Quotation:

“As these and other researchers demonstrate, social media allows users to be the authors of their own lives; responding directly to events that impact them and their communities; and curating those events as they happen, shaping the surrounding cultural narrative in profound ways.” (pg. 41)

Comment:

This quote describes an idea that I have learned about and considered quite a bit. The idea that social media can be a vessel for unfiltered conversation and some of the most honest political debates and information is growing rapidly. As mainstream media loses its credibility, social media is rising in terms of its ability to allow the everyday person to share their stories and perspectives on all the happenings in the world. Without social media, major political and social movements for justice would get much less attention and sadly would not have made as much progress as they have in recent years, including the Black Lives Matter movement. I see the future of social media being very bright, as it will transition into an even larger role in terms of giving people their daily news and information about things happening in the country and around the world that are affecting them. The fear is that the power that individual people have on social media might be lost once big corporations and media outlets turn to social media as their main source of presenting their content to the public. The algorithms that are in place on a platform like Twitter currently allow for anyone to share a post and have it seen by millions of people online, if this were to change in the future, then we would fall right back into the hands of the news and media giants that greatly influence the news and information we receive, as well as what we think about said information and how we feel about those who think differently.

Question:

How do you see social media changing the way we consume and react to news in the future?