Social media, surveillance and news work: On the apps promising journalists a "crystal ball"

Thurman, Neil (2017): Social media, surveillance and news work: On the apps promising journalists a "crystal ball". In: Digital Journalism

Abstract

Social media platforms are becoming an indispensable resource for journalists. Their use involves both direct interaction with the platforms themselves and, increasingly, the use of specialist third-party apps to find, filter, and follow content and contributors. This article explores some of the ways social media platforms, and their technological ecosystems, are infusing news work. A range of platforms and apps—including Geofeedia, Spike, and Twitter—were critically examined, and their use by trainee journalists (N=81) analysed. The results reveal how journalists can—and do—surveil social network users and their content via sophisticated, professional apps that are also utilised by the police and security forces. While journalists recognise the value of such apps in news work, they also have concerns, including about privacy and popularism. And although the participants in this study thought the apps they used could help with verification, there were warning signs that an over-reliance on the technology could develop, dulling journalists’ critical faculties.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Form of publication: Preprint
• Keywords: Algorithms; artificial intelligence; computational journalism; geolocation; social media monitoring; surveillance; third-party apps; verification
• Faculties: Social Sciences > Communication
• Subjects: 000 Computer science, information and general works > 000 Computer science, knowledge, and systems; 000 Computer science, information and general works > 020 Library and information sciences; 000 Computer science, information and general works > 070 News media, journalism and publishing; 300 Social sciences > 380 Commerce, communications and transportation; 600 Technology > 600 Technology
• ISSN: 2167-0811
• Language: English