Flyers, word of mouth, social media posts and the Northern Star are all ways to get news on campus. However, not all of these sources are trustworthy.
When anyone, not just professional news organizations, can post information online, it can be hard to separate fact from rumor. However, the phenomenon of ordinary people posting news updates online – referred to as citizen journalism – can be beneficial.
“Citizen journalism is when someone who is not affiliated with a professional news organization takes part in some way in letting people know what’s going on in their community,” said Andrea Guzman, an associate professor of communication. “It could be someone who’s really interested in city government who attends the meetings, sets up a blog, or these days, sets up a TikTok, and from their perspective lets people know what’s going on.”
In cases of breaking news, the immediacy of social media is helpful. If a fire alarm goes off on campus, the first place you might hear about it is the NIU Snapchat story, a group story based on your year in school.
“Especially when it comes to things that are closing, or more timely things like ‘this is what’s happening, like this opened, this closed, oh hey’ those are more informative and lowkey and social media can be helpful for that,” Guzman said.
Social media allows you to get information from more than one source. It allows you to see the perspectives on an event or subject from many students with many opinions.
“I would say that I trust that information (from social media) more because, when you’re looking through social media, you’re scrolling and you see a lot of different versions of the story, and there’s a lot of people saying different things,” said Justin Huynh, a sophomore operations management and information systems major.
Campus news also spreads quickly on the social media platform YikYak, unique in that you see posts from others specifically at your college and for the fact that it’s anonymous. Due to the anonymity however, there are no social repercussions for any posts. That means anyone can post anything, and rumors spread like wildfire.
The Northern Star Editorial Board took to YikYak to ask: Do you believe what you read on YikYak? Responses included: “I don’t believe most things I read on here, but it’s frightening to see how many people jump to conclusions or assumptions based on a rumor that’s spread here” and “I don’t because I love spreading misinformation on here and I believe everyone else does.”
While the NIU Snapchat story and YikYak are fun to look at and can be useful, make sure if it’s something important you fact check it. Either with your own research or check if the Northern Star has covered it.
“When it comes to social media, social media is great for getting points of view, but we always as consumers want to think about ‘are we getting the entire story’ and seek out ways to get an entire story,” Guzman said.
If you see news on campus, don’t be afraid to spread the word, especially if it’s important. You can even leave a tip to the Northern Star at our website.
