Did Twitter just overthrow mainstream media?
Image by roujo via Flickr
Yesterday, I wrote about the feud that erupted between Twitter users and CNN, whereby frustrated, news-hungry people everywhere seemed to abandon cable news in favor of first-person feeds. While it is easy to overstate the importance that Twitter has played in fueling Iran’s opposition party—these demonstrations would likely have taken place with our without the micro-blogging community—the appetite for the info-stream should not be underestimated. Just as CNN once proved inescapable during the first Gulf War, so too has Twitter emerged as the place to go for faster, more shocking, more impassioned information in this current crisis.
So, what’s the difference between 2003 and today? Well, actually, we might just as easily look at the similarities. The success of CNN was made possible by war, a story that unfolded by the minute. You could watch and watch and watch and keep getting new information as it developed, rather than sitting around and waiting for a 5-minute segment to roll around on the network broadcasts. And that was the main gripe Twitter users expressed against CNN’s coverage of the Iran story: Where’s the beef?
The strength of Twitter as a news source during a time of upheaval is pretty simple to understand. Rather than having one reporter holed up in a Baghdad hotel as bombs rain down from the sky, you’ve got thousands of cell-phone wielding correspondents on the ground snapping pictures and painting pictures of what is happening across an entire country.
Though each individual tweet may or may not have the gravitas and balance of the CNN reporter, stepping back and viewing the scope of the Twitter stream gives you a much more detailed picture than any single news crew could ever compile.
So, back to the question in the title of the piece. Did Twitter just overthrow mainstream media? It depends which part you mean. The cable networks, who have been moving away from investigative reporting and in favor of talk-show chatter and viewer participation seem like they will never be able to compete with the power of the user-generated data-stream. CNN, for one, saw this coming, and has, months ago, fully embraced the use of Twitter and iReporters. What has been overthrown is a centralized, expert-driven model for cable news. In a funny way, however, I don’t think that more traditional, old-fashioned news broadcasts are as threatened. We’ll always have the need to slow down and reflect upon news stories, even if they happened—gasp—twenty minutes ago.
Will the new role of news be to sort out and make sense of the information being continuously gathered by citizen reporters? That may not be a bad compromise. What’s your read?
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“Will the new role of news be to sort out and make sense of the information being continuously gathered by citizen reporters?”
Not a bad thing at all, but I think the real story here is how the social networks are used to keep the people involved in the struggle connected. We’re seeing more and more of this happening and it’s easy to understand why authoritarian governments have such fear of the internet.
Brian,
I agree. I guess another fear is that authoritarian governments will learn to manipulate social networks.
I seem to recall some news a while ago back of just some govt trying that, sorry I don’t recall the details, but apparently it didn’t work. Web savvy people can usually spot such attempts, and proxy web sites go a long way in making sure the real news gets out.
In response to another comment. See in context »Just read this in the Times, maybe you’ve already seen it.
Social Networks Spread Iranian Defiance Online
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/world/middleeast/16media.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig)
Thanks, B. Yes, saw it this morn. Interesting times.
FYI
U.S. State Department speaks to Twitter over Iran
(http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSWBT01137420090616)
I wonder if there have been any attempts to infiltrate? Start misinforming. If I were in their place, that is exactly what I would do. The anonymity of the Internet can go several different ways.
I have a feeling this would be found out quickly enough. An authoritative government doesn’t typically cultivate the creativity and innovation that the oppressed peoples develop to survive.
In response to another comment. See in context »I’m not sure Twittering is journalism, much less replacing it. The derivatives of twittering (text analysis, keyword frequency, and other text mining) will be a valuable resource to news media. After a few years of skepticism, I’m finally sold that there is something fundamentally different and interesting going on here, but we may not understand it for some time to come.
[...] a good debate about the role of Twitter as a media player has emerged, the way that the social networking site and the internet in general is transforming [...]