The world is changing and that includes how and when people receive their news. With people at events like the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings posting happenings as they occur, it’s possible to find out about world-changing news before it’s reported by mainstream news organizations.
Citizen journalism is a term that makes some journalists cheer and news producers groan, but it’s here to stay. And some agencies, governments, and non-profits are using this new trend to their advantages.
I Saw It Happen, or Did I?
While many of the so-called breaking news items end up being false, there have been several world changing events that broke on social media.
These include the Egyptian uprising and the uprising in Bahrain both in 2011 and a person tweeting complaints about the racket next door only to find out later he was the first to announce the death of Osama Bin Laden.
In developed nations like the US, citizens reporting situations as they occur can be nuisances at times, but in Mozambique news organizations depend on citizen reporters to help them cover some stories.
In that country’s 2013 elections, individuals uploaded information to a new online news program letting people know what polling places were open, if voters were being terrorized and if people were showing up at the polls.
During the elections, Mozambique’s @Verdade newspaper used the Citizen Desk toolkit to monitor various data feeds, verify the information, save notes in a contact database and then choose the best content and include it in live articles.
There was even a contest held to gather and analyze data to find new ways to help African news organizations cover specific events for the public by taking advantage of citizen journalism.
State, local and federal agencies are using data analytics tools to sift through social media sites looking for information to help prevent certain crimes, find witnesses to crimes and even catch criminals bragging about their participation in open cases.
Schools are also using data collection on social media sites combined with big data analytics to monitor cyberbullying and to locate troubled students who may need help. Some parents believe this is an invasion of privacy while others applaud it as a proactive approach to help curb some of the more dangerous aspects of school life for students.
As the legal community struggles to catch up with the reality of life on the Internet, agencies, schools and some news organizations are taking advantage of social media news to better their communities.