Networked Journalism : Connective Media Platforms: Participating without Involvement

Key Points

News thrives off of attention, as does social media. Connective media platforms and news share a similar foundation built on the importance of sharing, but more so, they both gain pleasure from the attention of others. When a news article is popular, the media outlet, author, or organization benefits from readership and potential profitability. Social media operates similarly operating and really depending on a user’s desire for attention. To a social media user, posting a photo of their new baby is the same as a news channel posting an article. The more involvement as in the more attention a story gets, the more media is spurred. Take the death of Michael Brown for example. The media was fueled by audience participation. There are still other instances of shootings involving minorities and police officers, however this story took off with media attention through involvement.

References

The broader popularity of celebrities in the news serves as an example. TMZ, celebrity magazines, and other tabloids of outlets of entertainment news hold a high status in the world of news and social media. A recent Vise article regarding disputes between tabloids and celebrities accounts how celebrities are fighting against tabloids via connective media platforms to post their own stories, their own narrative, their own news. The narratives produced by tabloids only exist because we demand them. They keep supplying, and we keep demanding with the one caveat that now the demand is broadened through the direct involvement of celebrities. With the invention of connective media platforms, the growth of entertainment news has only increased. The media, regardless of channel, demand involvement. Mainstream media with the addition of connective media platforms has raised indirect involvement from the audience but lowered direct involvement. Celebrities no longer get involved behind the scenes, instead they just post directly to their social media accounts.

Similarly, citizens no longer have to fight for policy, they can blog indirectly about it from home. The media demands involvement. With the incorporation of connective media, the audience can take a seat and be involved from a keyboard and mouse. I believe that connective media platforms are keeping us from actually being involved in the news. We sit back and type from our computers. Hide behind tweets and instagrams hoping real change will grow overnight. In Dave Meslin’s Ted Talk: The Antidote to Apathy, Meslin asserts that the role as media as developed so has our relationship to political change. He references the election race, similarly to how in class we have discussed the challenges in participation of the election as it is viewed as a horse race. The news with connective media prompts no immediate action. The most amount of participation occurs when a user shares an article on Facebook. Connective media platforms have helped keep us on our computers instead of on the sidewalks.

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