Social media and world events

Though this topic is not quite in tune with the topic of public relations, the impact of social media on world events such as natural disasters, is difficult not to focus on for at least one post.

The recent events in the world, such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the earthquake in New Zealand, and the turmoil in Libya and other areas of the middle east, are broadcast much more loudly and frequently through social media channels than in typical news formats.

I mentioned in my last post that I operate another blog on a different blogging website that I use primarily for personal and entertainment purposes, but during these last few weeks and any other time there is a large scale event somewhere in the world, that blogging site erupts with news and updates about each event. Every single person that I follow on that website comes together to give each other as much information as we can. We don't hold anything back, we tell each other when some information has been proven to be incorrect, and most importantly, we tell each other every single thing that we know.

Social media gives normal people the opportunity to be the news for people when actual news sources fall short. For many days before the news in America began covering the events in Libya, I knew more about it than anyone else I know because of the blogs I follow and the information they had gotten from someone who had gotten it from someone who had gotten it from someone who had experienced it firsthand. Social media puts so much power in the hands of people who typically stand in silence. It gives the world a chance to have a voice, instead of resorting solely to the news for all information. When people come together through social media, the information may not always be 100% correct, but it is always immediate and important. Even if the information spread around through social media is incorrect, it will quickly be dispelled and corrected, often even before the news began to report on the events.

There are many people who do not consider social media to be a viable place to receive and transmit information, but I challenge this belief wholeheartedly. It is my opinion that social media is an extremely powerful informational tool, and if more people chose to utilize it in this way, it would most certainly become more powerful and even more reliable.