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Blogger vs. Journalist

I believe this is the question of the century! Can a blogger be a journalist and vice versa? Journalism has been around for many years, but is blogging more popular? Let’s just say that although I am writing a blog, I do not consider myself to be a journalist. My blogs are about specific topics, which I give my personal opinion about. These topics aren’t about important breaking news.

Many people have their own opinions and thoughts on what the differences and similarities are between these two. Some think that they are the same because they both write pieces to bring information to readers. Others argue that they are different in many ways such as the education involved and how they get paid. Let’s say that one of the major differences between the two is that journalism is just facts, while blogs contain the opinion of the writer.

Bloggers may have to wait for traditional media, or a journalist, to post a story because they do not have direct access to the information before it is made public. “Media is all about getting news out to the public FAST. This is an advantage that bloggers have over journalists. With traditional news media, they have to wait for the next paper to be printed or the next television or radio show to occur. Bloggers can put out new information within seconds at any time they want” (Filling, 2015). Either way, we can say that they both rely on each other to get stories out to the public.

Blogging

As stated before, blogging is more of an opinion based writing. Bloggers do use facts to help them write responsive content, which reader can share their comments on. It is easier for bloggers because they can just do research and write their pieces from anywhere. Blogging is used to reach a niche audience, so the story is written to engage the audience, mainly using the web. Readers would be to find blog stories on many social media platforms for consumption. Bloggers make their stories available immediately to the reader, they don’t use any strict schedules for publishing. They don’t have an editor to edit and approve the story before publishing it. Some people believe that bloggers don’t offer fairness when they write. Unlike journalist who give the person they are writing about a chance to clarify any kind of information written about them.

Journalism

Journalism is institutionalized and it is news writing. As well it is done by professionals who have had an education in journalism. Journalist write informational pieces, at times with some opinions. Journalism takes an unbiased, well balanced objective approach to communicating the story to the public. In order for a journalist to get the facts for their piece, they must be present at the events. They have to meet with people and conduct interviews. Journalist have photographers take photographs to go along with their stories. They provide facts which come from reputable sources.

Journalist use journalism to target a mass audience using a traditional core focus. Journalistic pieces are published via a printed edition such as a newspaper or a magazine. Sometimes the story is published on the website corresponding to the magazine or newspaper. In journalism, the content has to be delivered in a certain form and must keep within a certain word count limit. Journalist also have to adhering to the publication and broader industry’s guidelines. The stories have to comply with deadlines and publishing schedule as well.

Advantages of being a blogger

There are advantages to being a blogger; they get new product which they then write a review on. They also receive offers for partnerships and of course get sponsors. Bloggers work flexible hours, majoriably from home. They choose which topic they want to write about. Bloggers establish contacts in blogger networks. One of the best advantages of blogging is the amount of followers on their pages. Bloggers live off of their following.

Advantages of being a journalist

I just mentioned that there are advantages to being a bloggers, but there are some to being a journalist. Journalist like I mentioned have to meet the people they will interview, some of these people are high profiled celebrities. When they have to interview a celebrity at an award show they can get free backstage passes to enter events for free. I would say that’s an awesome perk! With the work that is put into journalism, journalist can be awarded prizes which could include the Pulitzer Prize; an achievement award for journalism and newspaper. I’ve yet to see bloggers receive awards or prizes.

Final Thoughts

I have showed the differences between blogging and journalism in the paragraphs above. When you pick up a newspaper and read the next blog try to notice the differences. They each follow certain rules in order to give the audience the best information possible. “Neither blogs nor journalism are better than the other, they are just different. It is wonderful to have different means to be informed and be educated on certain topics. Sometimes we want the facts, and other times we want to see people’s opinions on the topic. At the end of the day, bloggers and journalists have a lot in common even if they do not want to admit it.” (Filling, 2015) So let’s just say that a journalist can become a blogger, but not all bloggers can become journalists without proper education. As a blogger I have my personal opinion about this topic. I like blogging, it’s fun to get your opinion out there, but it seems to me that journalism has more advantages.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Now I would like to know what is your opinion, are blogging and journalism different? Leave your response to the question below.

 

References

Falls, Jason. (2010, November 15). The Critical Difference Between Blogging and Journalism. Retrieved from https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/the-critical-difference-between-blogging-and-journalism/

Filling, Kathryn. (2015, March 5). Difference Between Blogging and Journalism. Retrieved from https://sites.psu.edu/fillingcas272/2015/03/05/difference-between-blogging-and-journalism/

 

My family and I migrated from the Dominican Republic when I was three years old. That meant leaving behind all of our family members.  As a child I remember the only way to keep in touch with the relatives back home was with a phone call or via snail mail. Calling became expensive as it was long distance calls and correspondence was too slooooow! It took weeks for my relatives to receive the mail we sent them. When they wrote back it would take another few weeks for us to receive it. Sometimes it was discouraging trying to reach out to them. But that has all changed since we have the internet, especially access to social media.

The good ol’ Internet, the things we can do with it are outstanding! Like I mentioned above we can use social media to stay in touch with relatives and friends who live far. Not only are we able to keep in touch with relatives and friends, now we can instantly share photos and videos too. We can also utilize it for find long lost family, friends and even classmates. I was able to introduce my children to my family in Dominican Republic via Facebook. They have witnessed via photos and videos how my children are growing. If we didn’t have social media platforms they wouldn’t have been able to. We are now able to communicate daily, as often as we like and the best part is, IT’S FREE!

Social media networking is great, users can use it to find new friends too. A newer way of doing so is called Niche Social Networks, this is a smaller subset which focuses on grouping users who have the same interests, professional associations or hobbies. These networks allow the users to connect with fewer people so that it is not as overwhelming as using larger social media sites. One of these is Kaboodle, it’s geared towards shoppers. The shoppers can recommend  and share products they like. The users set up a profile, can add products from shopping sites and create “style boards”. I really like that they have the option of setting up a poll to ask the community questions. Using niche social networks allow people to share information and bond over their shared interest.

Many use a Blog, to share their ideas, fashion, and even sports. Facebook offers users the opportunity to join groups which offer the same interest as theirs. I myself belong to a few. I am part of a balloon business group, event planners group and a fitness group. I have met many new friends in these groups. We share ideas about balloon designs and how they should be priced. In my fitness group we share recipes, different workouts, we help each other stay on track to being fit and healthy. It’s all about accountability, but having other people want the same as you is very motivating. Years ago we might have only had the ability to join a group that we physically had to walk to, now we can be a part of it without leaving the comfort of our home, all thanks to the Internet and social media.

Facebook allows us to share photos of our families, friend’s get together, any accomplishments, wedding video. You can say that it is often a mindless activity logging onto Facebook. It becomes a habit to scrolling through our news feed, sometimes we don’t  even realize we are doing it. Twitter is more for niche content, we look for what interests us. I follow news publications, event planners, fitness gurus, they are from all over the world. I can’t say that I’ve ever met, any of them. They provide great information on subjects which are of my interest.

Another social media platform which has become a major part of our lives is Pinterest. Pinterest provides inspiration and lets users get ideas. It has everything you can think of, boards on style, cooking, for sewing or recipes. Instagram allows us to see images and videos just like Twitter and Facebook. Instagram conveys the information we want instantaneously, which fuels social media, everyone wants everything quickly. Most people typically go to YouTube with a search query in mind. It is a platform where we watch snippets of entertainment or music videos from our favorite artist.

Aside from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter we have LinkedIn. This is a social media platform which is more for the professional setting rather than the personal. We can use this platform to connecting with other professionals. It can also serve to help users find new job positions. The users can add all of their skills, past experience, degrees they have received as well. Other who know them can endorse them for skills they may possess. LinkedIn allows users to ask business questions, they can share content related to their business.

People also use Social media for marketing their business. Some use Google+. The platform is largely used now for sharing and consuming information in niche industries, especially the tech industry. Business advertising via social media has become huge!. According to David Meerman Scott, “Instagram is a great social network to share any product or service that has a visual component or customers who use the products in interesting ways. It allows those who don’t feel as comfortable with creating written content to get their ideas out there.” I would have to agree with him, visuals attract more people than just a post with words. When I post pictures and videos on my platforms I get more likes than just a wordy post.

Now with so many platforms most adults get their news from social media. With so many social media platforms allowing users to go live, news can now be streamed live. This allows users to keep up with current events without having to wait to see it on TV. Live streaming also allows the user to interact with the news caster. They can participate by leaving a comment or ask questions.

Although there are advantages to using social media, there are disadvantages too. For one, our lives are no longer private. Anyone can have access to our information, when we write a post, add pictures and videos can be accessed even after they have been deleted. So many teenagers rather be on their mobiles and computers accessing social media, rather than playing sports or reading a book. One can say they are becoming lazier by the minute. Another disadvantage of using social media is children having to face cyber bullying. There are digital criminal networks which use spam mail to retrieve user’s information and use it to commit fraudulent purchases.  Users may be stalked on their social media.

So there you have it folks, Social Media has become the way of life. The means for estranged relatives and friends to reconnect. It is not only for teenagers or for those in their twenties, everyone can use it and find it helpful. It’s also serves as a community, offering friendships and a sense of belonging. It’s a place to add photos, videos and listen to music. We must use it with discretion and most importantly be careful who follows you on social media.

Why do you use social media? Leave us a comment below.

Thank you for visiting my Blog.

References:

Nations, Daniel. (2016, March 27). Top Niche Social Networking Sites. Retrieved from https://www.lifewire.com/top-niche-social-networking-sites-3486533

Anderson, Janna and Rainie, Lee. (2014, March 11). Digital Life in 2025. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/digital-life-in-2025/

Isaac, Mike. (2016, November 2). Facebook Defies Social Media Gravity With User and Profit Growth. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/03/technology/facebook-defies-social-media-gravity-with-user-and-profit-growth.html?_r=0

Scott, David Meerman. (2017, February 14). Marketing Your Product with Photos on Instagram. Retrieved from http://www.webinknow.com/marketing-your-product-with-photos-on-instagram