A Storm Is Coming. Are You Tuning In to Al Roker or Facebook?

As you know, New Jersey was recently hit by Hurricane Irene. Like me, many people were glued to the TV all weekend. Before it hit, we wanted news about the where the hurricane was headed. After it hit, we wanted to find out what had happened beyond our immediate area.

Is Facebook a Better Way to Get News?

Storm coverage on TV is usually amusing. The reporters are clearly stationed in front of the biggest snowpile, the deepest puddle, or the largest downed tree they can find. And all day long, they report from that same snowpile, puddle, or tree. During the hurricane did you see Al Roker tied to a bench on the boardwalk while two guys strolled by carrying cups of coffee? This all gets boring pretty fast. And we all know that it’s not really an accurate picture of what is going on.

But when we logged into Facebook the day of the hurricane, what did we get? Stories and photos that told us exactly how the storm was affecting the places we cared about. The ones that contained our friends! While TV news told us how four or five places in New Jersey had fared, Facebook provided information and photos for all the places in New Jersey that I was concerned about. It was remarkable.

News Customized to Your Social Graph

The social graph has been described as “a mapping of the relationships between people online.” Facebook was giving me relevant hurricane news that featured people and places I cared about – those in my social graph! And everyone who logged into Facebook was getting the same thing!

And the detail was incredible! What did Golden Way in Freehold look like? My friend John posted stories and photos about the river that was running down their street, the seven feet of water in his neighbor’s basement, and the cars he had emptied of water. What about the Spring Lake boardwalk? I could see that it was clearly destroyed because four different friends posted photos of it. Or I could go to one of the many Hurricane Irene pages that were quickly made to gather stories and photos about the hurricane in New Jersey. One many of us used was Jersey Shore Hurricane News. The information I got from Facebook was far superior to the news I got from TV.

What is the Future?

Is this the future of news? Some TV stations have already begun including reports that are emailed or twittered in to them by viewers. Or will news that is carefully researched and written always have a place?

  • http://www.facebook.com/wizoz Linda Roberts Bush

    I was glue to Jersey Shore Hurricane news. They did a great job and then the humanitarian posts after the storm were an example of how folks pull together in a time of need.

  • http://justinauciello.com Justin Auciello

    Thanks for writing about us, Carolyn. I created JSHN for one purpose: the community. There were a lot of rumors and misinformation flying around in the days preceding Irene, and as someone who understands the power of social media during breaking news events, I had a vision that JSHN could benefit the public good. Well, fast forward almost two weeks after I created the page, and New Jersey has proven that it is filled with people who are willing to help their neighbors. 

    Certainly, traditional media has and will continue to play a major role in reporting the news, but social media — namely Twitter, but JSHN has shown that Facebook is powerful too, as it’s a platform that can be easily used to empower the people to assist in news gathering and reporting — is THE place for breaking news. 

    As we’ve posted (my team: Dominick and Tim) many times, JSHN will continue to be here for weather related breaking news stories, providing service before, during, and after storms. 

  • Anonymous

    Great article! As I live away from the NY area, I watched network news for the big picture news: when the storm would hit what areas, etc.  But if I wanted to know how my family or friends were doing, I went to Facebook.  After the storm, the big news outlets seemed to be sending the message that Irene wasn’t such a big deal, but the pictures and reports of my friends in Westchester, upstate NY and Vermont told a different story.