Gaza Conflict Plays Out Online Through Social Media

Israel has stopped journalists from entering the war zone, but photos and reports continue to flow. As war rages in the Gaza Strip, cross-border social networking continues on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube. “Online media are conglomerating their information, and governments are getting into the act,” reports Corey Flintoff for National Public Radio. The public has changed the way it collects news, and governments must respond likewise, admits one Israeli official. Television networks like Al Jazeera use Twitter reports to plot strikes and casualties on a map, while the Israeli consulate in New York responds to questions over Twitter. Of course, the speed of the internet, along with short attention spans and a bounty of reports, can increase the danger of unconfirmed, manipulated or truncated reports. For example, Twitter limits a message to 140 characters, and anonymous pundits are notorious all over the internet. But traditional news organizations, including National Public Radio, hire new-media strategists who analyze the reports and point out how challenges immediately emerge to the most outrageous claims. – YaleGlobal