Source : blog.writersdigest.com
Twitter is today’s proliferating trend, attracting 7 million unique visitors monthy from February 2008 to February 2009 (Thomases 2010). Twitter features ‘micro-blogging’, where thoughts, information and links are shared in real-time (Thomases 2010).
In Beijing, a course was organised to educate citizen journalists to report using Twitter (Kuhn 2009). Even China, a generally traditional country are making such move, this demonstrates that the society is beginning to accept Twitter as a source for news and information. In the new media ecosystem, traditional journalism’s rapid decline of credibility contributes to the growth of online journalism (Lasica 2001), such as Twitter.
Most societies today are engaged in a culture where everything works in a fast speed, therefore it is natural to have current news updated almost immediately on the tip of their finger. This is made possible with Twitter – where many young Net users emerge as amateur journalists (Lasica 2001).
The news about the earthquake that happened in Kalgoorlie, Australia at 8.17am (Australian time) on the 20th April 2010 is tweeted on the same day. This alerts and informs people almost immediately, instead of knowing about it from newspapers the next day.
So what happens to the conventional journalism? Naughton (2006) describes that an ecosystem never stays still; any disturbance will produce new arrangements in it. This is demonstrated when Britons in the 1950s get news from the television more than from newspapers, it forced the newspapers to adapt and adjust to another position in the ecosystem. Today, to adapt, even newsrooms such as Al-Jazeera and BBC News have Twitter.
In conclusion, the media is ever-changing and innovative. This situation trains its players to be competent, creating a perpetual competition that aims to increase their quality to cater to the media’s audience.
Reference List
1. Kuhn, A 2009, Twitter Seen as Tool for Social Change in China, viewed 15 April 2010, <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106963768>.
2. Lasica, J.D. 2001, Blogging as a Form of Journalism, viewed 17 April 2010, <http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1017958873.php>.
3. Naughton, J 2006, Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem, viewed 15 April 2010, <http://reuteursinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/about/discussion/blogging.html >.
4. Thomases, H 2010, Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indiana.
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