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| Now go sit in the corner and think about what you've done! |
Fresh off of reading an
interesting news article, slamming social media mega-site
Mashable for posting a news story on the recent passing of British jazz-core musician Amy Winehouse, I have developed a defending position for the 'Mash. In the article, it claims Mashable posted the hot story on it's site simply to gain more clicks and traffic to their site. While this may or may not be the case, (either way I don't really care), the article brings up an interesting point - Mashable, and social media sites in general for that matter, should redefine who they are. Mashable touts itself as a social media news and technology blog. Last I checked
social media is designed for and justly used for social engagement between friends, professionals and businesses alike to share and trade media, news, entertainment, etc. Let that digest for a bit. Feel it wash over you.
Social media in and of itself is made to spread ideas, likes and dislikes,
news, and whatever else tickles your fancy. Slamming a social media site for posting news is just mind-blowing to me. Granted it may be out of their particular realm of normal postings, however them being a social site, I can see it's place. Mashable has posted several stories prior to this one that could be labeled as "not social media site worthy", but the 'Mash does tend to look at it from a social perspective. For example they
posted a story about the recent Oslo bombing, but focused more on how the story unfolded on the social front - namely Twitter and YouTube. Earlier today, Mashable made another post about Ms. Winehouse, but this time how the Microsoft made a distasteful tweet, and how other sites are feeding off her death to increase sales and traffic - more on that in a second.
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| RIP to an artist gone too soon. |
Truth be told, I found out about Amy Winehouse's untimely demise via a post from Mashable founder Pete Cashmore on Google+. Granted I probably would've found out a few minutes later on one of my other social accounts, or the old school way on the television, or even (GASP!) through a phone call with a friend who heard about it. Point being, I got the news
first through a non traditional news source. But let's think about how the news is getting spread around these days - through social media! Tides are shifting towards a new era of news discovery.
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| How Not to Tweet: 101 |
Back to how other sites are "taking advantage" of celebrity deaths to turn a profit. Is it so wrong for Apple to post on the iTunes front page "Remembering Amy Winehouse" with a link to her life's work? I think it's a wonderful homage, and seeing that iTunes
sells music why not? Sales have spiked for other famous musicians who've passed away, and it did not bother me one bit. Think of how much Michael Jackson's discography jumped off the shelves when he passed away 2 years ago. The same can be said for Amazon and Microsoft's music sites, I don't think it makes them careless or crass to do what they've done. There
IS however a wrong way to post about tragic news on your social media sites - just ask Kenneth Cole and their now
infamous "Egypt" tweet. What Kenneth Cole's social team did and what Mashable, iTunes, and other have done are two completely different situations. The former was indeed in bad taste, while the latter was simply not.
So to reiterate, social media is an outlet and should not have to be sectored and filtered off to news-only avenues. Take this blog you're reading for example.
Printed Specialties is a packaging printer, but I'm still writing about this, because it's a social media outlet. Social media is what I do, and seeing as how this pertains to my job title, I see it as appropriate. People are going to get their news wherever they frequent, and that's a tough pill for news channels to swallow. It's a new day and generation - and her name is Social.
Be well,
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