How the ‘social’ in social media has changed over time
Nearly 500 years ago, invention of the printing press changed the way news and information travelled around the world. Not only did it shape a medium of knowledge but induced a paradigm shift in the way we looked at communication. Relatively soon, the first printed newspaper appeared in 1605, marking the onset of recorded mass monologue. The first printed newspaper in 1605.
Figure 1 The first printed newspaper from 1605
Since then, the telegraph and telephone took the plunge in a dialogue-based communication and soon after, the radio and television led to the development of audio-video mass media. We have developed from one-to-one communication, to-one-to many — and now we are in an interesting time. With the development of social media, for the first time in history, there exists a many-to-many, mass media communication for news and information.
Social media has been expanding at an increasing rate ever since the invention of the Internet. This is a huge leap in developing as a global society — we are living in the most interconnected time in history. Every detail of a story, or an event, or even a heart-touching incident that takes place in any corner of the world, is communicated to virtually everybody else, but not on the news channels or radios, but on Facebook pages and trending tweets. News is no more a responsibility of the journalist, but the duty of the common man. An earthquake that is occurring in some part of India, will be tweeted about, as it is happening, allowing news to reach to the people, the government and the relief organizations, signalling them to react as soon as possible. And that is truly monumental.
A couple of decades ago, when a TV journalist read out the news to the viewers of the channel, nobody, in their wildest dreams could have imagined, how in the next few years, the way news would travel, will have changed forever. The internet has shaped the media and inspired a generation. Not only has it helped make our lives better but gave us the tool to communicate and share with one another, our stories. Let me tell you why this is important. News is a beautiful concept. It’s a medium that binds the world together, and social media is a platform where news can be expressed, explored and talked about. In this era, news travels globally, faster and more accurately than ever, and some of these stories, touch hearts, and inspire actions.
In 2009, WikiLeaks, a news agency that publishes classified media, leaked a story about an oil trading company Trafigura and its attempts to block the publication of an internal study about the harmful health effects of dumping waste in African States. This news led to revelations of many unethical and dangerous operations by other organizations. Media has the power to right the wrong. They said it right, ‘News can either make a nation, or break a nation.’
News has evolved and is no more just a medium to share current affairs but a platform to discuss ongoing issues. Never in history has there been a time, when there was such an enormous dais to express views and to stand together in times of difficulty.
However, this transformation of news has not been all positive. In the metamorphosis of social media being remodelled as news; there is a dark side. The unrighteous lateral of fake news and rumours with intention of causing unrest. The speed of flow of information in this technological era, also serves as the perfect intermediate for sharing disconcerting information. Another essential problem that arises from this situation is clickbait. The frauds of the modern day. A clickbait is content on the internet having a disobliging purpose in the title to attract the audience to click on the links. This gives them unethical revenues and may spread false messages.
The concept of fake news is not just sharing of knowledge which is not true, but also correct information which is regarded as fake to maintain one’s reputation or irk someone else’s. This silencing of legitimate questions and the media by the corrupt and powerful, is a matter of abuse and a threat to democracy. In a recent example from 2016, In his political campaign, Donald Trump was unsettled of a story by CNN, therefore he labelled it as fake. This misuse of authority, deprived the media of authenticity and legitimacy. The presence of social media assisted the speedy flow of matter and escalated this issue more than required.
Nonetheless, many tech giants like Google and Facebook are trying to battle fake news which has become an ignominious phenomenon in the recent years. Coming on strong, the ‘donnybrook’ against the lies and propagandas which have an economic or a political interest have not only shaken the fundamentals of news and media but the morals of society.
A. J. Liebling quoted, “People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.”
A very powerful message, from a very unpromising time. A.J. Liebling was a famous American journalist from the 20th century who was associated with ‘The New Yorker’. His message signifies that the people’s government has engendered power from people, and the news is the pen in the war against deceit. On the onset of fake news and the dwindling freedom of press, we must ask ourselves one question.
“Should we let this chicane of dupery gain control of the validity of news we read?”
And the unilateral approach to this question proves to us the severity of this issue. However, examining the validity is ultimately in the hands of the citizens. If we choose to react proactively to ensure the rationality of news, we could together overcome this problem and make sure that news and media is an independent organization and is not scrutinized by the corrupt or the government. Information must be a fundamental human right.
