My name is Alexis and I am a social media addict

I will be the first to admit that I am a Facebook addict. And when I learned that I could use my addition as a tool for journalism I was beyond excited. I first learned the journalistic power of Facebook (and now Twitter) when I was reporting for class and for ATVN last semester. It is one of the best tools to find interview subjects and story ideas. And it is just as handy when it comes to producing.

For Monday’s show we had a lot of USC news in our show and most of that was due to the wide spread of Facebook. By looking at friend’s events on their Facebook profiles, we found out about the campus walkout and the political art demonstration. These were great stories that directly involved and effected our USC audience and without Facebook we may not have known about them.

The instantaneousness of social media is also extremely important when producing. On Monday the big story was a shooting in Sylmar and because of the sensitivity of the SWAT standoff situation there was little information being released. The wires, where we get a large bulk of our information from, were slow to report any developments. But because I follow local news organizations, reporters that were at the scene were tweeting what they were seeing. One of the most popular topics was the use of the Bobcat/Batcat that they police used to claw into the suspects home.

In the days following the standoff, Twitter was abuzz with whether people believed this technique was the best choice. Those people can then turn into people to interview.

While there is debate that social media is having a negative effect on journalism, I believe that done right, the pros far outweigh the cons. But because of social media’s ability to help find interviews, promote stories and access the most up-to-date information within seconds of its occurrence, my addiction isn’t going anywhere.