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The challenges and opportunities presented by social media
Social media is an increasingly disruptive force on the media landscape. It challenges traditional, mainstream media to reconsider how they operate.
Social media often releases information about which mainstream media might not have been aware, and information that mainstream media might have tried to ignore.
It can offer a wider, more diverse perspective on life than that covered by traditional media.
A media organisation should adapt to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by changing audience behaviour in our module entitled “Newsroom evolution from digital denial to digital first”.
Now we look at what a social media strategy could mean for a media organisation. But first, let’s look at how we got to this stage in media’s development.
The media is in a constant state of change, or at least it should be. Technological advances, leading to changing audience behaviour, resulting in altered attitudes to consuming and sharing news, which means that a media organisation can’t afford to stand still. Innovation is needed, but only if it makes business sense.
There have been many stages of media evolution over the years, below we look at three. The “broadcast AT or publish AT” model, the “engage with on our terms” model, and the “participate in” model.