Thanks to social media, we all are publishers. Whether we have been trained to be media savvy or not, keyboards and free social media accounts have been popping up on our computer and mobile device screens.
It used to be that mass media was well controlled outlet by a few. Newspaper, radio and broadcast TV were regulated and there were professional journalists who sharpened their craft of writing objective and factual reports that readers can trust. Opinions were separated from facts, and the organization behind the media stood behind its journalistic integrity.
The 7th most watched video on YouTube with 479,654,637 view as of today.
Only if all contents were as innocent as this...
Here's the problem that I see this with everyone getting access to global media:
We are just getting used to this new media.
We have not been talking or teaching kids about how to use social media. People don't distinguish whether something is a fact or opinion. There is nothing that tells the subscribers whether something is a fact or opinion.
It used to be that mass media was well controlled outlet by a few. Newspaper, radio and broadcast TV were regulated and there were professional journalists who sharpened their craft of writing objective and factual reports that readers can trust. Opinions were separated from facts, and the organization behind the media stood behind its journalistic integrity.
Not any more. We now have blogs, wikis, tweets, Facebook, Quora, Branch and many more public social media. People can whatever comes to their mind and click publish to reach anyone who care to visit and subscribe to the site.
We all need to understand that social media is collection of individual voices. People are publishing things without any filter and very little censorship. A low-budget cheesy YouTube video can be seen by many people in the Middle East. K-Pop horse dancing video can become a global popular culture. A father shooting his daughter's laptop can resonate with teenager parents around the world about the challenges of raising a child in digital age.
Social media posts are not about facts and opinions. It is about expressing individual thoughts from any one who care to share them. They do not represent service provider's view. They certainly do not represent the view of majority just because a video clip is available from YouTube.
The 7th most watched video on YouTube with 479,654,637 view as of today.
Only if all contents were as innocent as this...
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