Do you know what incident started World War I?

I can honestly say that I could not recall what, who, or how World War I (WWI) actually started. That is until last night as I was browsing my Facebook news feed and happened across the post with all the details of how and why WWI began! (I am a closet history junkie, BTW)

It didn't matter to me that it was midnight and I really needed to get to bed. The post, The man who started WWI: 7 things you didn't know written by Tim Butcher for CNN.com, took me on a journey through various other blogs and articles by historians in regards to WWI. What I learned through social media today was that a 19 year old boy, Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife from a Balkan street corner in Sarajevo. His actions set off a chain of events that Princip could not have imagined. He was only acting as a supporter of a group of activists wanting unification of all local Slav people in Bosnia. Butcher wrote: "Their dream was to drive out the Habsburg occupier, so shooting the Archduke was seen as a "grand gesture" to inspire others to rise up against the foreign power. 

Aha…So that was what happened. The article goes on to list more detailed information about alliances, country borders, battles, leaders, and more. It really was a great article on CNN. Oh, and his nephew, Nikola Princip, 81, lives in Sarajevo is still alive! (The Huffington Post)

When I first saw the post I didn't immediately start fact checking, I took it as fact. After reading that entire article, multiple clicks and articles later, I took the time to do a bit google research. Only to find that every major network from BBC to NBC to The Huffington Post was running pieces about the 100th anniversary to the start of WWI.

Social media site can be credible sources for obtaining information but every reader should take the extra steps to verify what form of content they are reading to understand the purpose behind the article, info graphic, or video before sharing it. (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 2010) Readers can do this by paying attention to the source they received the information from; the person, company, or interest group that originally posted the information and use some common sense. Unless it is someone posting yet another funny info graphic about cleaning your house while children are still living in it; take the news and information on ones news feed with a grain of salt. 

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References

Butcher, T. (June 28, 2014). The man who started WWI: 7 things you didn't know. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/27/opinion/7-things-gavrilo-princip-man-who-started-wwi/index.html?sr=fb062814WWI2pVODtopLinkhttp://cnn.it/1iPlmNc

Robins-Early, N. and Maisel, M. (June 27, 2014). The Man Who Ignited WWI has a Nephew Who's Still Alive (And Other Crazy Great War Facts). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/27/world-war-one-crazy-facts_n_5534822.html

Kovach, B. and Rosenstiel, T. (2010). Blur: How To Know What's True In The Age Of Information Overload. New York, Bloomsbury USA.

New Media in My Daily Life

New media is intertwined throughout my everyday life. I use email throughout the day six days a week, I am constantly on Facebook updating the two pages that I manage for work and browsing news feed for my personal enjoyment. I read multiple blogs regarding my profession, career growth, development, ideas, and more. I peruse pinterest for everything from a menu for this weekends BBQ to how my kitchen will look in my dream home. LinkedIn has become a staple in my social media realm now that I am coming up on a life and professional shift. Instagram and Twitter are fun but those are utilized occasionally throughout the week.

New media has made me more aware of everything happening around the country and world. I have always been a bit of a news junky and now I am able to absorb and seek out the news that I interests me. Social media has turned everyday life events into monstrosity sized events because of the added exposure and fast past spread of information.

Social media in general is a positive influence into my life. I am able to monitor my usage of it and not allow myself to be overrun by the need to post or update my profiles while spending time with my family. However, at work social media can have a negative influence in the sense of time management. It is easy to become fully engaged in the social media aspect of my job and loose sight some days on the day-to-day administrative side to work.