by Molly Newell
Life as we know it has changed; we have all become infatuated within the world of social media. Everywhere you go, everything you hear, everything you see relates to the internet or the universally popular social media sites. There are so many that thrive on the gossip and drama that is intertwined with sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube. Most people reading this right now are probably commemorating on a particular incident, or in some peoples’ case quite a few situations in which they were entangled in some sort of social networking drama…it’s high school, it’s going to happen. Whether it’s rapidly posting comments back and forth, writing on a friend’s ( or enemy’s) wall, filling out a “note” (yes girls, we’re all guilty of that), creating an inspiring status so that everyone you know will “like” it, posting pictures or videos, perhaps “facebook stalking” for a few hours (or a whole day), or sharing a good tweet, the world of social networking has created us all into journalists whether we realize it or not.
The definition of journalism is “the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news or of conducting any news.” This is exactly what teenagers and adults around the globe are doing while spending their time on these websites. There are people who spend hours on end carrying out those exact processes on a daily basis, not even knowing that in their own way they are being a journalist.
Many parents, teachers, and advisors may not like these websites and argue that there is too much drama and scandal involved. While this may be true in some cases, next time when on these websites, pay attention to the pictures, wall posts, comments, notes, and tweets that people create and post; every aspect of them resemble a certain characteristic about that particular person, or really let their true personality shine through. Some people love to show their artistic side, others like to show the fact that they can write a good poem or inspiring quote that stops everyone in their tracks when they read it. The people reading the various stories and news feeds are journalists themselves, taking in everything detail there is to know and realize about their friends; things that they may not have had knowledge about them prior.
People love to post everything there is to know about their lives. Likewise, they also love to read about everyone else’s lives. These social networking websites have exploded across the world, capturing the attention of more and more people every day. Even though people only join websites like Facebook and Twitter for the social aspects of them, little did we know that they would create us all into journalists, just looking to create that next great wall post or tweet.
