I understand how facebook is a useful interactive directory, but I think it creates a link between the reporter and the source in a way that face-to-face and phone interviews do not. Most facebook profiles, especially those outside of your networks, cannot be viewed without adding the person as a friend. This act of “befriending” a person creates an implicit bond between the two people, irrespective of how far removed their friendship might be in reality. This virtual bond could help progress a story for the reporter and also create an uncomfortable situation if a story involving the source becomes controversial.

Then there’s the problem of judgment. Once two people are friends on facebook, they can read each other’s profiles, view personal photos, look at political and social affiliations, and generally scope more personal information than over the phone or in person. I think this could influence reporters to judge their source more than they would over the phone or during an interview in person.

While facebook is a useful reporting aide, I think it also creates a new set of reporter-source relationship problems.

You would hope that this isn’t news anymore, but it is. Not many reporters or newsrooms are using social networks to improve reporting.

In an era of limited staff resources, newsrooms need to use every tool possible to report more efficiently.