Crikey! They might be right on new media

Crikey! They might be right on new media

I thought this was an interesting observation on social media from the independent Australian Website Crikey.

The statement was sent to subscribers recently. It adds a note of caution for us all as we embrace new and social media platforms.

Dear Sole Subscriber,

 

The rise of social media presents vast opportunities for consumer empowerment, a more democratic media and resistance to the information control that the world’s worst regimes routinely practice.

 

But with the decline of the mainstream media, little lamented by any except unemployed journalists, we’re also losing something social media cannot provide. As media users fragment into an ever-proliferating range of platforms in which they entirely control who they see and hear and what they read, the risk of us locking ourselves into digital ghettos increases.

 

Mass media, for all its many faults, provided a common space in which differing, frequently hostile ideas could compete. But increasingly, our media platforms allow us to filter out what we don’t want to hear. The rigour of considering a viewpoint with which ones disagrees -- even if only to reject it -- and even the patience of simply hearing someone out, are not skills that Twitter or other social media encourage.

Does Crikey raise a valid point? Any thoughts welcome. Hamish.