Social Media and the spreading of news

Before social media has taken off the way it has, people had to read newspapers or watch TV to find out the latest happenings in the sporting world.  Now, people are all on Twitter and Bleacher Report trying to find the latest updates in the sport world.  Because of this, news updates are coming more frequently and faster than ever before.  Journalists now use Twitter and other forms of social media to help spread news before the full article is written so that fans can have an opportunity to get the quick scoop instead of having to wait for a headline.  This has occasionally even allowed the average fan to get breaking news before major journalists, such as when 2 teenagers broke the Billy Butler deal with the A's before insiders such as Ken Rosenthal had a chance.  Social media allows big plays to be spread faster than ever before, such as the Odell Beckham Jr. catch against the Cowboys, which went viral almost within the hour.
Of course, social media and news spreading also has its downsides.  Because of how fast stories spread, there is the increased likelihood of inaccuracies being reported when news is broken in such a manner.  While not directly related to sport, the false identification of several suspects after the Boston Marathon bombings showed the danger of how social media can mis-report the news.  Quality of news reporting can also decrease since social media is an outlet that lets anyone posts the stories that they want, which can result in the lower denominator out-muscling the quality news sources.
Overall, social media and the spreading of news is what I see as a positive development for the sporting world, since it helps satisfy our desire for faster and more frequent news of our favorite players and teams.

Source:
http://wapc.mlb.com/cutfour/2014/11/19/101946254/meet-the-two-teens-who-scooped-the-mlb-world-and-broke-news-of-the-billy-butler-signing