Social Media - Making headlines and recording history

The best journalists always manage to get the freshest stories before anyone else does. Maybe they got a hot tip from an anonymous caller, or they have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Whatever their secret, these seasoned journo's may find some tough competition coming from an unlikely source. As we saw from the recent Iran election crisis, it wasn't CNN or other news channels that had the skinny on the situation as it happened, but Twitter and its field network of citizen journalists.

Antagonists on the power and credibility of Social Media will find it hard to argue against the fact that Social Media is fast becoming a voice to be reckoned with. President Obama seems to agree, he asked Twitter to avoid shutting down for maintenance so that tweets could continue to feed information from the ground in Iran. In fact, Social Media has played such a powerful reporting role that it is possible to put together a time-line of events from the Iranian crisis using Flickr, Wikipedia, YouTube and Twitter.  Part of the magnetism of Social Media as a news source is its rawness. Where traditional news sources will filter content for sensitive viewers, Social Media presents the graphic nature of our world, as it is seen through the eyes of the people capturing it.

The question arises, could Social Media overtake traditional press as a source of news?

While many have accused the press of getting to the story on Iran a little too late, the Social Media coverage was not structured and planned. Conversations online occur organically and gain viral momentum unexpectedly. The people who tweeted about what they saw happening around them in Iran were not acting as journalists. It is this unfiltered, as-it-happens nature of Social Media that makes it stand out from any other form of media. On the other hand, it is because of this that I doubt Social Media will overtake traditional press. It will, however, stand as a strong voice and the press best take notice if Twitter or other Social Media platforms communicate the story first.

As for the future of traditional news providers and Social Media, it looks like a peaceable one - should they integrate and evolve together. However, one of the biggest challenges with Social Media is the sheer mass of content available. Consumers are looking to bloggers and journalists to filter through all of this content for the truth and to portray the bigger picture.

What we can see from this is that Social Media is being recognized as a credible source of information, and not only by like-minded consumers as indicated by the Edelman Trust Barometer, but by the press themselves, and even the president of America. Ultimately, Social Media can no longer be ignored. Its coverage is expanding with the world around us. Conversations are occurring around brands, breakfast, and breaking news. Perhaps it is time to take a serious look at the conversations happening online, and what people are saying about you.