Pages such as the one spoken about in this article have become more and more common with the change in role of the audience. These pages are commonly started by members of the community who have no connection to legacy media outlets. They serve as a source of news and information for the community, with members of the public sending in news, photos and other information to be published on the page. This ‘citizen journalism’ is made possible by technology such as smart phones which enable anyone at any time to take photos or record an event and distribute it through social media to a worldwide audience.
However this can have negative consequences as well, one of which is outlines in this article. These contributions sent in are often not fact checked which can lead to cases such as the one stated in the article where a man was incorrectly accused of being a part of the Boston bombings, was found dead, apparently from suicide. Cases such as this show how important fact checking and information quality can be.
Citizen journalism will continue to grow as a concept as the world becomes more and more connected. However we need to be wary that we don’t accept anything we read on the internet as fact and still apply the same high standards that we have/do to legacy media.
Sources:
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/05/14/4004510.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jayson-demers/how-social-media-is-suppo_b_3239076.html
Hayden Skates 