This blog cycle we were asked whether some of the recent advancements in internet based communication tools had influenced us to become more active produsers of citizen journalism/activism. When I answered this question I reflected upon my activity prior to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Actually, I was able to reflect back to a time before computers were common place and journalism classrooms were filled with electric typewriters. Knowing that I have more than a few years on most of my fellow bloggers, I could not help but wonder what their point of reference would be, more active compared to what/when? Would it be 2005, when YouTube became available for video sharing? Would it be 2006 when Facebook was opened to anyone over 13? Would it be 2007, when Twitter started to gain traction? I imagine for some bloggers this might have been a difficult distinction to make. I noticed that most still refer to blogs, Twitter and Facebook as their citizen journalism/activism vehicles and that they generally agreed the availability of these resources encouraged them to be more frequent produsers. Blogger Pp10il (2013) writes “In my opinion having an increase in new opportunities does in fact encourage me to participate directly in citizen journalism”. Blogger Jdibiase (2013) realized “once I looked more closely at my social media habits, I have come to realize that the emergence of these new opportunities have caused me to engage more in journalism and activism”.
The most interesting thing that came out of my own reflection this session was that for me it isn’t the medium that persuades me to participate in citizen journalism it is the message. If I believe I have something worth sharing, I will share it by whatever means at my disposal. I realize now that this isn’t so different from peoples’ usage of social media. Jdibiase (2013) writes “Many people ‘tweet’ because they want to express how they feel about a situation. They ‘re-tweet’ information that they found interesting and want others to know about it.” I have to admit that I don’t fully comprehend the amount of personal information and/or emotion sharing that occurs on social media sites, or how some determine what may be considered interesting, however, when I asked Jdibiase what her contributions were during the Tim Bosma case she replied “I tweeted prayer’s, articles, missing poster photos, videos and so forth”(Jdibiase, 2013). These are all positive actions and even though I may not participate in them, I can at least appreciate why others would. (thanks for the reply to my question) I think it will be interesting to watch what the effects of such large public outpourings of goodwill and support will mean for society in years to come .
My summary wouldn’t be complete without a shout out to blogger Mcgip. The interweaving of the grassroots analogy in her original blog post was wonderful to read and the Arab Springs Revolution example, used to demonstrate the collective power of citizen journalism/activism, was very convincing.
To my fellow 2F00 bloggers, all the best in your future endeavours and continue to find your voice. I will leave you with these famous words from Henry Anatole Grunwald “Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.”
References
Digital Journalism: Social Media: Jdibaise (2013, July 8). In Jdibiase blog. Retrieved 01:35, July 10, 2013 from http://jdibiase18.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/digital-journalism-social-media/
Henry Anatole Grunwald. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved July 10, 2013, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henryanato113731.html
Journalism in the Digital age: Jdibaise (2013, July 4). In Jdibiase blog. Retrieved 01:33, July 10, 2013 fromhttp://jdibiase18.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/journalism-in-the-digital-age/
New Form of Citizen Journalism: Pp10il (2013, July 2). In Water consumption: Damaging the environment? Retrieved 1:44, July 10, 2013 from http://environment2013blog.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/new-form-of-citizen-journalism/
Shallow Roots: Module 6 initial post: Mcgip (2013, July 05). Mcgip’s Blog. Retrieved 1:36, July 10, 2013 from http://mcgip.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/shallow-roots-module-6-initial-post/
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