Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe has further clarified his stance on Twitter and social media and its current role in ‘music journalism’. Speaking with a Twitter user on the matter through his own Twitter, Blythe offered:
“…In my day, the word “media” held VERY STRONG connotations of PRESS. This is kinda my point, EXACTLY-“social media” IS NOT PRESS. A fucking Twitter feed IS NOT PRESS. It requires NO journalistic interaction or integrity- it’s DIGITAL DIARRHEA. That is ALL it is. When some drunk or ego-riddled band member makes an “announcement” on their stupid social media network, unless they are a solo act- IT IS NOT PRESS.
All the websites in the world can PRETEND IT IS, but with the unreliability of account security, etc. (how many accounts have been hacked or just made up- there are fake Randy’s out there), a fucking Internet quote from a social media network is THE LAST PLACE I would look for reliable information. Twitter is a place where I tell stupid stories, interact with, & answer (or more often DON’T) questions from fans.
It’s NOT PRESS. That’s why a million and one “bands” can make “announcements” about whatever the fuck they want- it doesn’t mean anyone cares. Good press is increasingly hard to find. I made a comment that we are in media blackout via social media- yup. Maybe you should consider the context. “Social Media”, while a valuable tool, is NOT “media” within the traditional framework of music PRESS. It’s a digital fart in a massive wind of useless data. Nothing more, nothing less.”
While I am well aware of the irony of me posting this as news given the viewpoint he expresses, it does present an interesting take on social media. Social media can certainly be dangerous with fake accounts and security issues and I certainly wouldn’t consider it proper ‘press’ either.
But with due diligence exercised in terms of official accounts and fact checking when possible, it can be a great source of information for direct updates and the like. If you’re nerdy enough to care, a new poll reflecting this topic can be found below on the right.
