Sunday, November 18, 2012

Social Media Informality vs Neglegence

As Social Media revolutionizes the distribution of news and information, all of the benefits of speed are creating some unwanted side effects. Whether those side effects are worth worrying about seems to be a point of contention.

A close friend of the Maven recently posted what appeared to be a spelling/grammar faux pas by a CNN anchorette/reporter on his Facebook page. While the reporter took advantage of Social Media's informality by using the word "waaayyy", she immediately followed it with the improper use of the word "to" instead of the correct "too". 
Our friend received a castigating email for being "waaayyy" too concerned about proper spelling, grammar and accepted journalistic style within the Social Media arena. Our friend, in his response email held his own, pointing out that while "waaayyy" could be dismissed under the new doctrine of informality, the "to/too" could not when reporting news or opinion for CNN, also noting that on CNN's other platforms, including TV, this would not be acceptable.


An isolated incident? No. USA Today also suffers from spelling issues on Social Media, however this instance is not a case of being "informal", this is a textbook case of stupidity and a lack of quality control. With no grumpy editors looking over their shoulders, Social Media "journalists" are free to write what they want with no editorial controls. Again, this would never be tolerated in their print product. 



The old yarn of "Speed, Accuracy, Truth.....pick any two" applies well to Social Media and the News. 

1 comment:

  1. Thought I'd sent you one from the rapidly declining WANE.com site this morning.
    Lottery gives away free tickets

    "As Powerball mania continues to build, people showed up early Wednesday morning to get a free ticket in hopes of winning the $500 jackpot."


    "As Powerball mania continues to build, people showed up early Wednesday morning to get a free ticket in hopes of winning the $500 jackpot."

    Someone should inform them that the story is a TAD more exciting than $500. But not me. At least they actually put some new news on the page, which has been seriously deficient especially in the last month.

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