Blog 2B
As a journalist, I believe that crowd sourcing certainly has its benefits. However, because you are crowd sourcing information it may not be the most accurate information out there. So like a good journalist does, you trust, but verify that information to make sure that it is correct. A reporters job is to correctly inform the public on current happenings in their area, across the country, or around the globe thus making their credibility vital to their survival in the field.
Doxing is the process of searching and publishing private information about a person on the internet. In my personal opinion, if done for a necessary reason, then doxing is okay. However, the term “doxing” is associated with a negative connotation because it is usually done with ill intent. So if only done when necessary and with good intentions behind it, then I have no problems with it up to a certain point. Ethically, you really shouldn’t post peoples private information on the web, but as long as you dont post peoples adresses, bank account information, or social security numbers then I dont have a problem with it.
I believe that the best way to put social media moments into context is to compare tweets for example,that are all similar in topic and see what information can be gathered from them. Maybe even reaching out to some of the people who tweeted and try to get their first hand account of what went on. You can try and verify information gathered with the authorities to make sure youre giving out the correct information. The Boston Marathon Bombings are a great example of this because it was the first terrorist atack on U.S soil in the age of social media. Because of this everyone who was experiencing this tragedy wanted to help and do their part by tweeting out what they saw. News outlets and organizations were crowd sourcing information because it was quick and everybody wanted to get the story out first. So as a reporter during this, verifying all of the crowd sourced information should be step 1.