Literature Review of "Your News in 140 Characters: Exploring the Role of Social Media in Journalism" by W. Stassen

APA Citation

Stassen, W. (2010). Your news in 140 characters: exploring the role of social media in journalism. Global Media Journal, 4. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=21&sid=f094e237-acdf-4c0b-a837-27cb89c63730%40sessionmgr12&vid=2

Overview

            In this article, Wilma Stassen analyzes social media and the effect it has on journalism and online news sites. Specific attention was paid to News24, a South African news organization. The context of the study is outlined by Stassen first giving a brief overview of the history of online news, Web 2.0, local online news websites in South Africa, News24, and social media. The social media that was analyzed in this study was blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Social bookmarking, and YouTube. The issue of the digital divide is also brought up when Stassen addressed the context of the study. The digital divide is described as the fact that social media is
reserved for a privileged minority who has access to the Internet, and who is somewhat computer-savvy (Stassen, 2010). Stassen pointed out that this divide is larger in South Africa where the study was conducted. The theoretical background of this research study was the information society (Fourie, 2001) and media evolution theories (Stöber, 2004). According to Fourie, the information society paradigm is concerned with new media, information and communication technology. Fourie says the central feature is two-way capability and new media offers more interactivity and sociability. Stöber’s theory of media evolution suggests that new media is not the consequence of invention, but from a two-stage process of inventing and social institutionalizing (Stassen, 2010).

Methodology

            The research question of this study was: “What role does social media play in News24’s interacting with its audience, with particular focus on Facebook and Twitter?” The study itself was aimed to “contribute to the body of knowledge on the topic of social media” (Stassen, 2010). According to Stassen, this study was relevant to conduct because of the growing popularity of social media within news organizations because of the interactivity and interconnectedness it creates. There is also very little research done on this topic in regards to South Africa, prompting Stassen to take action. A qualitative research method was utilized to conduct the study. For the research design, Stassen described it as “a case study into a South African online publication’s application of social networking tools”. Survey research was chosen under the qualitative research method to collect information. Stassen used the cross-sectional survey method, questionnaires, to collect data. The sample chosen for this study included three staff members at News24 and a former staff member of 24.com to complete the survey. The three staff members chosen were the chief editor, community editor, and the news editor. The last participant was the former Social Media Manager at 24.com. They were chosen because they were involved in the decision-making and practice of social media for News24. The survey was sent to participants via e-mail and then sent back to the researcher.

Findings

            The questionnaire was focused solely on the digital news service in South Africa, News24, concerning the role of social media in journalism. Each participant gave their opinion on different aspects. On the topic of social media, the news editor saw it as serving as a platform of communication. The chief editor viewed it as something that will become a fact of day-to-day life in the media. When asked how News24 applied Facebook and Twitter, the chief editor said it was used to communicate with the audience even when they are not browsing the News24 website. According to the chief editor, this is constantly building the brand. The other participants agreed that brand building was a main reason for using the social media platforms, but it also helps to build community among the readers and help them to participate in the telling of the story. The participants were asked what the advantages of social media were for News24. Brand and community building was the response from two participants, while one said that the formation and availability of stories and news is faster. One participant also included story generation, content promotion, customer service, and a way to gain attention. Participants agreed that social networking is important to journalism because it can be constantly updated and feedback is constant. As for the future of social media in journalism, participants talked about social media as a powerful tool and about competition increasing online. The final conclusion made was that the study showed what an important role social media will play in the future of journalism and the fear of it replacing traditional journalism is unfounded. Stassen concluded that news organizations would better succeed by embracing social media to their advantage, such as News24¸ instead of competing for the attention of the readers.

Critique

            As a whole, I thought Stassen’s article was really well written and very informative. The subject was interesting, but the study itself was not very extensive. First, the sample size was very small. Stassen chose to focus on a local South African news organization, but only used participants involved from that side of the spectrum. By only choosing staff members of News24, Stassen did not gain any sort of knowledge from those who are using the social media site and the News24 site consistently from a user-basis. Secondly, the staff members could be seen as a biased sample. The participants work with social media and work for News24, so they are more inclined to give positive feedback concerning the usage of Facebook and Twitter for the news organization. The participants were chosen, instead of randomly picked, resulting in more filtered responses. Lastly, the study was only done in South Africa. This is not representative of all news organizations using social media or the way that other organizations may utilize social media.

Final Project

            In relation to our final group project, I thought this article was very fitting. Since our group is studying the effects of changing technology for businesses, the effect of social media on any business is a topic we will be addressing. We are asking professionals in the communication field to write a blog post concerning technology changes in their particular area of study and we will interview some of the participants about the same topic. Social media is definitely one of the largest areas of technology used by businesses and after reading this study, I am more convinced that a journalist should be included in this group of communication professionals. We did not have one originally included on our rough draft of whom we would want to interview, but I feel that they are probably one of the most affected areas in the communication field. This study gives an idea of what kind of questions we could ask the participants and how we should conduct the research. It also raises the question of what the future may look like for these professionals, which is something I had not yet considered.