Dubai: Reporting is not the same as journalism since anyone with an internet connection on their phone can report, said Alexis Ohanian, Co-founder and Executive Chair of Reddit, at the first Arab Social Media Influencers Forum.
Ohanian, now in his early 30s, spoke about the concept of creating viral news through new media.
“News consumption and reporting is happening from that smartphone,” he said.
Ohanian also emphasised that older generations are still catching up with the rapid change since there are people, mostly children, who grew up in a purely connected world. In a world where everyone can report on news, there is a lot of noise, he observed.
“We search out good news, good journalism, where everyone can report,” he said.
While journalism is still sought after, Ohanian agreed that the internet has helped eliminate the space constraint faced by publications for stories. The internet has given a voice to those who lacked one and has helped people across the world to communicate with the click of a button.
“We’re seeing new voices emerge when most of the 20th-century presenters were old, white men which is preposterous in a world bigger than that,” Ohanian said.
In the last 10 years in the US, women and others who did not have a say, were given the opportunity to build a voice heard worldwide. He added that with diverse users and voices on the internet, the web ecosystem becomes stronger.
Though most media organisations include social media platforms in addition to their traditional mediums, Ohanian highlighted that ultimate news platforms today look at being mobile first.
Starting Reddit
“The advantage we had was that we didn’t think the world was supposed to be a certain way,” Ohanian said. “Ignorance was kind of an advantage to think differently.”
Ohanian said there are over 9,000 active communities on the platform, sharing new and interesting stories almost every minute. He explained that Reddit serves communities the same way Twitter serves individuals.
“These people are doing it because they feel the sense of community which exists online with people they don’t necessarily know,” he said.
Ohanian clarified that through Reddit they wanted to give users the power to run and belong in a virtual community that offers tips and latest news through its live feed.
When asked about filtering news, he said that it is not possible with a platform as open as the worldwide web.
“We simply can’t, we have basic rules but each individual community sets their own rules,” he explained.
Despite the little regulation on the internet, he added that it serves the purpose of both a gift and a curse. Though filtering content may be challenging, it is a cheap medium for start-ups to grow quickly by meeting the needs of the people.
Robots and the future of media
“We still absolutely need journalists to help us process and contextualise the information we get,” he said. “The internet gives us tremendous power but it comes with tremendous responsibility.”
While some news entities have already integrated robots in the news industry, journalists will remain integral when generating news.
“I think it will happen with small-scale news, boring, repetitive stuff,” he said. “The advantage we still have as humans is our creativity.”
Maria Botros is a trainee at Gulf News
