By Maury Tobin

A lot of public relations professionals and communicators discuss how social media opened up a new information frontier, but it appears we still wrangle with how to best utilize it or what it means.

Part of the reason is that social media presents this unfiltered mish-mosh of words and images that occupy the digital sphere, but may not have the same importance at the end of the day. Yes, citizen journalists can now shake up the world by illuminating something the mainstream media isn’t, but think about this reality too: in that content stew may exist your friend’s selfie at a wedding and a powerful editorial from The Wall Street Journal.

And if you are someone like me who has a personalized newsfeed gleaned from a range of platforms, it’s easy to understand how news and content junkies embrace the appeal of social media. Nonetheless, it is increasingly becoming clearer that consumers want and need credible information and context from good journalism outfits.

In Tobin Communications, Inc.’s latest PR Podcast, TALKERS magazine publisher Michael Harrison discusses the factors behind the ever-shifting news and information paradigm. Harrison says, “We’re already seeing signs of people wisening up to the distinction between something that’s good and something that’s half-baked.”

So that means we’re all going to have to be clever about how we feed the beast.

Maury Tobin is the president of Tobin Communications, Inc., a firm he founded in 1996 that provides integrated campaign and digital services. Tobin earned both a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and a Master’s Degree in Public Communication at American University.