Facebook has seen a boom in news applications with online newspaper sites such as 'The Guardian' and the 'Washington Post' realising they can reach Facebook users. Personal Facebook feeds are filled with articles your friends have been reading. They install the application, read the articles and these then appear on you profile and other people's feeds. People then see these interesting articles and click on the link themselves. This means that so many people get to a greater grasp of current affairs. Facebook is arguably the 'go-to' site for procrastination and people spend so much time on social media, news has integrated itself brilliantly with various platforms. The articles range in topic and seriousness, for instance, looking at my Facebook feed, one friend is reading 'Ten illegal baby names' and another "How one man escaped from a North Korean Prison'. Perhaps this can be seen a positive procrastination, so much time can be wasted trawling Facebook but now news applications educate users on current affairs.
There is no doubt Twitter provides a similar platform, one can follow news organisations, journalists, celebrities and friends. These Twitter users tweet articles or simply statuses updating one on issues including politics, sports and showbiz. Additionally, smartphones mean one is never disconnected from this news stream.
Pinterest could also signal the next social media platform to educate on current affairs. Pinners can pin images or videos that represent or link to news events. BBC news now has a Pinterest account, although they are yet to pin, the visual eye catching twitter can draw in users to interesting articles and thus educate them on current affairs.
People may see social media as a waste of time, a distraction, but it has the ability to educate its users on current affairs. Whether this is through Facebook applications, a pin on Pinterest or a tweet, social media provides a new way to see the news.
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