[/caption]by Carol Forsloff - Social media likely now controls the news and how much you read and whether you read much at all. If you are one of those that reads mostly Facebook, Twitter and Google entries, and not the article itself, than you miss out on the bulk of the available news and information and are likely to make mistakes of judgment as a result.
News information and features are designed to educate and inform. Sometimes they don't, but for the most part they do. The complaint is mostly after we read something we don't agree with. And some of that disagreement comes from not reading the information in its entirety, but just those snippets cut from social media. The Internet, according to research, is the source of most news; but how much of it is read vs those commenting on issues about which they have read just a fraction.
The social media bookmarks are there to provide a link for the author to announce the creation of an article. If the subject is of interest, then the idea should follow the article might be read. The lead in a story is meant to bring interest, not to tell the whole story. Even in a traditional news article, the thumbnail sketch at the beginning is the "teaser" with the substantive, and explanatory detail, yet to come.
Some have worried enough about social media bookmarking as the source of news that they are anticipating setting guidelines regarding it. But the problems prevail, nonetheless.
After writing many articles online, following the advent of the popularity of social media, I have learned more and more people make their comments on Facebook or Twitter, never commenting on the articles themselves. It is easy for an author, where the readership is tracked either on the entire site or individual articles, to know the location of readership and whether the information was read at all.
Many newswriters complain pageviews are down, yet the number of websites for news is increasing daily. Part of the reason readership is down, has to do with the fact people just read those snippets. In fact, it has been found that Facebook gets more than 25% of pageviews. So more and more of these new sources, like Examiner. com or Metro.com, bring news in a few sentences. As reading material increases in numbers, the substance within them is gone.
Some will say it doesn't take a lot of words to tell a news story, but many of the world's problems have complications far beyond a few sound bites. Even local news has many dimensions. But those who don't read those dimensions make mistakes and wrongfully quote material. Is it any wonder, that experts find we know less and less with more and more material available for our education?
Next time, before commenting, read the story itself. The writer cares enough to convey the information. The reader should care enough to at least the broad outlines of it before giving an opinion. Otherwise it is like attending a football game on commenting on the players moves only after the scores are posted, without knowing the nuances of the game.
