Here is a link to an analysis article I wrote on the digital dilemmas that social media poses for journalists for the Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen at the University of British Columbia.
It looks at the ethical issues surrounding digital door-stepping, looking at what happened following the Virginia Tech shootings, when students turned to social networking sites to share experiences and express their grief. Here’s an extract:
Reporters were quick to sign up for Facebook accounts to find people touched by the campus shootings. This digital door stepping provoked a wave of resentment from students, as if the reporters were eavesdropping on conversations between friends.
In the physical world, the campus was quickly swamped with journalists. CNN alone sent 100 staffers to Blacksburg. Students engulfed in the tragedy were uncomfortable with the intrusion into their grieving. Online, it was almost as if the reporters were not just camping outside the dorm, but barging into the rooms and leafing through personal journals.
My argument is that understanding how people use and relate to social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace is a first step towards resolving some of the digital dilemmas journalists now face.
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