Social Media As The New Media News Source?

Has social media become the new media news source? Think about it. We see and look through thousands upon hundreds of thousands of statuses and tweets a day (depending on how

often you are glued to Twitter or Facebook, right?)  Even TV stations, newspapers and magazines are on social media. This is also a question that may have been answered a few years ago - but today, it has become even more of a news updater than the traditional TV news.

Let's ask a couple people in the Thrive office what the last major event they heard about on social media that sticks out in their mind:

Jordan Barhorst, our Junior Developer: Jordan remembers finding out about the bombings at the end of the Boston Marathon, just a few short months ago. 

Dan Mattina, our Support Specialist: Heard about the ending of the NHL lockout. Being the dedicated hockey fan that he is, this was something he would have been watching for. Instead of watching the local news, searching news sites or reading articles, Dan found out on Twitter. 

Gwen Betts Mitchell, our Senior Web Developer: This savvy chica rarely ever looks at news sites or even watching the news anymore. All of her knowledge of what is going on in the world? Comes from Twitter. As a Tigers fan, Gwen looks for the scores of each game on Twitter.  

I, Brittany Norton, our Digital Marketing Specialist: I found out about the Twitter Hackings for Burger King and Jeep on Twitter. I hadn't even seen the tweets made on each account yet. I saw a tweet from a friend laughing about the text over the cover image changing for Burger King's account. Then the articles started to pour in speculating who might be the culprit of these hackings. 

It might sounds cliche or even dumb, but often times people find out about celebrity deaths, political decisions and even award show winners on social media. I was on Twitter when I found out that Michael Jackson and even Whitney Houston had passed away. 

Another event that I can personally say I saw interaction with the social media world for, is the Chardon School shootings in Cleveland, Ohio. My best friend from college was from Chardon and her three youngest siblings were still students there. At one point she was unable to get a hold of them and was searching all over Twitter for some kind of communication. Many of the kids from Chardon were tweeting about hiding in classrooms and mentioning what students were with them, who had been hit or injured etc. For some friends and family, this was the only way they were able to tell if their loved ones were alive before officials allowed them to leave the building.   

I can recall off the top of my head one other time this kind of communication happened: the Boston Bombings. I found out about the Boston Bombings on Twitter - almost immediately after they happened. We saw several updates and a few pictures but the story hadn't really started to come out until some time after the first bomb. A hashtag had formed and people were using it to let people know that they were ok. Again, social media working in ways that we never thought it could or would be used. 

Social media is taking events and news pieces to a whole new level. One we never really thought of - well many of us anyway. Where do you think social media as a news source and as a communicator will go in the future? Is this just the beginning?   

Afterthought: 

When was the last time you found out about a national event from the news before any social media platform? What event stands out in your mind?