Earlier today, bloggers Ory Okolloh and Mark Belinsky wondered whether Apple’s tablet (now unveiled as the iPad) would “kill Haiti like Michael Jackson killed Iran.” In other words, if some major celebrity or gadget focused news breaks, do those of us online forget what could be considered the real news, involving many real lives.
According to the Pew New Media Index, the answer is yes. The blogosphere (and social media in general) might indeed be quickening the news cycle, shortening attention spans and causing us to zone out when it comes to hard news…preferring to move onto lighter topics. Like sex really.
In the first week of January, the mainstream media led with the failed bomb plot on the NWA flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, the economy and terrorism in general.
Looking at blogs however, the NWA flight was number two. The number one topic that seemed to get bloggers hot under the collar was the Kings College (London) study that the female ‘g-spot’ was a myth. And third was news that dating site beautifulpeople.com had kicked out 5000 members for not being that aesthetically pleasing.
This actually made the top trending story on Twitter with the NWA terror attempt relegated to number five.
Twitter does over index when it comes to journalists and various social media ‘influencers’ being active members. Twitter and blogs have also played a key role in giving anti-Government demonstrators in Iran a way of getting the word out.
Yet, at the same time the Pew results also put things into some perspective and reinforce the continued need for serious news journalism.
For example, yesterday, so before the official iPad launch, Venture Beat produced a list of Twitter trends for various US and non US cities.
‘Thoughts on the toilet’ trended just about everywhere…but interest in Haiti seeming to be decidedly on the wane. While it was still a top trend in LA, San Francisco and London it was no longer on the trends list for Washington, New York or Sao Paolo.
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- Twitter Intro Local Trends (appscout.com)
- How do Twitter’s local trends differ city by city? (digital.venturebeat.com)
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