The Information Divide- The Socialization of News

8/9/2019 The Information Divide- The Socialization of News

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The Information Divide: The Socialization

of NewsBy Brian Solis, blogger at BrianSolis.com and principal of FutureWorks, Author of the new book Engage! , Co-Author , Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and Now Is Gone

In the era of the real-time Web, information travels at a greater velocity than the

infrastructure of mainstream media can support as it exists today. As events

materialize, the access to social publishing and syndication platforms propelsinformation across attentive and connected nodes that link social graphs all over

the world. Current events are now at the epicenter of global attention as social

media makes the world a much smaller place.

(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis



It's a timely subject as Clay Shirky will discuss how Social Media can make

history at this year's TED conference. Indeed social media is changing,

documenting, and also making history, revolutionizing once invincible industries

that are now paralyzed by confusion, fear, and ignorance. Although they're

reacting now, it will take more than the iPad, Kindle, Nook and other digital

readers to revitalize the business of media.

Information moves with or without them...

News no longer breaks, it tweets - demonstrating the efficiency, momentum, and

influence of the human network. With every new iterative update, social graphs

transform into a highly organized information distribution system that resembles

an "Amber Alert" network for the social Web - with far greater speed, reach,

impact, and resonance.

I once referred to Twitter as TNN, the Twitter News Network as it consistently

beat traditional media in the race to report relevant news and trends. And as a

result, Twitter and other social networks continue to earn an entrenched role as

the primary source of information and breaking events for the hundreds of

millions of people connected to one another at varying degrees within and across

each network.

We no longer find information; it finds us. And, trending topics become

touchpoints to the state of events as they unfold.

Accuracy vs. Immediacy

Social Media is only accelerating and in the process, it dramatically reduces the

time between an event and collective awareness, growing increasingly pervasive

and prominent along the way. As such, a divide now exists between the

materialization and journalistic reporting of an event and as such, this gap

immediately fills with tweets, updates, and posts as the crowd-powered

socialization of information steps in to fill the void.




The information divide describes the chasm that exists between information as it

rapidly spreads through attention dashboards of connected individuals and the

primary reporting of news by mainstream media reinforced through the

emergence of trending topics within each network. It is distanced by the time

required to discern, document, fact check, and publish material information,

competing with citizen media whether or not it is completely or only partially

based on facts.

This prolonged cycle of journalism and reporting, while slower than the human

algorithm that powers the now Web, is still unrivaled however, by its dedication

to discovering, verifying, and reporting truth and fact. In the race towards veracity, the checks and balances of new media systematically reduce error and

filter hearsay and speculation and as a result, long standing sources are now

slowly losing favor as a destination for revelation and instead, transforming into

resources for intelligence as it emerges. In many cases, it's the tweet, the Twitpic,

the Twitvid, the livestream that serve the role of breaking (used as a verb) news.




While the divide is decreasing as media becomes more versed in the art and

science of new media tools, the information divide also represents an opportunity

for journalists to earn greater relevance. It is a necessary stopgap that validates

information and feeds back into a system that can syndicate ratified content from

news media through conversational media - gaining a broader audience with

every linkback, blog post, tweet, Facebook update, et al.

It's about proactively defining the shift from reporter to a new genre of

influencers who essentially become media catalysts.

The Wire

Media is now forced to compete in an attention economy where the business of

news is now a real-time competition for mind share, connectedness, and earned

relevance. Today, competitive advantages, and all that benefits the business of

news as a result, are defined by the ability to narrow the time span between

pinpointing, validating and reporting unconfirmed events as well as the prowess

to connect facts to important social beacons online.




The future of all media is rooted in engagement and its worth is measured by

contribution, collaboration, and the extent of consequential relationships within

any and all online networks of relevance. Influence is not only the ability to

inspire action, but also a state of prominence.

The news desk of tomorrow is actually needed today.

Whereas the wire served as a source of breaking information to those who could

channel it to audiences everywhere, social media is now a fusion of not only a

crowd-sourced wire, but it is also representative of a living and breathing human

seismograph that surfaces important events, online and offline. As a result,




active connections to the very pulse of social activity are now an unswerving

qualification to sit at the news desk of tomorrow.

The acceleration of real-time content production is not only a form of immediate

differentiation, it is also critical to survival. Part of what we're learning in all of this is that the battlefield for attention and significance is not where we actually

engage today. Instead, it evolves and transpires in the places where information

is discovered and shared today. We are shifting from a destination-based news

ecosystem to a participatory model of sourcing, engagement, and relationships

that increase value by identifying and connecting stories to people where and

how they consume and share it.

If information reach, velocity, and impact are measured by a human

seismograph, news media must now employ social seismologists in order to

measure and source the information that will enable them to effectively compete

for the future as well as mind share, right now.

Collective Intelligence

We are all in this together.

Information is no longer an isolated or individual experience. We are connectedto one another based on common interests and our ability to learn is now the

result of collaboration and social syndication. The ability to plug-in to social

networks and the invaluable relationships that define them is where the

transformation begins and the journey unfolds.

A recent study conducted by Cision and Don Bates of the George Washington

University's Master's Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations found

reporters depend on social media sources when researching their stories - but not

at the extent to transform an industry over night. Indeed conversations form a

groundswell that escalates information to those who can extend relevant content

to the next level of audiences.

55% of the journalists said that social media was “important” or “somewhat

important” for reporting and producing stories...




Not surprising however, is the perception or the observance by journalists thatsocial media is not necessarily the most accurate source of facts. 84% of

journalists indicated that information was much less and slightly less reliable

than traditional media based on the lack of fact-checking, verification and

reporting standards. Here in lies the opportunity to source, verify, and report on

breaking stories. This is how we reduce the delta that defines the information

divide.




Of the various forms of social media used by journalists to find information, blogs

ranked at the very top. And in the world of news media, it should prove both

alarming and also as an opportunity (again) for reporters to focus on

micronetworks such as Twitter (currently ranked as third) in order to tap into

news as it breaks or Tweets.




As reporters become social seismologists, it is also the responsibility of the

reporter as well as the brand's social media director, to connect information to

audiences who can thus serve as information emissaries to further extend stories

to social graphs across the Web.

In the end, we earn the attention, relationships, and audiences we deserve. As a

new hybrid of collaborative journalism takes shape, reporters who remain

plugged-in to communities outside of their domain will open new doors to

relevance - connecting to stories and people that propel information beyond the

reach of any one network at the speed of the now Web.

Connect with Brian Solis: Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook

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Brian Solis is globally recognized as one of most prominent thought leaders andpublished authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis hasinfluenced the effects of emerging media on the convergence of marketing,communications, and publishing. He is principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning NewMedia agency in Silicon Valley, and has led interactive and social programs for Fortune

500 companies, notable celebrities, and Web 2.0 startups. BrianSolis.com is rankedamong the top of world's leading business and marketing online resources.

Solis is the author of Engage! The complete guide for businesses to build, cultivate and measure success in the new Web.

In 2009, Brian Solis, along with Deirdre Breakenridge, released, Putting the Public back

in Public Relations.

Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter , LinkedIn, Tumblr , Google Buzz, Facebook---

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The Information Divide- The Socialization of News

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