#blogjune Post 5 - Where do you get your news from?

It was a bit of a sleepless night for me last night as the East Coast Low formed and made for some very heavy, torrential rain and cyclonic winds.  It's always worse at night because you can't see what's happening around you.

I was pretty much stuck to Facebook all of yesterday, getting updates from the emergency services sites as well as people living in the area.  Not once did I go to a news website.

In recent times, I have been relying more and more on social media to get me news.  Yes at times there can be fake news reports - usually about a famous person's apparent death.  But the majority of the time, especially when it comes to local news, I find out about it first on Facebook.  Then usually follow up (depending on how big the story is) on a news site.

This makes me ponder how the role of the journalist may change or is changing.  They have to be there when it happens - but how??

I also noted when I took the ABC Vote Compass when it asked where I get my news from (I think that was one of the questions - I was so upset at how targeted the questions were to one party or the other that I might have forgotten what was asked), social media was not one of the responses to choose from.  Please correct me if I'm wrong for those that may have done it.  By the way, I was not happy with the response it gave me because it was one of three of the well known parties.  I was interested to see if my thoughts pushed me to a different political party.  I won't go into politics this morning as it can divide people so easily.

Anyway, as the flood waters start to go down - although there appears to be a bit more rain coming our way - I will relish another wet weather day of lazing around the house.

Where do you get your news from?

#blogjune Post 2

Yep, I'm all for creative titles for each post - not!!  I promise to work on this.

This morning I was reading my friend, Rachel Wray's blog post about social media.  I tend to follow the same trends Rachel does.

I used to be a big user of Twitter but now only venture on there when attending conferences.  I tend to use is as a note taking/sharing device.  Or when I'm doing a challenge like this - #blogjune  Oh I also sometimes go to it when watching The Voice to check out what other viewers are saying about the contestants.  But generally Twitter is not something I check all that often.

Since moving away from family and friends, Facebook is my go to for social media.  It has also become a place I connect with other runners from all over Australia.  I go for it for the latest news reports, weather, and generally what is happening around the place.  I provide updates/snippets of what I've been doing so my family and friends can stay in touch.  I share pictures of places, people, and family.  This would be the social media tool that I use the most.

I've recently started using Instagram a bit.  Mainly because I can do running selfies and upload the image, tag and share very quickly.  It also posts to my Facebook page - 2 birds with 1 stone!

I have tried using Pinterest but find it's probably of more interest to those doing crafty things - I'm not very crafty.  That said, apparently it's good for getting some memes (sorry if I've used the wrong word) for Facebook posts for my library service's page - but I find that I have little time at work to be looking for or thinking about possible posts for our Facebook page.  I actually think that it is worthwhile having one staff member looking after a library's social media to ensure a targeted, consistent approach - not having random posts for the sake of posting.

These social media tools are about the extent that I have explored in the hundreds of tools available.  I must admit that I do use a little bit of the social aspect of Strava but find that it is more of a running recording tool for me than a social tool.

Thanks, Rachel for prompting some thought and reflection regarding my use of social media.  It was interesting to read about your uses.

How do you use social media?