The changing face of media consumption

About a week ago, Kate made a really great post here on the Pure blog dealing with the changing face of news consumption.  At the end she goes on to briefly mention the intern (that's me) and a differing view of this growing social media connection to news.

I completely agree that if I relied solely on Twitter and Facebook as my daily source of news and issues, I would know entirely too much about video games, movies, punk rock and UFC fights (err, maybe I already do...).  That being said, I do think that the social sharing of news and current events has quite a bit of potential for increasing awareness and knowledge for many users.

Social sharing, to me, feels like a natural progression of digital news.  Using tools like the Flipboard app on the iPad or even something as simple as Google Reader, we are in some way taking back our power as editor and gatekeeper of our own news feed.  The immersive nature of technology allows me to read an article, and within minutes, link to several other articles about the issue, a wikipedia entry, or a video report documenting those same topics.

Groups like Breaking News, The New York Times, CNN and the Wall Street Journal are seeing sizable success through apps and accounts on Android, the iPhone, Facebook and Twitter.  But ultimately, it falls on users of social media to help prove my point.  That's why I'm issuing this challenge to social media users everywhere: Take an active role in the spread of knowledge, news and ideas that impact our world.  Go beyond the latest news story about Antennagate or the new Call of Duty game.

We have seen glimpses into the power that social media has to impact news and society.  Think of all the tweets, video and still images the world was privy to during upheaval in Iran or an earthquake in Haiti.  We have the ability to gain insight and perspective from millions of people all over the globe.  Now, more than ever we have the ability to educate ourselves on important issues facing our lives.

Go forth and share!

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Geoff

@savestheclash