Social Media

“In the beginning Tom created the My and the space. Now Myspace was formless and empty, layouts were plain and boring, and Tom was surfing the internet for inspiration.

And Tom said, “Let there be friends,” and there were Myspace friends. Tom saw that friends were good, and separated a select few that he really liked from the others he just knew. Tom called the select few the “top 8” and the others simply remained friends.

And Tom said, “Let there be a bulletin so that we may view each other’s useless info and meaningless surveys.” So Tom made the bulletin and everyone started posting there answers to all of life’s most meaningful questions like the last time they talked on the phone with number 6 on their top 8. And it was so.

And on the 4th day Facebook opened up to all people and everyone forgot about Myspace. And public relations professionals looked upon new social media sites and saw that they were good.”

-Social Media Genesis 1:1-5

While social media started out as a way to connect with friends, it has evolved into much more. Individuals, companies, and organizations have a far greater reach. Communication can happen on a much larger scale at low costs.

Social media may present some challenges, for example having to respond quickly and wisely when negative information goes viral, there are many benefits to being able to use social media for public relations:

• New relationships can be formed and maintained with people all over who can also interact.
• It makes it easy to listen.
• It makes research easier. (Also, measurement tools may be useful.)
• It’s quick and easy to update.
• It is a cost-effective option

In “The Future of Public Relations and Social Media” Erica Swallow discusses how “niche, industry-specific networks will be of greater value in the future” than mass social platforms. While Facebook can filter through things like sex, age, location, and what pages people like, so far this is only accessible for advertising. If public relations professionals find different social media sites that are unique to certain demographics it could be very helpful to them.

Also, while a vast majority of the PR people out there are using social media as a broadcasting tool for sending out press releases and recent client news, it will make an even greater difference once PR professionals use social media as a listening and communicating tool.

There is power in social media and it is important for both marketing and public relations professionals to be aware of how social media influences people. The infographic below displays the affects social media has.

Interesting infographic about the role social media has in the power of influence.

A Light of Hope For Parents of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

Parenting the Disabled

Almost every parent looks ahead with mixed feelings to the point in their child’s life when they will finish school and move on to become independent young adults. However, this is not always the case, especially for those who are parents of children with developmental disabilities. These parents have to face the reality that 93% of children with disabilities will be unemployed upon leaving the public school system and most will remain unemployed for their entire life.

Jack Kosik, founder and director of Noah’s Ark, informed me of how parents with children with developmental disabilities have a neglectful mindset when it comes to their child’s future. “Many families just try to get through a day, or a week and pray that the future will take care of itself. They do not understand how challenging it becomes when an individual with a developmental disability exits the school system to a life of video games and soap operas.”

When parents come around to facing the facts of reality, they are put in a dilemma as to what the next point in life is for their child. Noah’s Ark’s website states that due to a severe lack of adequate funding, there are over 18,000 individuals who are on a waiting list to receive services. New applicants for support services are being told the wait could be 10 to 15 years. In fact, it is only when parents become too old to properly care for their children that the Agency for Persons with Disabilities will place these individuals in a group home or facility. At this point in their life, it becomes very difficult for these individuals to grow and learn healthy habits that will empower them to live independently.

With all this in mind it seems like parents have no option but to provide shelter and care for their children day in and day out until they no longer physically can take it. A lifestyle of constantly giving oneself exhausts parents and drains them of living a vibrant life themselves.  Kosik stated, “In many cases, just getting through the day is a challenge.”

In addition to all of this, the divorce rate is near 90% for parents of children with developmental disabilities. Kosik informed me that most families are single-parents trying to earn a living to support their family and they come home to tend to the needs of a child with disabilities.

When their seems to be no hope in such circumstances, especially with the State of Florida ranking 47^th in providing support services, where can parents turn to find help? Parents in the Lakeland area can find relief and hope in Noah’s Ark, a local organization that empowers individuals with developmental disabilities to learn how to become independent so that they can experience all that God intends for their lives.

The Group of Parents that Dared to Question the Future and Work to Change It

Noah’s Ark has been serving the Lakeland area since 1997. The organization grew out of a parent support group named “Parent to Parent.” “Parent to Parent” is a national organization that connects parents so that they do not feel that they are alone in dealing with the most trying issues of raising a child with developmental disabilities.

Photo Credit: Jack Kosik; Image Design/Composition: Nick Tedeschi

The original group was made up of families with children from infants to teenagers. Jack Kosik’s daughter Brittany was 13 at the time. At one meeting Kosik brought up some concerns of his that had been lingering in his mind, ones that all parents of children with developmental disabilities must face. His concerns were related to what was going to happen to Britanny when he died. Some of the questions he had were

• “Where would she live?”
• “Who would her friends be?”
• “Who would care for her?” and
• “What quality of life would she have?”

Kosik informed me that he had already been looking into such questions and did not like what he was finding. If something happened to him at the time, she would likely be placed into a group home where quality of living is poor at best. She wouldn’t know any of the people and she would be cared for by constantly changing caregivers that are were paid close to minimum wages. People in group homes do not even get the privilege of making decisions for themselves, such as what they will be eating, when they will be eating, what they would be watching on television, and what leisure activities to participate in.

It was in the moment of Kosik sharing these concerns in the group support setting that he awakened similar concerns of other parents. As he brought about his concerns, other parents began looking ahead to their child’s future.

Out of about a dozen families that were involved in the “Parent to Parent” group, five chose to change their focus to changing what their child’s future quality of life would be like. It is this shift in focus that started Noah’s Ark.

In the process of developing the organization Kosik and the others felt the excitement of a positive change as they searched and discovered an array of organizations across the world. They saw how they were addressing the needs of individuals with developmental disabilities and knew that there was hope. The group traveled throughout Florida and to five different states to look at dozens of organizations to help them “crystallize” their vision.

Noah’s Ark still holds meetings as a support group regularly and anyone interested in attending is welcome. They are constantly helping educating and counseling parents on how to prepare for their child’s future needs. They inform people about the legal, financial, and guardianship issues to help them have their house in order.

The next membership meeting is Thursday, January 12, 2012. In this meeting they will be featuring a speaker from The Center for Guardian-Advocacy. She will discuss how families can protect their child through using a flexible and affordable form of guardianship. The membership meetings are open to individuals and families that support the organizations mission and goals. 

A Look Into What It is Like Raising a Child With Autism

Dr. Steven Fettke is a professor in the College of Christian Ministries and Religion at Southeastern University. He is also the father of twin daughters and a 27 year old son, Philip, who is autistic.

I sat down and talked with Dr. Stephen Fettke about Philip and how Philip’s autism has affected their family’s life. We discussed what it has been like being the parent of a child with autism, Philip’s education and current life, their struggles, how they have coped, and what Dr. Fettke knows of Noah’s Ark.

Dr. Fettke stated that the greatest challenge is all the attention that is needed. It detracts from one’s own situation with their spouse and other children. He expressed how fortunate he is to have a wife as well that was supportive and helpful.

He also discussed how he founded a parent support group but it was difficult for the parents to find the time to actually meet together because they were also so busy with taking care of their child.

His advice to parents is to connect with social services, find an understanding faith group that will help them struggle with their handicapped child, and if they can’t find that, at least another believer who is patient and willing to pray with them and support them.

Dr. Fettke has also written a very an article in the Journal of Pentecostal Theology titled “The Spirit of God Hovered Over the Waters: Creation, the Local Church, and the Mentally and Physically Challenged, A Call to Spirit-led Ministry.” The journal article examines aspects of God’s creation, God’s image, and true Spirit-led ministry, in order to point the Pentecostal/Charismatic Church to the biblical witness that calls for ministry to all people in all states of their creation. In the article Dr. Fettke discusses his experience along with the need to include and involve those who are mentally and physically challenged in the life of the local church. He also discusses the importance of remembering and being there for those who have been broken by caring for disabled or ill family members.

Click play below to hear my full interview with Dr. Fettke.

Life after schooling: With and without Noah’s Ark

Dr. Fettke voiced his satisfaction with Florida’s school system in his son’s experience. When an individual with developmental disabilities is in school, parents can be at peace knowing that someone is watching after them and caring for them. Without an organization like Noah’s Ark or any kind of day training, many individuals with developmental disabilities will exit school and stay at home unattended. While some are okay, others get into trouble, can be exploited, and some even get arrested.

As individuals with developmental disabilities become engaged with other Noah’s Ark participants, many parents see their child blossom. Parents discover that their child can do a lot more than they ever imagined. The reason Noah’s Ark is so successful is that there is such love and acceptance. Noah’s Ark is more than an organization, it is an extended family.

Parents can begin to relax knowing that they have done all they can do for their child and that their child is in an accepting and loving environment.

For many parents one of the most difficult challenges is dealing with “letting go” so their child can move on to living independently. A common opinion among parents is that their child “is just not ready” to live on their own. Kosik stated, “Few of us, disabled or not, are ready to move out and live on our own but we do it anyways. We had to learn, we had to make decisions, we had to live with the consequences of poor decisions and that’s how we grew. I frequently tell parents that ‘the greatest gift you can give your child is the gift of independence before they need it.’ It’s hard to let go, it’s even harder with a disabled adult child, but it’s a natural progression of life.”

It’s Friday, Friday, Gotta Go Shopping On Black Friday

It’s that time of year again where Americans mindfully practice gluttony and then stay up all night to save some money on things they may not otherwise buy. With Black Friday less than 6 days away, this year’s holiday retail sales forecast is $465 billion, a 2.8% increase over last year.

If you are planning to get some Christmas shopping done or make a purchase for yourself this Black Friday, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Some stores will be kicking there sales off early. Search around and look for any possible deals.
• Know what it is you are looking for. If you have an item or items in mind don’t get focused and go for it!
• Find out when stores are going to be opening. Some may open at midnight others may not open until 4:00 a.m.
• Don’t go alone. It’s just more fun when you do it with others.

Here is a cool infographic with tips:

 

(Infographic By: hhgregg)

Here are ten more helpful tips from Bradsdeals.com:

1. Research: Start your Black Friday 2011 sale research on Thanksgiving Day or earlier.
2. Make a plan: Identify what you want to buy, which stores have the best sales on Black Friday and what time they open.
3. Timing is everything: Arrange stores by opening time, from earliest to latest.
4. A fool and his money: Be wary of Black Friday deals with quantity limits. If a store has only 10 items at that price, go elsewhere.
5. Visualize: Know where your items are in the store.
6. Stay safe: Previous Black Friday sales were honestly deadly; please don’t trample or shoot anyone!
7. Power of numbers: Go with a team and attack separate stores or separate sections of the same store. Designate a meeting place.
8. Bring a snack: Only amateurs stop at the food court on Black Friday! (Or the bathroom — so go before you leave.)
9. The quiet ones: Don’t ignore stores that don’t advertise. They will have Black Friday deals, too!
10. Have fun: Enjoy your family, friends and deals!

To learn a little more and find some other good sites that will help you prepare, read USA Today’s insights on the big day!

I will spare you of the more violent videos and outrageous news stories, but just be cautious around all those crazies out there.

Check out these other interesting infographic on Black Friday:

• Summary of last year’s Black Friday 
• Trends and top 10’s
• Holiday Shopping Trends: Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday
• Black Friday TV Sales
• Black Friday and Savings (It’s a year old, but it still has interesting insights.)
• The Black Friday Guide (also a year old)

Ten Tips For New Bloggers

Blogging, like anything else, can be difficult to get in to when you don’t know what exactly to do and how to do it. Writing for a blog, and writing in general, takes practice. Writing my first blog was a much slower process than writing blogs are for me now. With all that I’ve learned, my writing is much more fluid. I’m no expert on blogging but I hope that what I share with you helps to some extent.

1. Blog about something that interests you. If you can freely choose what to blog about, then pick something that you like or would like to know more about. It makes the process much more fun.
2. Be yourself. Let your personality shine through your writing.
3. Get to know the blogging platform you are using. When I first started using WordPress, I was lost. With the help of others I learned how to set up my blog and where the essential basic things were. From this basic knowledge I explored a few things and was able to enhance the appearance of my blog and my writing.
   

   Ryan "Jingles" Seecrest updating Twitter

4. Comment on other people’s blogs–your friends’ blogs and professionals’ blogs. I probably wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t required for class, but I learned its value over time. When you comment on other people’s blogs, you create conversation that builds a connection and stimulates growth. Being assigned to comment on other blogs got me reading blog posts that I wouldn’t have otherwise, and I learned a few things. It also felt nice to receive comments on my own blogs, especially when one of them was from a complete stranger (ie. someone who wasn’t required to comment). Read the post I wrote on commenting if you want to learn more.
5. Incorporate multimedia. That is one of the advantages of digital writing. You can add pictures, videos, slideshows, and sound to make your posts more engaging.
6. Write short paragraphs and bullet or number things where possible and appropriate. People scan when they are reading off a computer screen.
7. Try to post regularly. It will keep others coming back and like I said before the more practice you have, the better you get at writing.
8. Give credit to where credit is due. Cite where you get ideas or quotes from.
9. Use proper grammar and proofread. It’s good to write conversationally but that doesn’t mean you abandon sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and other grammar rules.
10. Use tags and create categories. They will draw people to your posts and categories keep your blog organized.

Thanksgiving Break

I came across this infographic and it’s pertinent to my life seeing that I am not in the 40% traveling home for Thanksgiving and I blogged about infographics a couple weeks ago.

Courtesy of: Schools.com

 

Start walking back to SEU early Sunday morning to burn all those calories off!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Marks of a True Christian

This blog post is a slightly longer one, but I encourage you to pray, read and meditate on the scriptures, set some time apart to think through it, and respond with what God spoke to you through this text and how we might apply some of these things to our lives. I read this passage this morning. The more I allowed God to speak to me through it and the more I wrote in response to it, the more I realized that it is kind of piggy backing off of Pastor Drew’s sermon this past 1st chapel.

In Romans 12:9-21 Paul talks about the marks of a true Christian. He instructs the Romans in their conduct by saying this:

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,t serve the Lord.12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.t Never be wise in your own sight.17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Yes, I used a corny heart picture, and I'm a guy... but it's a nice picture.

If we desire to live lives that will glorify God, then we must have a love that is genuine. This passages helped me see that the context of unity/harmony is loving others no matter what their condition or your condition is. We are not to discriminate against another person’s condition: poor or rich, young or old, white or black, male or female. When someone’s condition is sorrow, we are to weep with them. When someone’s condition is joy we are to be joyful with them. That is what it means to be unified. Under God, we are all a family. Each and everyone of us, designed and created by God in his image with unique gifts, are tied together through a God who loves us. We are to be there for one another and lift each other up.

Furthermore, we must ask ourselves if others look at us and see that we have a hope that can’t be acquired from anything in this world. When others look at us do they see us complaining because of the difficulties we are facing or do they see patience that goes beyond a person’s natural tendency to just want to shut down, mope around, or get angry? Are we constantly in conversation with God? No one is perfect and we all could work on these things. If we begin to meditate on that verse 12 alone and start living it out, then we will begin to reflect Christ more and others around us will want to know what it is about us that is different.

What makes that difference is God’s love working in us. If God’s love wasn’t in us, then we wouldn’t be able to combat the sin that our flesh and human nature desire, love others, do good beyond what the world considers good (ie. love your enemies), and live passionately. God’s love calls us to live above reproach and “overcome evil with good.” It is when we experience God’s love for us and come to know and have a greater revelation of God’s love for us, that we will begin to hate what is evil because it pulls us away from that love. When we know God intimately, we know what good is because he reveals his heart to us. God alone can give us eyes to see as he sees. God loves every person abundantly, so we are to love all even when we have the right not to in the eyes of this world.

What is truly good only flows out of real love. What’s good and what is evil does not change so we must change and become more loving. Real love conducts real living.

God, I pray that we would let nothing keep us from receiving your love and sensing it daily. I pray that we would extend your love towards others even when we have the right not to. I ask that you would just grant us grace as we fight against our natural desires and work towards what is good through the power of your Spirit. Thank you for calling me out of my sin and freeing me from it. I love you God. In the name of your son Jesus, through whom all who believe have been set free, I pray that you would seal this in the heart, soul, mind, and spirit of every person who reads this, including myself. Amen.

Where Surfing Meets Couches: Adventure and Hospitality In Many Cultures

When you are planning to travel there are many things that you have to take into consideration: transportation, food, places you desire to go, things you want todo, expenses of the trip, and where you will stay overnight. While the practice of hitchhiking goes back many years and has taken care of transportation for those who can’t afford it, a new phenomenon has arisen for finding a free place to stay. That phenomenon is couch surfing.

The Urban Dictionary defines couch surfing as “A cheap form of lodging used mainly by college-students or recent college-grads, where one stays on acquaintance’s couches rather than a hotel.” It defines the couch surfer as “one who defeats homelessness by relying upon a series of friends’ couches. A friend or acquaintance who frequently crashes at your house. Can be due to inability to pay his own rent, frequent and/or persistent intoxication, or reluctance to return to his own dwelling.”

While couch surfing can occur in a variety of ways, there seems to be one company and website that started the idea and has the largest network–CouchSurfing. It all began when Casey Fenton found an inexpensive flight from Boston to Iceland in 1999. He decided to randomly email 1,500 students from the University of Iceland asking if he could stay with them. How he had access to those emails is beyond my knowledge, but it led to him receiving more than 50 offers for accommodation. When this happened he came up with the idea to create a network where people could get to know others by their profiles and stay for free in areas all over the world.  According to Wikipedia, a beta site was launched in January 2003 by Fenton and 3 others and it became a public site in January 2004. The site had just over 6,000 members by the end of 2004. As of October 2011, the site has over 3 million members.

Couch Surfing gives travelers the ability to learn cultures from the locals and form many new friendships. You can also be a host by sharing your hospitality and experiencing your city through new eyes when you offer travelers a place to stay on their journey. CouchSurfing describes itself as a community and a movement.  It is a global community with members in over 230 countries and territories around the world. There vision is to see “a world where everyone can explore and crate meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter. Building meaningful connections across cultures enables us to respond to diversity with curiosity, appreciation and respect. The appreciation of diversity spreads tolerance and creates a global community.” There mission states that they desire to “create inspiring experiences.”

I first heard about couch surfing this past summer from someone I worked with. When she explained what it was, my immediate reaction was, “Are you serious!? People actually do that?” I was a little sketched out by the idea and my inner child reminded me of stranger danger, but there are several precautions taken to ensure one’s safety when couch surfing.

This is one of the guys whose testimonial showed up own the site. I know I'm not supposed to judge, but I don't think I would want to stay with him... creepy.

• There are references from the experiences of other couch surfers.
• You can also see how many close friends they’ve made from their friend link.
• Members profiles are not censored so that you know what to expect when staying with someone or hosting someone.

CouchSurfing also has a new member welcome team that will verify your information. I would add to the list do not couch surf alone–that way if a host is a murderer, at least there is a witness (please take note the sarcasm). There’s a reason Jesus sent the disciples out in two’s (Mark 6:7). It’s just like when we were kids and we were told to have a buddy to hold hands with as we crossed the street. There is more power in pairs. Ultimately, you make the decisions, so safety is up to you.

If you are planning on traveling this upcoming winter break, spring break, or summer break, couch surfing may be for you. It simply requires 3 things boldness, an adventurous spirit, and signing up for an account in order to create a profile and begin exploring your options. Be wise in your decisions and live life to the fullest!

Whether you are looking to stay in Rome, Paris, Sydney, LA, or Boston, CouchSurfing has a host for you. If any of you try this out make sure to let me know about your experience and possibly even post something on Anthrotourist about it. It’s really something how social networking and the internet have affected travel in so many ways, and the couch surfing movement is just one of them.

Here’s a video that displays another form of couch surfing.

What’s Your Bloggeragative? The Motives Behind the Blog Posts

Over the course of the last year and a half or so I have been listening to my dad go on from time to time about how blogging is important for businesses, mind you he’s an electrician. While he doesn’t really do it all that much for his business, he began to get convinced of the power of blogging from watching videos about online marketing. He would inform me of how blogging on your website will increase your ranking and how it helps you present yourself to potential customers. I always just kind of blew my dad off because I thought he was wasting his time trying to learn how to get rich quick by marketing online so he could stop working long hours and retire sooner. Even with this, I did not realize how much blogging is used professionally before taking Writing for Digital Media. 

Since 2004 Technorati has been following growth and trends of blogging. This year they have payed close attention to blogging and social media, bloggers and traditional media, traffic and analysis, brands and marketing in the blogosphere, bloggers’ motivations and consequences, monetization, and changes that have taken place over 2011. They found that bloggers are updating their blogs more frequently and spending more time blogging. While conversation between friends was the primary influence in 2010, other types of blogs are having more of an influence in 2011.

Technorati displayed their results according to five different types of bloggers:

“1) Hobbyist: The backbone of the blogosphere, and representing 60% of the respondents to this survey, Hobbyists say that they “blog for fun” and do not report any income. Half of hobbyists prefer to express their “personal musings” when blogging. 60% indicate they spend less than three hours a week blogging, yet half of hobbyists respond individually to comments from readers. Because 72% blog to speak their minds, their main success metric is personal satisfaction (61%).

2-3) Professional Part- and Full-Timers: These bloggers represent 18% of our total group. They are independent bloggers who either use blogging as a way to supplement their income, or consider it their full-time job. Most of these professional bloggers don’t consider blogging their primary source of income. This group primarily blogs about personal musings and technology

4) Corporate: Corporate bloggers make up 8% of the blogosphere. They blog as part of their full-time job or blog full-time for a company or organization they work for. These bloggers primarily talk about technology and business in their blogs. 70% blog to share expertise, 61% to gain professional recognition, and 52% to attract new clients. They have found that blogging has given them greater visibility in their industry (64%) and company (63%). 63% of corporate bloggers use their number of unique visitors to measure success. 

5) Entrepreneurs: 13% of the blogosphere is characterized as entrepreneurs, or individuals blogging for a company or organization they own. 84% of these bloggers blog primarily about the industry they work in, with 46% blogging about business and 40% about technology. 76% blog to share expertise; 70% blog to gain professional recognition; and 68% to attract new clients for their business.”
You can read the full post or see more of the results by reading “Who the bloggers are,” “What’s in it for bloggers,” and “Active blogging.”

After reading this I thought of another category to be added.

6) Student Bloggers: Students who are forced to maintain a blog and have a certain amount of posts by a certain date. Hopefully these bloggers will become one or more of the previous types of bloggers above, but for now most of them just do it for the grade. However, somewhere along the way many of them will discover the value of blogging and learn of its importance. There are a few hobbyist bloggers that are in this group and hopefully many that will emerge out of it. It is also a possibility, but most likely very rare, that there are professional part-timers and entrepreneurs in this group. 

I hope to use blogging in whatever ministry or organization I end up in after graduating. I want to use it to raise awareness about certain needs, teach people different principles of Christian living and leadership, and to update whatever community I’m a part of about what is going on. I also wish to blog as a hobbyist. I will pour my thoughts into posts and hopefully somehow help others through whatever I write; I may do so through tumblr. Maybe along the way I will even be blessed enough to become a part-time blogger.

How will you be using blogging in the future? Where do you see the blogosphere heading?

Live Blog: SEU’s Hard Rock Talent

SEU’s Hard Rock Talent hard rock talent took place last night, and I covered it live.

Does Participatory Journalism Contribute to the Decline or the Solution of Traditional News Media?

Citizen journalism is more possible now than ever before. People want to be able to report on events they hear about or personally come across. With phones on hand people can produce content and expose it to the public’s eye via the web in an instant. Multiple people can chime in on a situation and with all the participation, there are many perspectives. The more people contribute to crowd-sourced reporting, the smarter the entry gets.

The contribution that citizen journalism makes is that it can get more people interested in the news. It could contribute to the decline of traditional news media because the more popular topics of participatory journalism are less important than the topics of mainstream media.

When one does an online search, there is a myriad of answers, but sorting through page after page of results can be tiresome. Web journalists help by sorting through articles, blog posts and RSS feeds because they want to find the interesting things to share with others. Writers and editors are expected to interact with the audience online and when it comes to citizen journalism this is being done on social media and blog comments.

How does participatory journalism affect the future of journalism?

• It will be delivered via mobile devices.
• It will be more immediate with social media. People will share stories within there context and others will give their responses quickly.
• It will be specific to ones interests and/or location (hyperlocal).
• It will be rich in media, particularly visual.
• It will be hyperlinked, cross-linked and meshed.
• People will participate and collaborate more.
• It will not always be perfect, but it will be more like a work in progress that is in process and always in play.
• Reputation, independence, integrity and trust will matter even more.
• It will be a conversation rather than a lecture because of a participating audience.

CNN has a site devoted to user-generated content and news coverage (iReport.com) so that they maintain professionalism on there site. Also see the Institute for Interactive Journalism.

How has the mobile web changed and shaped citizen Journalism?

“The Pew Internet & American Life Project found in March 2008 that 62 percent of American adults have either accessed the Internet wirelessly or used non-voice data applications, such as texting, emailing, taking a picture, or recording video with a handheld.” (Writing for Digital Media, Brian Carroll, 183)

How is Twitter being used by News Organizations?

“Limiting blog posts to 140 characters, twitter rewards a tight writing style and a sense of immediacy, both of which are qualities of good online journalism.” (Writing for Digital Media, Brian Carroll, 186)

Services that deliver “tweets” to users’ phones include iTweet.net, PocketTweets.com and Hahlo.com.