News now spreads through networks of users as well as through institutional channels. Social media are online platforms that enable people to create, share, and discuss content, including news, with large and fragmented audiences.

Journalists use social media to find sources, distribute stories, gather eyewitness material, and engage audiences. The same platforms accelerate rumors and coordinated falsehoods. Verification of social content has become a core newsroom skill, involving reverse image searches, geolocation, and account-history checks.

Social media have altered gatekeeping: stories can go viral before traditional outlets confirm them. Professional journalism responds by combining speed of monitoring with rigor of verification. Outlets also maintain their own accounts to present work directly and to correct errors in the same channels where misunderstandings spread.

• Online platforms for sharing and discussing content
• Used by journalists for newsgathering and distribution
• Require strong verification of user-generated material
• Have reshaped the speed and gatekeeping of news