What do you think of the way media professionals use social media?

[Longwaytogo]

I'm not addicted to social media but I do find sites like Twitter and Facebook fascinating. It's like they transform people into attention-seeking addicts. Take Twitter for example. I used to love that site because of it's simplicity and cause it allowed me to read on topics that interest me. As a young journalist, I understand social media is extremely important for sharing content and even networking. However I'm turned off by how it's become a popularity contest. I have coworkers who are obsessed with tweeting every 15 minutes for the sake of gaining more followers. I even have a friend who got a prestigious job because she had more Twitter followers than the other candidate. Are we turning into a world where quality is way more important than quality? I know it's kind of always been the case but social media's taking it to an new extreme. What do you think?

[yetanotherday]

I agree. I stopped using my facebook, I first started it because so many people do use it, facebook sounded like it was the most fun place on the web! But it gets so boring... like I need to know what people are doing every second of their lives? I know i'm in a bit of a rant lol, but seriously. People need to learn to keep their thoughts in their heads. and that's obserd that an employer would choose an employee over who has the most followers! btw, are you a newspaper journalist? or are you online?

[Brad]

I understand where your thoughts are coming from, however, I don't think it's social media per se, but the way social media is currently being used. There is more of an emphasis among the big players such as Facebook and Twitter to have the NOW news and to have A LOT of it. So, yes quantity. However, on other forums, such as quora or here, there is quite a bit of quality and imagination.

With any tool, I always look at its inherent capabilities, but also how it is being used... hence the time-old saying "It's not the gun that's dangerous, but the man behind it". An extreme example, one might say, but it points very well at the core of the discussion at hand.