TEHRAN - Iran’s longest-serving sports journalist Ardeshir laroudi says that the traditional media has turned into modern journalism since social media has become an integral part of modern society, however it can be Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of journalism.

We now have all the information we need at the touch of an app and most people now get their news information online, specifically from social media.

Social media has become the main source of news online with more than 2.4 billion internet users, nearly 64.5 percent receive breaking news from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Telegram and Instagram instead of traditional media, according to Forbes.

Laroudi, who had founded Abrar Varzeshi, the first Iranian sports daily, says the taste of readers has changed in the recent years.

“The aim of a newspaper is to raise awareness of a society and the reader must pay to have a print, but everybody accesses to social media today and it pushes them to what a social media editor wants. The readers must be aware of what they are forced to read,” Laroudi said.

“It can be helpful if you are following a sports expert and also can be harmful if you didn’t care about contents which can have devastating consequences,” Laroudi, who has also worked as coach of football and wrestling, stated.

“Social media has changed how the readers consume news. Some of the people can effectively manage their consumption, but the most people just believe what they read on their phones and iPads. As I said, there is no way to ignore that but we have to use that correctly,” Laroudi went on to say.