Strategically Communicating

Did anyone else know that this is going on?  Just the other day, I was informed that Century Link (my internet provider) can limit my access and use if they suspect illegal downloading.  My friend who works at a coffee shop says that Century Link has them on some sort of probation right now for too many customers illegally downloading.  So I did a quick search and came up with this:

Big Brother: Hollywood & Your Internet Provider Will Be Checking Your Download Activity to ‘Protect You’

Does anyone have any more information?  I’m just curious.

Professional journalists regardless of who they work for are assumed to be credible and trained.  In the hiring process, they had to meet some professional standard in order to secure their job.  Therefore, regardless of whether the reader agreed with the journalist’s story, opinion or position, the journalist is at least seen as someone that is a trained professional.

“Citizen Journalists” on the other hand can be useful.  I’m sure many of them are trained and know what they are doing and can produce good work.  However their information is automatically wide open for speculation and questioning.  Their credibility is always in question, even if it’s a good story.  A good writer can make a story believable.

I was once working on a class project related to interpersonal communication in relationships.  In doing my research I ran into a blog that contained what appeared to be good content.  This blogger had a strong following.  I attempted to reach to owner of the blog and eventually made contact.  In our communication, I complimented his blog and work.  I asked him what his educational background was and what makes him a “relationship expert.”  He told me that he doesn’t have a formal background in interpersonal communications or relationships for that matter.  It was all opinion based on what he has experienced, seen others experience and informal untrained polls he takes.

I felt bad for his followers because many of them had genuine issues they were discussing and they appeared to believe what he posted.  Maybe that’s why they followed because they heard what they wanted to hear.  I un-friended him.

Someone else asked the question “How do you decide which sources are credible and which sources are not?”  That’s probably how.  You just have to chase them down and ask for their credentials, training and sources.

My questions:

Is it worth chasing down the credibility of a citizen journalist to decide if you will believe their story?

At what point to you give them credibility and start believing what they write?

I’m a 21st century digital boy, I don’t know how to read but I’ve got a lot of toys… — Bad Religion, “21st Century (Digital Boy)“, 1990

Call me a dinosaur. Or a traditionalist. Or just a plain old stick-in-the-mud. But those who readily anoint “citizen journalism” as the inevitable successor to legacy journalism need to pull out their ear buds, set down the iPad and slowly back away for a minute.

Digital technology has indisputably  transformed how we communicate, interact, learn and even think. And it’s certainly had a huge effect on journalism as well as individuals and communities vis-à-vis the concept of “citizen journalists.” But revolutionary tools do not automatically equate to a revolution.

Technology and social media are tools. Means to an end. And while those means have achieved remarkable ends in journalism, activism and communication in general, they’re also just as frequently used as self-indulgent vehicles for tunnel-visioned narcissism. To wit, Kim Kardashian has 6.8 million Facebook “likes” and 11.5 million Twitter followers. Thomas Friedman has 17,000 and 67,000.

Digital tools undoubtedly increased organizers’ ability to mobilize (and to some extent sustain) social movements like Occupy. But relatively few protesters appeared to have anything more than cursory knowledge of the underlying issues and grievances the movement is purportedly founded upon.

What this week’s readings underscored for me is that digital technology, social media and “citizen journalism,” are tools that can be reasonably effective but also significantly flawed unless three fundamental issues (training, expertise, funding) are adequately addressed.

Our “140 characters or less” society is often reliant on style (and speed) over substance.  But real journalism, whether it’s conducted by citizen or legacy journalists, is painstaking work. Original, un-aggregated reporting of any significant depth requires time, resources and due diligence. For now, most of that heavy lifting is still done by the dinosaurs.

Discussion questions:

How has digital technology and social media helped—and hurt—social movements like Occupy?

What distinguishes a “citizen journalist” from an active, engaged citizen with a WiFi connection?

It is said that the Internet was supposed to unite people and facilitate two-way communication (Srinivasan, 2011, p. 1).  Yet, what impact does it have on creating a physical environment for dialogue or mobilizing people? In a 2009 study done on the impact of social media on public relations practice, Wright and Hinson report that findings clearly indicate public relations practitioners believe the emergence of social media have changed the way they communicate.  There is considerable agreement that blogs and social media are more personal because they bypass traditional mass media to get to audiences and create direct dialogue. 

 Respondents to the study’s questions generally agreed that blogs and social media have had a huge impact moving public relations in the direction of facilitating more two-way communication by opening up direct channels of communications between organizations and their publics (Wright & Hinson, 2009).  It concluded that bloggers are themselves becoming influential opinion leaders and the instantaneous 24/7 nature of social media brings new meaning to the concept of “dialogue.” The study, however, does not address the impact social media has on facilitating social movements that promote the continuation of direct dialogue outside of the digital world.

 Class discussion questions:

1. Do social media offer possibilities for mobilizing social movements outside of the digital world?
2. If so, what would this mobilization of people look like?
3. Could this movement be both physical and digital in nature?