Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
In 1964, American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan released a record (the disc that preceded CDs
and DVDs) called The Times They Are a-Changin'. Little did he know then, how his words
would have a reflective meaning 50 years later.
Just over eight years ago, one of the first major social networking service Facebook was
launched. A year later, another social media service, YouTube was created and then one year
after that, rounding out the “big three,” Twitter was introduced. What started out as computer
programs for college kids to hook up, became the foundation for a relatively unknown Senator
from Illinois to use in his campaign to become president.
The introduction of social media enabled the masses to create newsworthy conversations by
sharing their views about important and timely issues. These unfiltered posts served as a way for
them to state their support, record their protests or bring attention to their cause.
“News is inherently social,” said Santiago Alonso-Lord, the Director of Project Management for
Engagement at the New York Times. “News stories already have social elements: people,
locations, issues: social media makes it easier to tap into these.”
Online media has the ability to illustrate points in a way print journalism cannot. The Web can
create a virtual space in which every element of a story comes together to give audiences a
nuanced view of a story.
Photo galleries combine information and images, supplementing a traditional article. Videos
from important events are never seen in full length on television, but can be viewed in whole on
the Web for everyone willing to search.
United Steelworkers Communications
During the first presidential debates between President Obama and Governor Romney, over 10.3
million tweets were recorded on Twitter during the 90-minute debate.
The following day, the President had 29.3 million “likes” on his Facebook page as compared to
8.2 million “likes” for Governor Romney. An even greater split on Twitter showed Obama with
20.5 million as compared to Mitt with 1.3 million “followers.”
The growth of social media has had a direct impact on traditional journalism and how news
sources distribute their information. Income for most traditional newspapers has plummeted
leading to fewer journalists and resources.
Many journalists and their employers reluctantly held back from posting articles on the Web with
the belief that this trend would decrease the value of an article and that this social media trend
would be dangerous for the future of the newspaper business.
But making news articles more readily available is not entirely negative. By moving stories to
Web-based media like Twitter and Facebook has allowed interesting stories to be read more
often than they would have if they were buried deep in the middle of a newspaper.
Electronic media also give journalists the ability to spread important information that might not
have enough details to fill out traditional newspaper articles. Smaller stories can find a life on the
Internet instead of being shelved because of larger story spacing.
Using social media gives the traditional media the opportunity to provide users with information
on breaking news when it happens as it happens and since many Web stories do not contain all
the detail, journalists have the ability to quench the thirst of the public at the moment of
importance rather than waiting till the newspaper is printed.
United Steelworkers Communications
The growth of social media has been nothing short of phenomenal. Facebook has over one
billion users since it launched in 2004. Twitter has over 520 million users since 2006 and
YouTube has over 750 million unique users visit each month since it was created in 2005.
Social media has proven to be an important and integral part of modern day business operations,
and cannot be ignored. It is safe to say that the future of social media and journalism will remain
linked for the foreseeable future.
Groups and/or organizations, wishing to grow, should remember The Times They Are a-Changin'
and consider integrating traditional and social media to enhance their communication plans.
For more on the USW social networks, go to https://www.facebook.com/steelworkers,
http://twitter.com/steelworkers, http://www.youtube.com/steelworkers or here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unitedsteelworkers
United Steelworkers Communications