Abstract
Social media technologies have opened a whole new arena for journalism, not just as an additional publication channel but as a valuable source for topics, background information, the provision of content as well as funding for media projects. At first sight, social media networks in particular seem to provide a boundless array of instantly accessible resources ranging from information, design, and support during implementation to monetary contributions. After locating central communicators of networks the necessary resources can be smoothly targeted and collected. At second sight, the situation is less favourable. The quality of crowdsources is not always reliable or ethically acceptable. Not all socio-demographic groups are equally represented in social media networks and coverage of topics or access to resources depends on users’ interests and value systems. Network participants often have their own agenda resulting in an intentionally incomplete or uneven dissemination of information or resources. Furthermore, networks are highly dynamic structures making their formation and changes difficult to predict as well as the flows between their constituents. Research on the adaptation of social media networks for crowdsourcing is still in its early stages. The chapter closes the gap by exploring challenges and risks of adapting social media networks for crowdsourcing in journalism practice.