Think for a second about where you first saw the news of Whitney Houston’s death.
Or the Boston Marathon bombing.
Or more recently, Justin Bieber’s arrest.
How about the birth announcement for Royal Baby, Prince George?
And the passing of Paul Walker?
Most likely, you saw one or all of these things first through Facebook or Twitter.
As it turns out, there’s a new journalism platform out there, and it’s social media. Breaking news nowadays undeniably makes more of a crash via the Twitterverse, or the Facebook realm, and media like Instagram, and Google+ are steadily gaining momentum. Large publications like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, and even National Geographic have all jumped into the Twittersphere, garnering millions (no, seriously — millions) of followers. It’s easily accessible, it generates brand awareness (for free!) through sharing, retweeting, favoriting, etc., and to be honest, it’s popular.
In a word, it’s just smart.
And we know you already know this. So, it’s not a secret that marketers should view social media as a form of generating business and support. Likewise, should journalists and major publications take on the same mindset?
With the Super Bowl coming up, and all eyes on the gems of commercials we’re likely to see, CNBC offers up their thoughts on why social media matters — and how it’s bigger (much, much bigger) than we think it is.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.