Fast as Lightning

 
It is not a surprise to anyone reading this blog post that we, the public, retrieve information faster today than anyone has ever in the past. I mean, think about it. We can get text messages from one of our friends from anywhere in the country and even the world. We used to think that it was amazing that we could send e-mails. Don't get me wrong it still is, but you never knew when someone was sending something to you. You would have to wait until you got home or to work to check your e-mail. Besides, who doesn't love to hear the infamous line, "You've Got Mail." Sure...I highly doubt that any of you reading this actually has that fun little sound bite anymore, but back in the day, when e-mail was first coming around that was what we heard. Heck...they even made a movie about it; a movie made completely about sending e-mails back and forth to someone. In 1998 this was a big deal.

These days you the exact time you get an e-mail.  No, I am not talking about the time stamp that is beside each and every e-mail that you get.  What I am speaking of is that awesome little "ding" that you get when (BAM!) a new e-mail has arrived.  Now, instead of having to wait until you get home to check you e-mails you can be in your favorite store, read your newest e-mail while looking at a stellar pair of high heels.  It's just the way the world is today.

Now that I have taken you back in time and helped you remember how "slow" our life used to be once upon a time, let's jump back into present day. So, I'm sure that most of you have a Facebook account, Twitter account or both. If not, well...are you living under a rock? Honestly, if you are not connected to any type of social media how do you find things out? How did you learn about the Boston Bombings or the plant explosion in Texas? When these events happened they were the top news event on each and every social media site. News spreads like wildfire on these sites. It is actually pretty awesome how fast news spreads. I do not have a television in my office, so throughout the day I learn most of my news from my Facebook newsfeed or my Twitter homepage. For instance, I just logged into my Facebook and found out that "The Possum" died. Yes, country legend, George Jones, has passed away at the age of 81. It is sad and all over the news channels, I am sure, but I learned it through the world of social media.

With the benefit of social media companies, businesses and even the news stations themselves can reach out to the public in looking for answers to certain topics. Not only did people learn of the Boston Bombings through social media, but the FBI also released the pictures of the suspects, which then spread like a virus throughout the country. Every single person was on the lookout for these people. I can use the example that Paul Lewis used when discussing the technique of "crowdsourcing." He mentioned that the company that he worked for reached out to the public hoping to uncover the truth about two incidences that happened in London. They sent out a tweet asking for help and information from any person willing to give it. What do you know? They got responses from people that witnessed that account. When the Boston Bombings terrorist attack happened last week our local news station, WSFA, sent out a tweet asking for interviews from anyone that were in Boston from our area and guess what. They got responses. They had several interviews from someone that was now living in Boston to a doctor from Montgomery who was running in the marathon.

Crowdsourcing has taken on a whole new meaning from when it was first coined in 2006. Jeff Howe and Mark Robinson said that crowdsourcing is basically when a company outsources a function to a larger group of people. Social Media has taken this to a whole new level. Companies are now able to outsource all types of information to the public with less than 140 characters. If you want information to get out to the public quickly, just as the FBI did with the release of the Boston suspects, social media is the way to go. People pick it up so fast and before you know it the news has spread. I will say that spreading news through social media is like picking up a leaf and letting it go in the wind. The wind is going to take that leaf wherever it wants to and you have control over where it ends up. The same can be said with social media. Once you let the information out, it is out there forever and there really is no way to ever get it back.  

My advice to any person reading this that does not use any type of social media outlet, I highly suggest you get one.  Whether you want to admit it or not it is the way of the future.  I am sure that sometime in the near future there will be a new social media site that is all the rage, but it does not change the fact that the news will be given in the same manner.  This day in age we depend a lot on social media to receive our information, but if you think about it the news organizations depend a lot on us as well.  They depend on us to read the information that they post to Facebook or Twitter and help them out.  They are hoping that someone in the social media bubble will see what they post and reach out.  Overall, social media is not only a way of keeping in contact with your friends, but a way of keeping in touch with the world as a whole.