Innovations lesson

• Mediawijsheid
• WO
• Studiejaar 6

Guest Lecture

Eline Kuper & Fatima Warsame

RTL Nieuws TikTok

Social Media & Tools

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Digital news report 2023

Social media have become the primary source of news gathering for young people (Lauf & Schut, 2023).

social media & tools

The rise of social media

Meese and Hurcombe noticed a growing concern:

• Facebook dependence

Questions about: market power and platforms role in news consumption.

Meese and Hurcombe's method

“To navigate the changes on Facebook news organisations explored other distribution strategies and business models, such as reframing the company’s relationship with Facebook” (Meese and Huncome, 2020, p.7).

Facebook interventions

1. Instant articles

2. Prioritizing video content

This lead to a new strategy, heavily focused on Facebook for traffic. 

Emerging tensions

Facbook prioritazed content by family and friends

Leading to a collaps between the platform and news media organisations 

“It wasn’t that the content was any less quality, it just didn’t reach the same audience as before” 

(Meese and Hurcome 2020, p. 7)

What is an Instant Article?

1. A feature that allows users to instantly share articles
2. A format for hosting content directly on the platform
3. A tool for scheduling articles to be published at a specific time
4. A feature that enables users to save articles to read later

(EzyInsights, 2016)

Re-evaluation of distribution strategies

• Exploring alternative platforms (e.g. Instagram)
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Reduce aliance on a single platform

According to Helmond (2015), "platforms" are ... ?

1. Technical infrastructures for building applications
2. Spaces for innovation and expression
3. Facilitators of interactions among different actors
4. All of the above

Platform

• Computational meaning
• Broader meaning: a place for innovation, 
  a space for expression, and a facilitator
  of interactions between various actors
• Two-sided platform: connects users,
  advertisers, and third-party developers.

What is Facebook?

1. Social Network Site
2. Platform
3. For boomers
4. All of the Above

He [Zuckerberg] wanted to do for the Web what Gates did for the personal computer: create a standard software infrastructure that made it easier to build applications— this time, applications that had a social component. “We want to make Facebook into something of an operating system, so you can run full applications,” he [Zuckerberg] explained (Kirkpatrick, 2010, p. 217).

"Platformization"

According to Helmond (2015, p. 5) the term platformization "refer to the rise of the platform as the dominant infrastructural and economic model of the social web and the consequences of the expansion of social media platforms into other spaces online."

Mass Media Logic                           Social Media Logic   

The impacts of using WhatsApp for journalistic purposes

• Intimacy and trust: WhatsApp blurred the boundaries between professional and personal life for both journalists and sources leading to misunderstandings regarding the confidentiality of information shared.
• Obtanibility and camaraderie: WhatsApp facilitated the rapid sharing of information among journalists leading to a sense of camaraderie among journalists.
• Temporality: WhatsApp has disrupted the traditional rhythms, accelerating the pace of news production and dissemination.

Pros

Cons

• News media organisations are now dependent on platforms (Meese & Hurcombe, 2021).
• Inquiries about the impact of social media on the norms and values of journalism (Meese & Hurcombe, 2021). 
• The spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories (Grandinetti & Bruinsma, 2023).

• Citizen journalism as primary sources of informations (Kim & Lowrey, 2015).
• Social media as a promising key for economically troubled industry (Meese & Hurcombe, 2021). 
• Accessibility and wider reach (Paulussen & Harder, 2014)

Can you think of any other Pros or Cons?

Interactive assignments

Make a social media post/text for one of the following platforms:

1. Instagram

2. Facebook

3. TikTok

4. X (Twitter)

Social Media & Tools

Thanks for your attention!