Coming from a journalistic background with a stint in public relations and communications, an inclination to learn about the social media networking and its positive attributes seemed almost inevitable in my case. My curiosity to understand the social media space got the better of me. A month of goggling, surfing the net for any topic associated with the social media, scanning discussions involving highly rated social media bloggers, participants at discussion boards, forums and community networks got me thinking--- is social media here to stay?
Yes, without doubt, my inner self asserted! Social media seems to be turning an average individual into a prolific journalist. So is the future of journalists globally nearing an end.
Thanks to the discovery of social media space. Now everyone wants to be someone and what better way to reach the stage of becoming ‘someone’ by the exceptional tool called ‘The BLOG.’
A quick scan of few blogs on the internet showed emergence of a few thought leaders, a few reporters talking passionately about the things they like. It should definitely send a red alert to journalists the world over. They will have to reinvent themselves or face extinction.
In order to keep up with the rapidly expanding social media networks and the amount of news flowing around, even traditional media such as newspapers and magazines will have to innovate and reinvent themselves or they will be dead before one utters ‘Jack Robinson’.
This trend is visible for all to see. Take the case of the ongoing financial sector crisis in the US. A few days ago I was reading a top line international newspaper-- the epitome of classic journalism at play (name deleted for obvious reasons). And this is what I found. The newspaper was quoting discussions in the chat room about what people had to say about the crisis. Now-a-days even international columnists with impeccable reputation are taking their news pegs from blogs and chats.
If such trend continues, “traditional journalism” is sure to die a slow death. Although it won’t happen immediately but the fact that I am already referring to the so called journalism as “traditional journalism” is definitely a case in point. So what do we call social media journalism----the new age journalism! Any comments.
