Back in the day [of 2004], when the word ‘news’ signified an informative worldly update and the term ‘feed’ referenced the consumption of food, there was no such thing as social media. Now however, the term ‘newsfeed’ is one of the most commonly used terms and is the status-quo to which the general public obtains their news.
While Facebook and Twitter’s newsfeeds have proven to be a convenient and opportune way to remain current with topics, news and trends, there is one question that comes to mind. Has the information itself changed, or merely the way in which we get it?
Take a closer look.
People now have the ability to tailor their news influx. Rather than turning on the radio or TV to hear anything and everything that reporter’s feel is newsworthy, people are now choosing who they want to follow and friend, and as a result are only seeing news that is interesting to them—rather than what is important in the world.
News appears on the web in no-time. For better or for worse, the second something buzz-worthy happens, the virtual public is going to know about it. In many cases this means reading sporadic bits of information at a time as the story progresses, rather than absorbing all the information at once in a carefully worded, fact-checked piece.
News stories are condensed into 140 characters. While Twitter has put a limit to the amount of text that goes into a tweet, Facebook has acquired an unspoken etiquette in that statuses should be short, as well. Instead of seeing an eye-catching news heading and feeling compelled to read the whole story, social media has made it a norm for people to get all the news they feel is vital, in one simple glance. This is sure to cut down the time of dinner conversations, maybe even to 140 seconds.
That’s a smart ansewr to a tricky question