Mobile Problems Reflect Participation Gap

A study by Pew Research Center provides information that helps illustrate a participation gap with mobile users.

According to the study, the majority of adults have cell phones (88%). The problems experienced however vary wilder from dropped calls to slow download speeds. The difference in problems experienced by the participants surveyed develops the idea that the different problems occur because some people are less knowledgeable about the technology and use it for different reasons.

Ethnicity affects the participation gap.

The study revealed that non-white cell phone owners “confronted all four problems at somewhat higher weekly rates than do their white counterparts.”  The research center offered a reasoning that this cause may be due to the fact that African-Americans and Hispanics are “more likely than whites to rely on their cell phones as their primary or exclusive phones for calling and for internet.” The participation gap is evident when analyzing problems occurring between cell usages among different ethnicities. Minorities may not have home computers or landline phones and rely heavily on their cellular devices.  Problems could also occur because minorities may not have the same knowledge of the National Do Not Call Registry, which would free them of all the spam calls and unwanted texts.

Smartphones may increase the participation gap.

Smartphone users observed more problems in each category compared to non-smartphone users. The research said that there was statistically significant difference between smartphone users and non-smartphone users in the categories of dropped calls, spam text messages, and slow download speeds. This finding illustrates the participation gap because as phones become more evolved, people will experience a lag time, during which they will have to learn new methods of using the technology and ways to avoid problems. The time when people are learning the new skills and ways of using smartphones will create a participation gap which will show how previous owners pick up the new technology with ease, as compared to the new learners who will take longer to learn.

I predict that the participation gap will expand when new technology first comes out, but will get smaller as the population adapts to how to operate the technology.

Companies will be continuously putting out new devices and operating systems on the market for the public to buy. As the technology gets more and more advanced, the learning curve will take longer. I predict that the participation gap will be at its peak during the time when the products are just released. As time goes on, people will become accustomed to operating the new device and the ways it can be used, therefore the participation gap will be closing. My opinion is that participation gaps fluctuate depending on how long technology has been used by the public. 

Citizen Journalism is Catching On

Citizen journalism is ordinary people reporting and sharing information.

Citizen journalism is exactly what it sounds like. With the increase availability to the Internet, everyone can be a journalist.  It doesn’t have to be just paragraphs of text either; the information can take form of pictures, audio, or video. Many podcasts and blogs are updated throughout the week with new story lines and news. Viewers can subscribe to blogs of their choice and keep up to date with information that is relevant to their interests. The Internet is key in the rise in citizen journalism because it now sends the information globally, a power that large news corporations were only capable of. News now can be spread much quicker and has everyone capable of being a contributor.

Some news corporations are supporting citizen journalism.

NBC News is a corporation that supports the growth of citizen journalism. It has a section of its website dedicated to reports written by citizens. The section titled “Citizen Journalist” has sidebars indicating trending topics as well as contact information for citizens in submitting articles and photos.  NBC also is starting to give its viewers “assignments,” which citizens go out and try to do their own investigation of topics previously chosen. In a way NBC is almost getting some of their work done for free. The co-operation between amateur and professional journalists is benefiting society as a whole with new and better information.

Social media is one of the domains for citizen journalism.

According to TheGuardian, a British news website, social media and citizen journalism is not only affecting the news corporations, but the documentary makers as well. During the past incidents in the Middle East, citizens would capture footage of events using the cameras on their cell phones. This footage is being incorporated into documentaries of those events and is a primary source for filmmakers. Social media sites are allowing witnesses to come out with their stories and share them. The witnesses can easily voice their seeing and recollection of events by simply posting pictures, videos, or text stating how they recalled the events.

Citizen journalism is now classified as normal media coverage and is allowed to cover court cases in the state of Massachusetts.

The highest court in the state of Massachusetts has now introduced an online registration process for citizens and other news organizations to use electronic devices and cameras during court hearings. In addition to the new registration process, the court amended Rule 1:19, the state’s camera-in-the-courtroom statute. One amended part defined media to include citizen journalists “who are regularly engaged in the reporting and publishing of news or information about matters of public interest.” The other amended part allowed—given permission from the judge—journalists to use smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other devices to record the hearings, including live-blogs. This is a huge step for the social media and the citizen journalists who use it. Not only are citizens classified as journalists and categorized with other news organizations, but they are also given permission to cover the hearings with electronic devices, taking advantage of the quick distribution effect of social media. Viewers will now be able to keep up to date with rulings as they occur, without delay. Massachusetts’s court information will now be spread much more efficiently with the amendment made to Rule 1:19.

Critics of citizen journalism question its credibility.

With the rise in citizen journalists and their articles, come critics that view the whole concept as “untrustworthy, shoddy and inarticulate.” Jack Kapica, an experienced Canadian journalist, worries that citizen journalists just simply “mimic what they see on TV or in the press, to varying degrees of success.” He continues his statement by mentioning that the journalists demonstrate little understanding of the concepts used to gather and present information in a “conventional form.” Other than the style of the way citizen journalists typically write, Jack says that the amateurs usually lack ways to create original content.  According to Jack, citizens do not comprehend the “necessity of interviewing people and quoting them” and “the value of original quotes cannot be overstated. “ If the citizens just take quotes from the mainstream media, then they are just that—mainstream media. With all the criticism, Jack remains optimistic about the future of citizen journalism because “when done correctly, it can be very powerful [due to] its speed and the ability of the fledgling industry to be anywhere at any time.”

Overall, citizen journalism has changed to become a major part of news.

New social media sites, faster electronic devices, updated laws, and cooperation with major news organizations all help the growth of citizen journalism.  If the amateur journalists can uphold a high standard of writing and follow basic principles of journalism, then their stories will not need to face criticism.