In the 21st century, technology has advanced so much that it has become our primary source of information. If in the past the press was carried out exclusively through newspapers and print magazines, nowadays, the online environment has become very important for attracting consumers, most publications have websites where they carry out their journalistic activity. Also, news and articles are no longer based solely on real-life events because, in recent years, videos, photos, and written posts that have gone viral online are increasingly being found in the print media. The link between the press and the online environment has become quite important and the emergence of these viral phenomena on social media platforms has become abundant, often representing a marketing strategy to attract consumers.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center (WALKER 2019), most people watch the news on their phones, the online environment being the main place where they extract their information, regardless of age.

Opinions about the impact that social media has on today's journalism are different. According to an Oxford study (Jennifer 2010), the online environment offers a space open to communication, which offers freedom and allows the audience to express their opinions. It also allows for a much larger and wider audience, and the publications are fundamentally changing, becoming much more reliable and open to debate. Online journalism is slowly changing, in an institution much more open to taboo subjects, coming to the aid of the population in terms of state changes, all this being achieved through online communication. Nowadays, it gets a lot easier and faster to receive all of this through a notification from our phone compared to television and print.

In the book written by Anthony Adornato (Adornato 2018), he explains how social networks have changed the way people consume the information they receive and how the public has an important, active role in today's press. While this phenomenon can have both positive and negative effects, if journalists learn how to use the online environment to their advantage, the entire communication with the public can change and the positive effects will multiply.

Another Oxford study (Newman 2009) states that social networks have become a gathering place for journalists, including various major TV channels such as the BBC or CNN, to use viral posts. Often, this huge amount of information can cause a lot of harm. There are several examples in which some viral posts have started protests in major cities. Romania is included among these countries. Also, clickbait articles come mainly from the online environment and are used as a marketing method to attract as many views of that site as possible. These articles detract from the credibility of online journalism, with the flow of real information mingling with false information, creating confusion among readers.

The book written by Barbie Zelizer (Zelizer 2009) shows the effects that technology has had over time on the way journalism is practiced. Technology has significantly changed the values ​​and principles followed by the media. In the book, she explains how Newton calls for “journalism in the time of the new mind” this being an appeal for journalists to leave aside the high moral ground so that they can conceptualize journalism as a technological system run and processed by the new minds. The effects of technology are clear, with the media now using more unconventional methods to communicate with their target audience.

Nowadays, social networks or websites are the main way in which the media communicates with the population. This has become very visible, especially in this pandemic period we are going through, even the public institutions transmitting information to the general public through the online environment. In addition to the fact that journalists use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to get topics for articles, they also use them to attract as many people as possible.

A very good example is the Washington Post's TikTok account where they post funny videos, recreate different trends, and communicate in an informal and friendly way with the audience commenting on their posts. This is not the only example, even several reporters from major channels have accounts on popular social media platforms where they try to be funny and communicate as openly as possible with their audience.

Technology is constantly changing, this being the number one reason why the media has changed a lot in recent years, trying to keep up. Therefore, if in the past how journalists communicated with the public was exclusively through newspapers, nowadays, technology has taken over as a part of our daily routine. That's why journalists have had to change the way they reach the public, now the online environment being their main tool for communicating with their audience.

Adornato, Anthony. 2018. Mobile and Social Media Journalism: A Practical Guide. Londra: SAGE Publications.

Jennifer, Alejandro. 2010. „Journalism in the age of social media.” Reuters Institute Fellowship Paper, May: 47.

Newman, Nic. 2009. “The rise of social media and its impact.” Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 02 August: 9.

WALKER, MASON. 2019. Pew Research Center. 19 November. Accessed January 14, 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/11/19/americans-favor-mobile-devices-over-desktops-and-laptops-for-getting-news/.

Zelizer, Barbie. 2009. The Changing Faces of Journalism: Tabloidization, Technology, and Truthiness. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.