Finding an Identity Online

Amy Soga
AS158606@ohio.edu

Social media has become part of a lot of people's lives over the last few years and journalists are no different. Not only do journalists use social media for professional purposes, they also have personal lives as well. A reporter may want to share their opinion on something going on in the world on their Facebook wall, but have to censor themselves because of their job as a professional journalist and their responsibility to be neutral.

In the article Journalists and Social Media: How Far is Too Far? by Paul Gillin for SocialMediaToday Gillin states, "However, a journalists ability to behave in an impartial manner-even if he or she has an opinion-is a core skill of the profession." Being a journalist we know our responsibility to stay unbiased and write unbiasedly. Now, with social media a whole new set of guidelines have to be applied to the use of social media sites for journalists. Although most of these guidelines seem to be common sense, there also seems to be some aspects of social media that could still be a blur to a journalist. In the article Limits of Control by Pamela J. Podger, she states, "When do reporters "friend" sources? Do they risk revealing them? What if a source wants to friend a reporter?"

All of these questions are unique to social media sites and have become something that every newspaper and reporter has to think about. Our generation has grown up with technology at our fingertips and are always the first to try and use all of the new gadgets and sites. For us, the use of social media has become a way of life from personal to professional. Distinguishing how to use our social media presence for not only personal ways will be our next step.

One of the most important uses of social media is for news outlets and reporters. Being able to break a story the moment it happens via Twitter or writing a blog for your newspaper have become just another way to spread news to more and more people. In the article Journalist Views on Social Media's Influence on Reporting Differ by Beat, the article states, "Over two- thirds of lifestyle reporters, for example, said social media was having a negative impact on the accuracy of reporting in their area." Now because of social media journalists can break stories and have the upper hand on reporting news, but also the average citizen can report news as well and the accuracy of their stories can be poor.

In an article by Beth Pickhard, Fusion of Journalists and Social Media, Pickhard states, "Social media lends more to the branding of a person." Journalists have to find their own identity online and use then it in their reporting and coverage. Journalists need to brand themselves to gain readership and followers online for their reporting. Hiding behind their newspaper or magazine will not be beneficial in the social media world. Journalists have to walk the line between their professional and personal social media presence. Staying unbiased as well as gaining a defining identity online are two aspects of social media that a journalist has to balance.