The Power of Social Networking Sites

In order for any blog post, newspaper article or TV broadcast to be credible, it needs to be honest and trustworthy. Once any outlet violates the trust of its audience, readership will exponentially decline. Two of Brock’s four core tasks of journalism speak to this crucial credibility. Journalists need to verify or eliminate “doubt about what has happened especially about things that are, or are likely to be disputed,” and they need a witness, which increasingly is “best captured, with whatever technology is available, by an experienced eye-witness” (202). Twitter and YouTube have both developed into social networking sites used for this purpose. Millions turn to the sites for first-hand accounts of an event and it is up to the journalist to verify the content. One of the most prominent examples of citizens and subsequently journalists expertly using social networking sites was in the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. Khaled Said was subjected to a horrifying public beating from Egyptian police. “Police claimed he had choked to death on illegal drugs but outraged Egyptians posted contrary evidence on Facebook pages and YouTube” (Coll 1). There is no way to deny the blatant beating of a citizen, particularly when it is caught on camera. Although police officials attempted to skew the narrative, the video is inherently truthful in its portrayal. Journalists around the world immediately reported on the beating within the context of the revolution and pointed to it as another instance of government abuse. Journalism will remain viable in a digital age where videos, from sites like YouTube, are increasingly engaging and emotional. There is no debating first-hand documentation so as Brock noted, as long as journalists can effectively utilize social networking sites in reporting, a renewed trust and engagement will be instilled in its readers.

Works Cited:

Coll, Steve. "The Internet: For Better or Worse." New York Review of Books 7 April 2011: 1-11. Print.