I woke up this morning to my social media going crazy because a gas leak had caused a quite large explosion near my parents’ neighbourhood in Orleans today at around 6:00 this morning. People were quick to post their doorbell camera coverage on a local community page on Facebook called Crime Spotting Orleans / Community Awareness. About an hour later, the city’s news networks published their articles but, by then, all the videos they included in their article had made their rounds in the community.
This is a good example of how most people are getting their news these days. Although this has been ongoing for years now, social media has grown into a main source of information and news for people around the world. According to Forbes, in 2018, 64.5% of web users get their news from social media platforms instead of news networks! We can only imagine how much that has changed within the last 5 years, especially given the pandemic that spread through the world and forced everyone to go on social media for any kind of human connection. A lot of the time, people know what’s happening before it’s shown on news networks! It’s become the norm to find news information on social media now and to share the news with networks and contacts in your community. In fact, according to this blog post, posted more recently, “62% of people who get news from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter said that the platforms had helped them become more informed about current events.” And this doesn’t even include platforms like Instagram and TikTok!
The same could go for celebrity news and deaths. For example, I found out that Betty White had passed through the TikTok video below (RIP). What a way to find out, right?
You never know what news you may come across when scrolling on your socials – but one thing’s for certain: you’ll always be informed no matter what. In the coming years, I think that news will continue to be spread through social media before they are scooped up by local, national, and international news sources. As social media evolves, I believe that so will the way we consume our news, whether it be good or bad.
What do you think social media’s role is in the future of consuming news? Do you think it’ll change much in the coming years, and how?
Facebook: How do you get your news? See how much social media can affect how we consume news in my latest blog post: https://bit.ly/3E6aS9D
Twitter: Do you get information before the local news? Click below to find out how #socialmedia affects how we consume news: https://bit.ly/3E6aS9D #blog
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 