By Gaby Lorenzo
How do you get the scoop? Do you let the ice cream thaw? Use two hands? Maybe microwave it? What’s the best way to get your fix?
Just kidding – we all know I’m talking about more than just dairy products. I’m talking about what’s going on in the world right now; our everyday happenings. The news!
Where do we get our information and how has it changed? Is it possible to have too much information because of the variety of ways to consume news? Are our brains melting like rainbow sherbet? Talk about information overload.
I came across a few interesting facts from a recent Schools.com infographic. According to the infographic, 50 percent of people learn about breaking news via social media channels rather than official news sources, 46 percent of people get their news online at least three times a week, and for the first time in 2012, online news revenue surpassed traditional print revenue. Now there is undoubtedly an overlap of traditional and print news in online and social sources. With this overlap, there is a creation of facts, stories, libel, conversation and just plain noise.
It’s not a bad thing. The confused, disoriented, frustrated sensations we feel when we digest news from every corner we turn likely has resulted from the infinite amount of channels we have access to. The convergence of traditional and social media and the rise of digital, as discussed in my latest post, allows news to travel with us as companions. Stories are breaking faster with social media. In fact, last year there were a series of ground-breaking stories that broke and spread over Twitter; including the raids on Osama Bin Laden, the Hudson River plane landing, and the political uprisings in Egypt.
I’m not sure if I can tell you how to alleviate the challenges of sifting through news sources to seek truthful, genuine information. So I pose the following question: How do you filter the conversation to make the information you find relevant and satisfying?
What I can tell you is this: information, like ice cream, will always be convenient and accessible, as long as you don’t let it melt.
A little bit about me: When I think about writing, I think of my hero Randy Pausch. He said the following: “If I only had three words of advice, they would be, ‘tell the truth’.” I love all things digital music and looking at how the music industry has transformed through mobile technologies. I also secretly hope that one day I’ll be as cool as Lois Lane. She’s pretty darn awesome.
