A Platform for Expressing Freedom of Speech or Playing by the Rules: An Experimental Study of Facebook as a Social Network

Ulogu koju društvene mreže danas igraju i važnost koje daju svim aspektima današnjice je nebrojena. Kada govorimo o sinergiji koje su zadnjih desetak godina stvorile društvene mreže i novinarstvo, važno je diferencirati kakvu ulogu u toj sinergiji zauzimaju upravo društvene mreže. Istraživanjem koje je provedeno u sklopu ovog rada pokazano je kako društvene mreže za odabrani uzorak imaju ulogu alata u hrvatskom novinarstvu te kako pomažu ispitanim novinarima pri dolaženju do informacija i izvora za svoje priče. Također, glavna problematika rada istražuje granice represije slobode mišljenja na Facebooku, kao jednoj od najkorištenijih društvenih mreža u 2017. Naposljetku, istraživanjem u radu se pokazalo kako ispitani hrvatski novinari smatraju da je u Hrvatskoj Facebook platforma za slobodu izražavanja, ali kako informacije plasirane na njoj trebaju biti višestruko provjerene jer nemaju kredibilitet da bi se uzimale zdravo za gotovo kao temelj novinarskih priča.The role that social media play today and the importance they give to all aspects of today's life are countless. When we talk about the synergy that social media and journalism have created for the last ten years, it is important to differentiate what role in that synergy social media take. The research carried out in this paper shows that social media for the selected sample have the role of tool in Croatian journalism and help the surveyed journalists in search for information and sources for their stories. Also, this work explores the limits of repression of freedom od speech on Facebook, as one of the most widely used social media platform in 2017. Finally, research in the paper showed that surveyed Croatian journalists believe that Facebook is a platform for freedom of expression in Croatia but the information provided on Facebook needs to be multiple times tested and verified because of it's lack of credibility, so therefore they shouldn't be taken for granted and as a basis for journalistic stories