When I use social media, I first see what is trending (at least on Twitter) to find out what is currently happening, especially with politics. Today, for example, I read a quote from the Governor of Maryland where he criticized Trump. I often like to watch videos from the other side of the aisle, perhaps as a way to see their point of view (or to just get a good laugh).
In terms of photojournalism and social media, I think that images published online can be shared with viewers in an accessible and free way and can teach them about heartbreaking and anger-inducing events and can call people to action, there were a few videos and photos I saw over the summer to prove this. In the article I read, the author talked about how easy it is to upload an image, keeping the events more recent and pressing (because they just happened). Additionally, anyone can be a photojournalist, not just a professional anymore, although I think this was a thing before social media.
https://medium.com/@Anna36709926/photojournalism-in-the-age-of-social-media-80558aaf9501
Thanks for this. How do you identify particular media content as being “across the aisle”? Sometimes, this type of information can be quite tricky to come by…
And you raise a good point on immediacy–the ability of social media to communicate instantaneously. Is that a blessing or a curse for journalism, do you think?