Social Media: The Digital Educator

When I'm asked to answer how I know what I know, my first thoughts go back to the textbooks I read in school, the lessons my mother taught me, the news programs I watched on tv, and just observing everything around me. But today the new things I learn come mostly from online sources, such as news sites and blogs. While I have Twitter, I'm not connected to it often enough to receive breaking news. I do visit CNN throughout the day and I'd say that's where I receive most of my news information. I also visit Huffington Post. The problem with "reputable" sites like CNN and Huffington is that they are slower to break news due to microblogs like Twitter and Instagram. People who are more closely connected to the source are able to release information through social media and generate buzz before the major networks have had time to verify the information. Before social media we didn't realize the amount of time it takes to verify the important details. Thanks to amateur journalists, we receive information as its happening, the details we want without having to wait.

Yesterday I learned that actor Meshac Taylor passed away. He is most known for playing 'Anthony' on the late 80s/early 90s show Designing Women. I learned of his passing on a celebrity gossip board called Lipstickalley. The person who posted didn't list a source, only stating that he was on his death bed and was near death. The poster didn't say his or her relationship to Mr. Taylor or why we should believe the information. I went to CNN, which serves as a verifyer for me, but there was nothing there. This didn't surprise me because Meshac Taylor isn't considered A-list or is very well known. An advantage of social media, is that the forgotten stars whose deaths don't make it to mainstream media will have a more honorable memorial through social media outlets. Today the news of his passing was confirmed by his son via a tweet. The tweet was posted on Lipstickalley. Only with this confirmation did CNN pick up the story. It was validated. But I knew about it yesterday.

At times social media sites are very credible for obtaining information, though most of us will wait to verify it on a news site that has earned a reputation for credibility.

Let's look at TMZ for instance. This site had a bad reputation prior to the 2009 death of Michael Jackson. But when TMZ broke the news of his death (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=7938705) prior to all the other mainstream outlets, the site gained credibility for its investigative reporting. So now, people actually verify their information through TMZ because they proved themselves.