The Growing Importance of Social Media

As we enter 2012 it seems strange to think that only a few years ago; social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were merely just a flickering idea in a budding entrepreneurs mind. Both of these mediums are now so vital to people’s everyday lives that they are the first thing people check when they wake up and the last thing they look at before they go to bed. Begrudgingly, I admit that I am one of these people. But as well as being useful for organising ones social life and checking out the latest dramas filling the enviable lives of many talent-less celebrities; social media has become vital in breaking and making news stories.

Facebook was first set up in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and three of his fellow students while they attended Harvard University. After initially limiting usage to only students attending Havard; Facebook was then made available to other Universities in America before moving onto high schools. From September 2006 it became available worldwide; and as of 2011 there are an estimated 800 million users and Facebook is reportedly worth over $15 billion.

In 2007; Barack Obama used the power of Facebook to help him to victory in the 2008 presidential election. A relatively unknown entity; Obama drummed up support and encouraged members of the public to help fund his successful campaign. This allowed him to reach out to millions of people across America and gave him the opportunity to deliver his policies before his fellow candidates had time to even think about theirs. A new superpower was born; and it wasn’t Obama.

Twitter was the brainchild of an American by the name of Jack Dorsey: and it went live to the public in March 2006. After becoming popular among celebrities such as Stephen Fry; the micro-blogging site was seen as a direct competitor to Facebook. But in truth; Twitter and Facebook are vastly different. Whereas Facebook is seen more as a tool for the wider public to communicate with each other on a social basis; Twitter is seen as a suitable medium from which celebrities, politicians, buisness’s and journalists can share their thoughts with us (the general public). This is one of the reasons Twitter has gained such a vast following. Facebook is technically more sophisticated and offers perhaps more entertaining applications which people can use; but Twitter offers something that the general public greatly desire; access to both interesting information and the lives of people that they inspire to live themselves.

Many moons ago (well, only about three years), television news networks such as Sky News and BBC News 24 were seen as the main gateways to breaking news. But thanks to the advent of social media that is no longer the case. People can now tweet breaking news stories as they unfold via smart phones or portable laptops. With the use of hash-tagging; the tweet can then be picked up by anyone across the world. A recent example of social media being solely responsible for the development of a story was after a video was posted on the internet called “My Tram Experience”. The video showed an intoxicated white woman racially abusing a tram carriage full of black people. This caused shock and outrage amongst the public; and soon enough the story and video spread all over Twitter. Public figures such as Piers Morgan even picked up on the story and there was a public outcry for something to be done. The following day the woman was arrested.

Twitter has become a prime avenue for journalists to break developing stories. More often than not, journalists such as Dan Roan (BBC’s Sports Correspondent) will tweet the ongoing developments of a story and then guide his “followers” to watch his full report on the BBC News channel. It is an extremely effective way for journalists and news outlets to direct traffic to their websites and news channels. People will now pick up the strands of a news story on Twitter and then go onto websites such as BBC News for further information.

However, the breaking of stories via Twitter has begun to cause murmurings of discontent in some news agencies. The Associated Press (AP) recently reprimanded a number of their journalists for breaking news stories via Twitter before putting it on the wire. News agencies such as the AP feel that Twitter can at times be inaccurate and is devaluing the traditional methods of delivering breaking news. The AP policy on the use of social media by their journalists reads as follows; "If you have a piece of information, a photo or a video that is compelling, exclusive and/or urgent enough to be considered breaking news, you should file it to the wire, and photo and video points before you consider putting it out on social media." There was also a strongly worded email sent to all AP journalists by Managing Editor Lou Ferrara saying employees “first duty was to the agency; and not Twitter.” It is evident that agencies such as AP feel they are increasingly being undermined by the rising importance of Twitter to breaking news.

Facebook and Twitter has been accused of becoming “dangerous”; in some circles. Recently, a man who was sentenced to death in America had his sentence overturned due to a member of the jury tweeting during court proceedings. The trial was declared invalid after Randy Franco posted a series of tweets including one which read; “Choices to be made. Hearts to be broken. We each define the great line.”

During the summer riots in the UK; Twitter and Facebook became a platform for people to plan the terrible events that saw towns and shops being destroyed. In some quarters, people called for Facebook and Twitter to be shut down temporarily in order to stop people from being able to plan which areas would be targeted. One man posted a picture of himself on Facebook holding a bag of Tesco’s value basmati rice that he had stolen; and the social media sites seemed to be taken over by opportunistic criminals laughing in the face of justice by bragging about their misdemeanours. This, by many, was seen as the dark side of social media.

Over the last five years, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have come to define the lives of many people. They are viewed by many as an opportunity to share their thoughts with the world and a chance to learn more about the world around them. They are now a source from which news stories can be broken and they have come to define modern day technology.

So at the end of this article I ask myself the question; what has come to define the beginning of the 21st century? Could it be the War on Terror? Could it be the continuing economic difficulties facing us? Or could it be the year long “Who shot Phil Mitchell” plot line from Eastender’s which gripped the nation in 2001; (a close second I think)? But despite the significance of all of these events; the birth of social media is what has defined and will continue to define us this century.