politics,

science and technology, sports, andentertainment (4).

News regarding global crisisoften become trending topics,such as natural disasters and

acts of terrorism. Throughsocial media, people can share

their reactions to such newsand can raise awareness.


#showingsupport

#raisingawareness

Some critics argue that supporting causeson social media only creates an impressionof support and that supporters may appear

more engaged than they actually (5).


Clicktivism: the use of digitalcommunication technologies in

support of worthy causes (5). Image: cc via Flickr.com

Examples of sites that rely on clicktivisminclude:

Kadi McDonald explains that millennials careabout what others think. When we make

decisions, especially good ones- like making acontribution to a cause – we want our friends and

family, and our entire social media network, toknow about it (6). Image: cc via Flickr.com

Clicktivism awarenessproved to be successful;

the viral “ALS IceBucket Challenge”

raised 800% over whatwas raised during the

same period theprevious year (5).


According to websites Avaaz and

Change.org, for social media support to

be effective, online activism must be

backed with real world activism: letters

to government officials, advocacy

meetings, public demonstrations (7).


How longdoes theimpact

last?

Of the 70% peoplethat use social media

to learn aboutchanges they can

make in their lives tocreate positive social

or environmentalchange, only 25%made changes (8).

There is always bias in the news wereceive. The “Trending Topics” on

Facebook, which reaches 1.7 billionpeople, has recently been criticized for

intentionally excluding conservativenews with regards to the upcoming US

presidential election (9).

Different content reaches different people. OnFacebook, women are more likely to regularly

see posts about health, entertainment andpeople and events in their community, whileposts about weather, entertainment, crime,

and health are more commonly seen by womenon Twitter (10).

While some criticsemphasize the

negatives of newssharing on social

media and theresulting rise of

clicktivism,obtaining newsthrough social

media has allowedfor more exposure

to causes thatotherwise wouldnot have had an

audience.


References:External:

(10) Barthel, M., Shearer, E., Gottfried, J., & Mitchell, A. (2015, July 14). The Evolving Role ofNews on Twitter and Facebook. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org/2015/07/14/the-

evolving-role-of-news-on-twitter-and-facebook/ Chaykowski, K. (2016, May 11). Why Facebook's Trending News Controversy Is A Good Thing.Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2016/05/11/why-facebooks-

trending-news-controversy-is-a-good-thing/#7827f622251b (4) Facebook. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641

(2) Gottfried, J., & Shearer, E. (2016, May 26). News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2016.Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-

platforms-2016/ (1) Number of internet users 2005-2015 | Statistic. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.statista.com/statistics/273018/number-of-internet-users-worldwide/

Course sources:(7) Kielburger, M., & Kielburger, C. (2015, April 10). A click is not enough to have impact onworld. Retrieved from http://cnews.canoe.com/CNEWS/World/2015/04/10/22337541.html

(3) Martix, Sidneyeve. “Module 02: Online Friendship.” Film 260S Digital Culture Trends. (6) Moodle. Martix, Sidneyeve. “Module 04: Social Good.” Film 260S Digital Culture Trends.

Moodle. Sharma, R. (2010, August 20). (5) Stop Pouring Ice on Clicktivism. Retrieved from

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ritusharma/stop-pouring-ice-on-click_b_5692555.html Stern,C. M. (2015, March 31).

(8) In Praise of Clicktivism. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caryl-m-stern/in-praise-of-clicktivism_b_6978314.html

Note: Content created on canva.com

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