Average Joe or Average Journalist?

Being at a university, we meet many different people with different majors and areas of study. Many of us cannot even choose a specific major because we simply do not know what we want to do in the future.

If you are one of the many struggling to choose a major or you are thinking about switching majors, maybe you should consider something that you are already doing — being a journalist.

March has been a month that journalists dream about, in terms of having something to write or report about. The Egypt protests escalated and ended, Libya protests continue to go on, Japan was hit with one of the most devastating natural disasters to ever occur, Charlie Sheen lost his mind and the NFL issued a lockout for next season. These subjects have gotten much attention this month, giving journalists much to write about.

I, as a journalism major, generally try to pay attention to any breaking news and keep current with whatever is going on in the world. Media outlets like Daily Beast, CNN, Fox News and The New York Times are good sources of staying informed.

If you aren’t a journalism major, you might not care about having things to report and write about or even staying informed. Do you have a Twitter or Facebook?

Then guess what: You are a journalist.

Social networking was created to keep your “friends” updated on your life or things that interest you. If you have seen the movie “The Social Network,” then you are familiar with the core premise on which Facebook was founded— to connect with friends in a whole new way.

Scroll to the top of your Facebook page. The very first phrase is “news feed”— emphasis on the word news.

The newsfeed is very accurately named— it keeps you posted on what your friends are doing and thinking. Just by creating a status, people play the role of a journalist, though some are obviously not cut out to be on CNN.

Even more of a journalism tool than Facebook is Twitter. In a short, 140-character tweet, you share what is on your mind. At any given time, millions upon millions of people have access to your tweet.

In Egypt earlier this month, when phones and televisions were shut down by the government, people used Twitter to communicate plans to march and descend upon town squares.

Many analysts believe that Twitter is the sole reason the Egyptian citizens were successful in the overthrow of the government that was in place.

Go check your Facebook news feed or your Twitter update. Pay attention to what kind of information you are taking in. My guess is that much of the information you are reading on your social networking sites is similar to information you could read on any big news site.

Everyone with a social networking account is a journalist whether they know it or not. You are helping to make our society today so unbelievably interactive and innovative. Keep up the good work, journalists.