Social Media Platforms affecting Journalism.
By Chris Sewell
Social media in my opinion is can be an advantage to journalism, but at the same time it is a disadvantage.
Facebook and Tweeter help journalism depending on what you are trying to get across these platforms. If a wanna-be journalist write whatever with disregards to the profession, then that can hinder it, but if the person up holds that standard of professionalism, then the person is actually using the platform to help it.
In the article, Facebook’s secret censorship rules protect white men from hate speech but not black children; U.S. Congressman Clay Higgins, who wrote a post that called for the apprehension and slaughter of radical Muslims. Went on to say that his post wasn’t deleted immediately, as Facebook policy had indicated (2019).
Maybe, he reason why the post made by Congressman Higgins was kept is because of his statues and it could also have been out of anger. I am assuming that the post got much more attention because the violent acts of terrorism were current and citizens wanted to hear their congressman or woman’s opinion about the crisis.
In comparison to the Black Lives matter activist Didi Delgodo, whose post was delete instantly because it was viewed as an attack on whites in general and not a radicalized group ( Facebook’s secret censorship rules protect white men from hate speech but not black children, 2019).
From a journalist point of view, even though I am not officially a journalist, any kind of publicity can be use to your advantage. Personally, as long as your voice is heard with emphasis on what is actually said.
Now looking back on the two post made by Congressman Higgins and activist Delgato, one might be seen as reasonable, while the other is complete ignorance, and ignorance is that factor that can hinder journalism entirely, along with the platforms that a post is made or tweeted from.
Now base on what I have actually read I now understand why social media platforms are restricted the way they are today. The reason is because Facebook, for example, have approximately 20 million users and maybe someone or a group of people saw the post made by the activist and reported it. The same can be said for tweeter and others that serve as a place to get your voice heard or your material noticed.
However, as I imperviously mentioned, professionalism is the best path for journalistic materials because it prevents hindering the profession regardless of the platform used.
