Lecture 8 UGC content
- 1. WEEK 8 – USER GENERATED CONTENT
- 2. First of all: WHAT IS UGC?
- 3. What is UGC It can can be produced in any medium: • text (comments, blog post, tweet, Facebook update, etc) • pictures (Instagram, Twitpic, Facebook, Tumblr or blog post, etc) • audio (podcast) • video (video podcast, blog post, YouTube, etc).
- 4. Some iconic examples of UGC 2004 tsunami 2005 London Bombing 2007 Virginia Tech shooting
- 5. Iconic examples of UGC The « Green Revolution » in Iran The Syrian uprising today
- 6. The Russian meteor February 2013 The death of Nelson Mandela
- 7. UGC is here to stay UGC has become integrated into almost all mainstream newsrooms, all media included. It has become part of the journalism toolbox, as much a part of a newroom’s resources as agency pictures, field reporters, background interviews.
- 8. Why has UGC become so indispensable? What is its added value?
- 9. What’s the added value of UGC? • Seeing and hearing about a story that otherwise would go unseen or untold • Provide instant accounts and photographs and videos of incidents as and when events happen • Multiplies sources of information about any one event • Citizen reporters tend to be people who really care about the story because it impacts their lives directly • Getting the voices and views that are actually closest to a story
- 10. The real point of UGC: Credibility in story-telling
- 11. User Generated Content isn’t just a tool for telling better stories. It’s value can extend beyond journalism and have a potentially greater impact. How so?
- 12. More added value Potentially more powerful content: • More accountability: videos/pictures of events that might not have been filmed otherwise because no journalists would have been present • Puts constraints on governments and authorities who might be tempted to use violence, if they know they will be filmed/photographed and these images will be distributed Change is made possible when transgressions and abuses are made visible
- 13. Example: The Arab spring. It didn’t put UGC on the map (it was there before), but it made it indispensable. What do I mean?
- 14. Tunisia
- 15. Egypt
- 16. Syria
- 17. But how do you know that these images correspond to the places or the events that I claim?
- 18. Verifying UG video • Find the original source • Look for landmarks, cross-check with Google maps • To find out what is being said about the video, take the unique identity code in the url of the video and search for it on Twitter • The first person who shared it on Twitter may also well be the original owner of the video • Seek direct contact with the uploader asking them about their content
- 19. Verifying UG video • check the source as much as the information • people who are genuine witnesses to events are usually eager to talk • Do other images on social media corroborate what you’re seeing? • cross-check the news on social media: are other sources/feeds telling the same story?
- 21. Checklist from Storyful • Can we geo-locate this footage? Are there any landmarks that allow us to verify the location via Google Maps or Wikimapia? • Are streetscapes similar to geo-located photos on Panoramio or Google Street View?
- 22. Storyful: Checking the light • Do weather conditions correspond with reports on that day • Are shadows consistent with the reported time of day?
- 23. Storyful: using all the information • Do vehicle registration plates or traffic signs indicate the country or state? • Do accents or dialects heard in a video tell us the location?
- 24. Storyful: cross-referencing • Does it jibe with other imagery people are uploading from this location? • Does the video reflect events as reported on Storyful's curated Twitter lists or by local news sources?
- 25. Even more detailed Storyful checklist (part 1): • Where is this account registered and where is the uploader based, judging by his or her history? • Are there other accounts—Twitter, Facebook, a blog, or website—affiliated with this uploader? • How can they help us identify location, activity, reliability, bias and agenda? • How long have these accounts been in existence? • How active are they? • Does the uploader write in slang or dialect that is identifiable in the video's narration?
- 26. Even more detailed Storyful checklist (part 2): • Can we find WHOIS (domain registration) information for an affiliated website? • Is the person listed in local directories? • Does the person's online social circles indicate a proximity to the story/location? • Does the uploader "scrape" videos from news organizations and YouTube accounts? • Are video descriptions dated? • Are you familiar with this account? Has the content and reportage been reliable?
- 27. Getting permission • Anyone who has taken photos or video needs to be contacted to request their permission, as the copyright holder, to use it • If it is already uploaded to Flickr or YouTube or other social platforms, the conditions for use may already be cited • When possible, credit the producer • When possible, link back to the original source
- 28. When is it relevant to use UGC? Is it ever irrelevant?
- 29. So how do you find and use UGC? Where do you start
- 30. To every event, its community: Every news event in the age of social media creates a community. When news breaks, a network gathers to talk about the story. Its made up of: • Witnesses • Amplifiers • Trusted filters The key is locating the community, identifying the actors, and using them as sources.
- 31. Case study: Syria • Follow YouTube channels • Clearing houses (Syria: Ugarit news and SNN) • See what’s trending on Twitter • Create twitter lists of people you can get to know and trust • If they don’t have content, they are contacts who could potentially help you verify content (especially if it’s in Arabic or a language you don’t speak) • Tap into Facebook news communities
- 32. Risks of UGC? What are the risks of UGC?
- 33. Risks of UGC? Information that is false, unverified, biased or manufactured
- 34. Fakes abound and are easy to produce
- 35. An agenda or biased point of view can potentially hide behind the anonymity of the internet
- 36. Risks of UGC? • Dilutes the standards of quality and reliability inherent to what was traditionally called journalism • because of convenience and lower costs, less fact-checking, less reliability • that it will come at the cost of serious (costly) investigative journalism
- 37. Risks of UGC • It is about taking risks and engaging with online communities • There is no more traditional information gatekeeper: all sources are viable, you are the gatekeeper. ULTIMATELY IT IS NOW ABOUT THE CONTENT AND NOT THE SOURCE.
- 38. Conclusion “Social” journalism and offline journalism complement each other, but can’t replace each other.
- 39. Good UGC hygiene In Brief Get as much information as possible about the source, the context, the landmarks, the events Practice triangulation with other social media sources Make an informed decision