This weeks lecture in Writing for New Media was about User Generated Content (UGC) and how it can be verified. I found the timing for this topic to be perfect because my twitter feed has been full of UGC this week. Mainly from these two happenings:
This tweet from @Jselby123 is showing the football player Eric Dier trying to fight a fan on the arena
This tweet from @skkwalkrr is showing the artist Post Malones strange behavior during his concert.
Both of these videos are examples of UGC that is easy to verify because it took place at big events. It was also many people that filmed and published similar videos at the same thing. But it is not always like that, sometimes it is harder to verify if it is true. When trying to verify content, these questions are a good start to ask yourself.
1. Provenance – is this the original?
2. Source – who uploaded the content?
3. Date – when was the content created?
4. Location – where was the content created
(Silverman, 2014: 27)
Even if my plan is not to work as a journalist after my studies. I think this is a skill that will be useful if I start to work with public relations or at a companys communication department. I do not know what you think, but I think UGC only will grow in the future and therefore this will be something important for everyone to know!
/ Joel Lund
Reference: Silverman, C. Verification Handbook: An Ultimate Guideline on Digital Age Sourcing for Emergency Coverage, 27
Joel in Ireland 