Social Media Vs Traditional Media: The Evolving Media Landscape

Introduction

We still tend to watch the news on TV while we are having breakfast or dinner or read the newspaper while we are going to work or some other place. But, the fact that news is shared through Social Media constantly throughout the day almost as soon as it happens, has sparked a shift in preference, leading many of us to replace Traditional Media sources, such as newspapers or news on television, with their digital versions. This reflects the ongoing debate of social media vs traditional media in news consumption.

Limitations of Traditional Media

Traditional Media has its own limitations in the progress of creation and dissemination of news. For example, newspapers have limited space, and only more essential news can be printed. In addition to that, newspapers have time limitations where most of the time news can’t be published at the time the event happened. The radio has also its limitations where the viewers can only listen according to the order of the program that is developed by the broadcast station. In television, the situation is almost the same. The content is restricted through the programming time, only limited information can be displayed within a specified time.

Therefore, all three Traditional Media platforms have limitations in the dissemination of information and news. I think that the most disadvantageous side of Traditional Media is that the audience has no chance to share their opinions and thoughts about information. On the other hand, Social Media enables viewers to express their thoughts and opinions and participate. This is, unfortunately, unable to be achieved in Traditional Media.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media

However, Social Media has its own limitations as many organizations spread false information and news to deceive the public. For commercial purposes, some websites spread false news that is really harmful to society. This made many people today, including me, to question the credibility of Social Media.

Today, in the age of big data, people's preferences can easily be gathered through social media platforms. Most online data is transparent and can easily be hacked by hackers and fraudulent sites. The privacy issue has become a major concern, and I think it should be regularly monitored by Social Media analysts to avoid cyberbullying or cybercrime. I think that, if Social Media will ever replace traditional media, probably the key of success will be the advanced technology on the internet. With the improvements in technology, Social Media has definitely exceeded the abilities of Traditional Media. It has smoothened the process of gathering information for news articles.

Conclusion

I also think that the impact of online media has become bigger in the lives of all of us. I don’t think that there will be any changes in the next six months or in the next few years. Even though Social Media has its own disadvantages like privacy issue, credibility and transparency, I believe that Traditional Media will fade away with the rise and popularity of social media because social media has advantages that are not available on traditional media like freedom of speech and availability. Thus, I feel that in the near future Social Media will make Traditional Media completely redundant with respect to the creation and dissemination of news. 

References

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2. Boczkowski, P. J., & Mitchelstein, E. (2013). The news gap: When the information preferences of the media and the public diverge. MIT Press.
3. Gruzd, A., & Roy, J. (2014). Investigating political polarization on Twitter: A Canadian perspective. Policy & Internet, 6(1), 28-45.
4. Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Kalogeropoulos, A., Levy, D. A., & Nielsen, R. K. (2019). Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2019.
5. Pew Research Center. (2021). News Use Across Social Media Platforms in 2020. Retrieved from https://www.journalism.org/2021/03/22/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-in-2020/