Social media putting the heat on conventional media

If social media was a boxer, he would be unleashing a barrage of furious punches, hoping to finish off an wavering opponent as soon as he could. At the receiving end would be the conventional print media, whose back has been against the ropes for quite some time now and who has been holding on for dear life. The contest could appear lopsided, like a young energetic man against an old, ailing one.

To make matters worse, social media armies do not necessarily see one another eye to eye and appear to be teaming up for a final assault. LINE, Facebook and Twitter are joining hands to cover up each other’s flaws and expose the increasingly weakened mainstream journalism. They have speed and, most important of all, plenty of space for feedback, interaction and public initiatives.

Facebook now has a “live” function, meaning it is now ready to take on conventional TV after leaving print journalists badly bruised. Twitter has softened restrictions on the “140-word limit”, signally an obvious intention to play a bigger role in sharing and covering both breaking and developing news. LINE is also incredibly fast when it comes to breaking stories and locating backgrounds.

Some emerging ethical issues involving social media outlets only underline their strengthened status as the main resources of news for the new generation. Facebook found itself embroiled in a “freedom of expression” controversy when a historic Vietnam War photo was pulled off from its pages. Recently, Twitter took an initiative to deal with hateful speeches in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack.

What Facebook and Twitter have had to deal with is nothing new as far as conventional media are concerned. But, as reports show, the majority of people nowadays learn about breaking news or even what “stand” they should take regarding each news report from their “small” screens, not newspapers or routine TV news programmes. This simply means social media outlets have had to adjust to their new role and responsibility.

The term “mainstream media” is also shaky itself, because such a status is one or two years away from being claimed by social media. “When was the last time you saw people buying newspapers?” is an outdated question. A more up-to-date question is: “When was the last time you saw people reading ‘actual’ newspapers?”

But, as they say, journalism is not dying; the profession just changing form. Good news is that the workers in conventional media outlets are more or less in social media outlets already. The migration to digital media began years ago, but it has been an increasingly massive shift. For the upheaval to be not so chaotic, though, one main truth has to be recognised by all involved.

That truth concerns the changing meaning of “profitability”. The conventional media and everyone in such outlets, either professionals or entrepreneurs, raked in big gains over the years because they were exclusive in nature. Digital media or social media outlets are different, because “contributions” come from everywhere and are largely free of charge. Much of the content is created and delivered through perseverance, brainpower and labour of people “outside the industry”, and requires those “inside” to accept the new reality.

New journalism is eclipsing the old form. In the new landscape, certain things are easier than before but other things are tougher. Acceptance of the new reality along with a stubborn refusal to let go of the noble ethics of old may be the only way for the boxer on the ropes to bounce back and survive the do-or-die contest.