Snapchat is the new way young people are getting news
When reflecting on the last 20 years, a lot has changed. Looking at images from 2000 there is not be a single smartphone, now it is hard to miss them. The world we live in has become extremely technology-based and with that, has come change. Ask someone 20 years ago how they got their news and they will probably tell you a newspaper. Now you ask the question and the answer has many different possibilities. People get their news from Facebook, twitter, websites, and one of the more growing places- Snapchat. Snapchat is a solution to the issue of young adults wanting fast news.
Snapchat is quick and that may be the reason it is contributing to erasing old media, such as the newspaper. The concept of the disappearing newspaper was predicted by researchers. In 2004, researchers Pardun and Scott found that 75% of teens were spending 2.5 hours a week reading the newspaper. However, even if teens were reading the newspaper, they did not find it relevant. They said the irrelevance came from the evolving options for news, “There is no shortage of media vying for young people’s attention. Most recent research describes contemporary American adolescents living in a world where the mass media are pervasive” (Pardun and Scott). This research was conducted at the time that newspapers were still being read by young people, but new options were emerging. Knowing that this media is dying, Snapchat is an evolving news media.
Snapchat news is quick, you do not have to flip through numerous pages to get your point. In addition to it being quick, most of the time it is a mix of videos and articles. News on Snapchat is shown separate from your feed with friends, you can quickly identify the difference. There are many different organizations producing news and they are all grouped together. Many of the article titles are designed to sound more appealing. In addition, the article titles are placed with a picture to draw in more attention. Once you click the article you may have a person broadcasting the news to you, or an article with background video. Regardless, the news will be comprised of words, audio, and images. The time you can read the articles is one of the most appealing aspects to me. These articles are short, lasting no longer than 5 minutes to get through.
Snapchat is fast but is it accurate? Researchers have found some complications with this form of fast media. In 2018, Kaufhold and Lee found that journalist are not adapting to fast media well. “An intensification of pressure in the newsroom to produce more articles in less time is claimed to have led to fewer journalist gathering information outside of the classroom” (Kaufhold and Lee). Journalist have to spend less time researching now which is leading to fake news. However, fast news is in the beginning stage and adaption of accuracy will change. Snapchat news is only going to grow and with that will come innovations of producing fast-ethical news.
