We all have an opinion on what we think of sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger. And, we all have opinions on the ways we think these sites should be used. I think these sites are great and obviously a lot of other people do too based on the millions of users these sites have. I have heard many people say that these sites don’t make money but it is hard for me to believe that or they would not survive. Even if they are not making money right now these types of sites eventually are acquired by bigger companies that see value in them. They build plenty of value with all of the user information they are able to gather and sell off when the timing is right.
Last weekend I sat in on a conversation with some people that are basically in the public relations/media business and they seemed to have a bad opinion of Facebook, Twitter, and amateur bloggers. I believe these sites basically take the place of when we used to meet for breakfast or lunch and talk and complain and gossip with friends. The only difference now is everyone can do that with people everywhere on the internet. You can have people you like read your updates and even people you don’t like can read your opinions if you choose to put the information out there in the world of the interweb. Of course some people use these new mediums to put negative articles and updates out there but for the most part I see people that are trying to promote something they want to promote.
I am sure this was a case of all of us wanting to put in our 2 cents about the widely debated issue of whether these things are hurting or helping or if it even matter. I don’t want to name any names or call anyone out and I am quite sure most of them have some sort of social networking page but the conversation got my attention. I enjoy blogging and putting what I hope is interesting content on my website so maybe I took it a little too personal. It won’t stop me from writing my blogs and obviously the conversation helped me come up with a new column to add to my site. Actually, I like having debates on these types of issues. I pretty much sat back and listened. They are all probably more educated on the subject when it comes to how it affects professional journalists.
I have a simple solution if these guys don’t like the direction blogging, tweeting, and Facebooking is going: click on a different page or site. It is like a television, there are other channels if you don’t like what you are watching.
I felt like the people in the conversation were basically saying that only the people with a degree in journalism should be able to put their stories and opinions out there. Well, I have to completely disagree. We all sit and watch a basketball game, race, or football game and throw out tons of opinions about the players, coaches, and teams. Not many people will ever play at that level but we all say what we think about the games we watch. The only difference now is people say it by doing just what I am doing now: by, blogging, writing columns, or social networks. I enjoy it because writing is somewhat of a release for me. It is very relaxing.
Don’t get me wrong, I think people should be responsible when it comes to putting their opinions on the web. A computer is an easy thing to hide behind. The anonymity of the internet makes it easy for all of us to put anything on the web. People do it everyday and that will never change. There are people with journalism degrees and many other highly educated people that will hide behind what they put on the web but there is nothing we can do about it. No matter what people in the “professional” media game think I will continue to try and put out interesting information on my website(s). As far as Twitter and Facebook go, I will continue to use those sites to promote my projects or let my “friends” know what I am up to just like many people “in the industry” are doing.
I know a lot of this conversation was based on their concerns for some of their colleagues and friends that are involved with the country’s newspapers and other print media. They opened my eyes to this issue and I spent some time tonight reading about the possibilities of more of the largest newspapers closing the doors. I am sure the internet has changed the print media game completely, but what business has the internet not affected?
Hopefully I will get to sit in on more of these debatable conversations in the future. Things like this are fun to think about, write about, and comment on.