Social Media Week Lagos 2019

In the age of fake news and hoaxes, creating impactful stories that are authentic, ethical verifiable and interesting have become a two-edged sword. Content creators and story tellers globally are caught between creating content that will engage readers, drive high traffic to their sites and at the same time avoid content that are sensational or contain elements of click baits and false claims. These challenges are currently dominating debates both in online and offline discussions globally. There is a reason why online fake news can have devastating influence on what takes place offline. Social media and spread of online news platforms and the decline of traditional media means that more people are consuming and going online in search of news in a 24 hours news cycle. In the same vein, the nature of news production and sourcing have also led to competition among publishers.

 The competition to break the news first and to reach a wider audience is causing a distortion of news content with various content creators framing headlines and writing content to reflect certain biases but ultimately to drive traffic. The present challenge is tell the stories responsibly. As content creators look more and more to social media for sourcing and downplays the traditional news gathering method, fake news have become a danger to telling authentic stories devoid of hoaxes. These developments is causing concern for publishers who are struggling in a fast paced environment with the risk of publishing fake news.

This session is a how-to guide on how to navigate the intricacies of telling impactful stories using diverse formats and topics analysing audience preferences using proven content strategy in a responsible and ethical way