If you go to your Twitter homepage, you are immediately able to see what the current “Trends” are. These trends are created through a new form of organizing information – the hashtag. Alfred Hermida explains that “the hash convention means messages on a particular topic can be identified, tracked and grouped to reflect what new or newsworthy issues are capturing people’s attention on Twitter at any one time, displaying the aggregate interests and attention of these groups of users” (2012) in his article TWEETS AND TRUTH: Journalism as a discipline of collaborative verification (See full article here).
Everyday, thousands of people use Twitter to update others on their daily lives. Now even news reporters and large companies are using social media to update their audiences. This allows users to access global information in a more familiar and simpler way. Simply by clicking on a hashtag, a user is able to see all of the other tweets with the same tagline that are listed from most current to oldest. This ensures that the tweeter has a live feed of information about the topic at their finger tips. This past year, Facebook has also added the ability to hashtag to their list of capabilities to allow their users to participate in the same manner.
Hermida goes on the say that “Twitter provides a mix of news, information and comment, usually connected to current reality, but without an established order. As a result, journalism is not just in the process of negotiating a shift to a digital media environment, but more significantly to a networked one” (2012).
Check out this YouTube video by Twitter to see the 2013 top trending hashtags:
Not only has this made news more attainable, but also encourages the user to express their own thoughts or factual details of the trend if they are present at the time of its occurrence. This had allowed the average joe to become a 21st Century Reporter.
“The web environment provides extensive civic potential; there is a wide array of participatory forms available what we can call civic practices. The tools are more and more effective, less expensive, and easier to use; access and collaboration are increasing, and we are evolving from mostly media consumers to many media producers jargon calls this synthesis of traditionally distinct roles. From the standpoint of participation, these are indeed impressive and historically unprecedented participatory possibilities” (Peter Dahlgren, 2012) (See full article here).
By consumers and providers both participating in these social media environments, it allows a more connected form of communication. The user can openly share their thoughts and opinions that companies can refer to and collect information if the user utilizes the hashtag the company has provided. This is a more more direct means of contact.
There is no limit to what one can say on Twitter. Anything (and I mean anything) goes. A user can report on everyday life, whether it is from a personal standpoint or an objective one. Social media has made documenting information a daily aspect of modern day life.
I may not always update my Facebook statuses or my Twitter feed, but when I do, it is typically due to an important event such as a birthday, an engagement, a function, etc. My posts vary between my life and what I see on the news or in my social groups. I am a reporter of my own life.
Thanks for reading!
– HeidiOnTheGo
Heidi On The Go 