Social Media Needs Its Critics

The Value of Curmudgeous

Social media needs curmudgeons. We need critics. In fact, what we need is full-on investigative journalism in the world of social media. There is too much hype–and hyperventilating about the power of social media, the power of these new tools and the benefits to our weakened culture.

Of course, I am guilty of the above hyperbole. Thinking back I am reminded of how many blog posts I’ve started with the whole “Social media is revolutionizing our culture at large” blather. Well, no more. Or at least not as much. Even though I do believe that by hook or by crook social media is remapping our culture, our society and empowering people, I also believe that somewhere beneath all this gloss and sheen there is a seedier underbelly to social media. And I’m not just talking about all those “social media gurus” read: snake-oil salesman. That phenomenon is just the beginning.

The reason that social media needs critics and, as I said, full on investigative journalism, is not, as one would expect, to weaken or harm the world of social media. In fact, we need these functions being performed in order to strengthen social media for the long run. A free and unfettered press improves democracy. We all need to see what goes on beneath the blogs and twitter accounts. Does anyone doubt that malfeasance occurs, that ethics are being corrupted? Does anyone doubt that people are being scammed? Does anyone doubt that there are large sums of money being made in less than savory, even illegal, ways?

Who Can Investigate Social Media?

How about all those journalists who have lost their jobs recently? Of course this is only a partial answer but it is clear there are a lot of talented journalists who are sitting out these days, navel gazing and trying to figure out what happened to their jobs, their way of life, their industry.

I believe that journalists with experience in national security, local politics, foreign affairs, the areas where newspapers have been hardest hit, can be extremely valuable as checks upon the growing reach and influence of social media. The same skills of investigation, news gathering, reportage, narrative are important to social media.

And as social media investigations develop, more and more people will become aware. I think one thing these journalists will soon learn is that social media is a very closed world. What’s more, social media likes nothing more than to read about…social media. It’s why sites like Mashable are so popular. They are cheerleaders for social media. And that’s not a bad thing. Social media needs its cheerleaders, it needs it celebrators, but just as well it needs it critics.

And of course, it does have its critics. Plenty of sites and blogs these days take it upon themselves to burst bubbles and poke fun at the buzz and hype surrounding social media. But I can’t really think of any newspapers that are taking on social media directly in the same way they would an investigation in the Pentagon’s misuse of funds, or a politician’s schemings. This is what we should begin to see.

And when these investigations do appear, they’ll be vastly more popular than people think. The truth is even the loudest cheerleaders and evangelists for social media know there is a long way to go before we realize the full potential. Social media for all its gains, is still not mainstream. There are millions of American’s who just don’t see the point.

Investigative reporting in the social media sphere is one way that they’ll begin to see the context. With great stories, even of malfeasance, social media will appear as something real, something tangible. And that is something that we should all want.

Image Source: on Flickr

Tagged as: Building Trust, Outside Thinking