ABSTRACT

Social media has quickly become ubiquitous and is so enjoyed by many that they become sleep deprived, addicted and find it difficult to be parted from their phones. Social media has taken the huge advantages of previous communication technological advances such as letter writing and phone calls and made them easier and faster to apply. Twitter is an extremely useful tool for publishing and for finding sources for stories allowing quick and easy access to readers and contacts. WhatsApp is an encrypted message system that allows groups of people to communicate, send pictures and video and chat live by voice or video. Social media is widely used in the everyday lives of journalists as well as their professional lives, but if journalists are to convince readers that their material is accurate, balanced and disinterested they need to be very careful about identifying their personal social media with their professional social media.