When it comes to journalists and how to use social networking sites, there are no rules . . . yet.

Steve Fox, moderator for the Ethics 2.0 panel at the 2008 Online News Association conference and professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said journalists are in the process of writing the rules for engagement with Facebook, Myspace and other social networking sites.

One area of less controversy is using SNSs as sources.

Jose Antonio Vargas, a Washington Post reporter, used Facebook to find a student who was present in a classroom during the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 just hours after the shootings. Through a simple search, friend request and instant messaging chat, Vargas was able to convince the student to chat with him for 25 minutes.

Vargas' story became part of the Post's Pulitzer Prize winning package of breaking news coverage about the Virginia Tech shootings.

But a less clear area is how journalists are using SNSs to connect with their audiences. Should journalists have a Facebook page?

"How can we create a sense of community for our readers?" asked Vargas. This kind of connection is only possible on the Internet, especially with the younger generation turning to the Internet for its information.

According to a 2004 study by the Pew Center for the People and the Press, young people are turning away from traditional media. More than 20 percent of people from age 18 to 29 get their political news from the Internet.

By 2008, the Center had concluded that the Internet as a news source is growing.

In the Super Panel at the ONA conference, Thomas Brew from MSNBC.com, said younger, affluent readers don't read print. The best way to reach this audience is through online sources like social networking sites, their cell phones or other websites.

-Morgan Phelps