Discuss the impact of social media on traditional media in relation to Essay

Discuss the impact of social media on traditional media in relation to news production,delivery and consumption - Essay Example This role as well as the role of gatekeeper to information is being redefined in the light of social media usage patterns. This paper discusses how social media has influenced the way in which users consume and experience news as well as the ways in which traditional media organizations produce and distribute news content. The discussion in this paper highlights the challenges posed by social media to the authority of traditional media. It also identifies the opportunities for collaboration between the two. Social Media and User Engagement Crowe (2012) describes five types of user involvement in citizen journalism, with varying degrees of involvement and objective reporting. Blogs, discussion boards, tweets, etc. have become common tools to share news items within social networks. These tools allow users to create editorial content for others. Crowe (2012) argues that citizen journalism has had considerable effects of the traditional media in terms of profitability. He explains that although the content produced by citizen journalists does not go through the rigorous vetting of traditional media channels, the sites encouraging such form of journalism collect information from a large number of similar sources which results in validation of the information. This is particularly true in emergency situations when reporters may not arrive for some hours. Crowe (2012) notes that these developments have inspired traditional media organizations to collaborate with social media platforms for delivery of news content. Organizations entering into such collaborations include Newsweek and AOL. Changes in News Production The way in which news is produced on social media is dramatically different from the traditional methods of news production. Kerrigan and Graham (2010) note that the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies are having a huge impact on the production and consumption of regional and local news. In the social media environment, news is increasingly produced by blogger s and citizen journalists in a way that encourages the consumers to participate in the news generation process. On the other hand, in the traditional media, the production function is performed by the journalist and the news is then offered to the consumers as information. Kerrigan and Graham (2010) note that it is a competitive disadvantage for traditional regional news media if they do not exploit the potential for engaging readers in the production of local and regional news. Traditional media have been affected by reduced entry barriers and advertising share to more engaging social media sources. News consumers can act as reporters and editors of news content in the new media which leads them to prefer new media news sources over traditional ones. Thus, there is a need for traditional media sources to overcome resistance to change and embrace the new social media environment. The advent of social media has had considerable impact on the credibility and power of traditional news media sources. O’Connor (2012) notes that the role of traditional media as gatekeeper of information has been considerably weakened. In addition, the perception of a news media organization as a brand has eroded to some extent in favour of the personal branding enjoyed by citizen journalists, bloggers and others in the social media. O’