As social media overtakes traditional media in this new technological age, news organizations and journals have sought to keep up with today’s trends in order to maximize their revenue and maintain traffic. The terms ‘social media’ and ‘news media’ are commonly used interchangeably, however, the distinction of these two can be made and the crucial for corporate practices. Social media, unlike traditional media, has an interactive factor which allows users to comment, share, and critique. As Clive Thompson stated in his article titled This Just In : I’m Twittering, he mentions that “the power is in the surprising effects that come from receiving thousands of pings from your posse. And this, as it turns out, suggests where the Web is heading”
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According to a research in 2014 found that “14% of social media users posted their own photos of news events to a social networking site, while 12% had posted videos.”. When a tragic event happens in the world, the users of Twitter record the event more as a 'trend' than a new section of history with hashtags to show their support, public short conversations of confined to less than 140 characters each message, and or sharing images pertaining the tragedy.This practice of social sharing can be seen in a large number of news events, one being the biggest is the riots in Ferguson which its movement’s supporters grew immensely just because of this. The Ferguson incident occurred when a police officer was responsible for a fatal shooting of a man named Michael Brown and the attention of this event rapidly spread after a video of the incident was posted all over social media networks. Therefore., these websites play an important role in keep users updated of the protest by making it easier for those to acquire information. By providing information about the protests, it greatly affects the people’s motivation to participate in the protest by triggering them emotionally. Other than providing information and updates of the protests, social media can affect a person’s motivation to join a protest by triggering feelings of injustice, anger, or triggering the feelings of group identity. All over social media, especially Twitter, many users can see the references to “black lives matter” in messages regarding the Ferguson protests (Tucker, “Tweeting
According to a research in 2014 found that “14% of social media users posted their own photos of news events to a social networking site, while 12% had posted videos.”. When a tragic event happens in the world, the users of Twitter record the event more as a 'trend' than a new section of history with hashtags to show their support, public short conversations of confined to less than 140 characters each message, and or sharing images pertaining the tragedy.This practice of social sharing can be seen in a large number of news events, one being the biggest is the riots in Ferguson which its movement’s supporters grew immensely just because of this. The Ferguson incident occurred when a police officer was responsible for a fatal shooting of a man named Michael Brown and the attention of this event rapidly spread after a video of the incident was posted all over social media networks. Therefore., these websites play an important role in keep users updated of the protest by making it easier for those to acquire information. By providing information about the protests, it greatly affects the people’s motivation to participate in the protest by triggering them emotionally. Other than providing information and updates of the protests, social media can affect a person’s motivation to join a protest by triggering feelings of injustice, anger, or triggering the feelings of group identity. All over social media, especially Twitter, many users can see the references to “black lives matter” in messages regarding the Ferguson protests (Tucker, “Tweeting