Conclusion

The book concludes with a summary of the various perspectives presented throughout the chapters and the trends emerging from the practitioner lessons that each chapter provides for journalists in the age of social media. The chapter considers what is old and what is new with social media and journalism through the three lenses that have guided the book’s contents: politics, truth, and technology. The conclusion finishes with some forward-looking thoughts on how technology may evolve and adapt for people’s needs to be civically and politically engaged online, but not consumed by the ever-growing mountain of causes and outrages that necessarily proliferate given the nature of the technological environment, but perhaps needlessly overwhelm, excite, and enrage to the point of distraction and cognitive overload.