Mallory Jones
mj710116@ohio.edu
As the digital age continues to develop rapidly, the way to get news is also growing. Twitter was first used as a social media platform for memes and quick remarks. However, soon after the character limit was changed from 140 to 280, people started to share more than just a short thought and funny pictures.
With Twitter's growth in popularity, many journalists, or even the new organizations as a whole, are moving to Twitter to get the attention of the viewers. Young teens and college students alike are turning to Twitter to get their information. It is quick, easy to read, and sometimes funny.
On the other hand, there can be a considerable downside to Twitter as a news source. In 2013, Brendan Nyhan wrote an article explaining why a news organization thought it would be better to give out information on Twitter that the organization was not 100% sure if it was accurate yet. With news addicted being glued to their phones, the misinformation spread like wildfire, which can be a widespread problem with Twitter.
Who cares if the information they are getting is accurate if the information is fast and convenient? Everyone should; however, it is very rare for the reader to do their own research into the facts of what he or she is reading. If the reader likes it, they want to share it with their "followers" as soon as possible.
Yes, everything on Twitter is fast, and with so many people being on the platform, it is common for one tweet to get lost or never seen. With that being said, how does someone, especially a journalist who is trying to share their content, breakthrough all of the noise?
Ann Friedman gives journalists a substantial list of reasons on why they should or should not go to Twitter to post his or her information, or just to have an account in general. One of her reasons to use twitter is to adapt to new platforms is a lifelong professional skill. Plus only 19% of adults use the internet, but 59% of those adults are a journalist.
With all of these being said, can someone consider Twitter to be a modern-day news source? I believe so. Journalists everywhere are starting to think about joining the platform more and more each day. Twitter is an easy and fun place that maybe one day could be considered informational as well.
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