Social Media and Journalists: Part 4

SOCIALMEDIAA GUIDE FOR JOURNALISTSPART 4 OF 4

MORE SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS  Twitter  YouTube  Tumblr  WordPress  Pinterest  Facebook  Storify  LinkedIn  Instagram  Google+ Hangouts

Many journalism organizations use Facebook as a linkbetween their brand and other social media venues.

FACEBOOK About 40 journalists at The New York Times are now using Facebook subscribe, a new feature (since December 2011). Source: journalism.co.ukMore information: http://www.facebook.com/about/subscribe

Nick Kristof of The New York Times is one of the most active journalists on Facebook.

Kristof uses Facebook mainly for professional communications.

Note the number of likes and comments.

Resource: http://www.facebook.com/journalists

GOOGLE+ HANGOUTS  Requires a download (Google voice and video chat; free)  Uses the familiar YouTube interface  Up to 10 people can participate in the same video chat  The session can be saved and viewed later by others

On Jan.30, 2012, President Obamaparticipated ina 50-minuteGoogle+Hangout. Heansweredunscriptedquestionsfrom ordinarycitizens.

LINKEDINBusiness journalists: Follow a company from its Company Page You can follow up to 1,000 companies Get updates via e-mail

Resource: http://www.linkedin.com/companies

LINKEDINAll journalists can: Create a resume (c.v.) Link up with past and present colleagues Link up with sources

LinkedIn: A journalist’s public profile

A WORD ABOUT COMMUNITIESMany of the social media sites, ornetworks, are big and diverse (likeFacebook).Not really “communities.”

A WORD ABOUT COMMUNITIESMany of the social media sites, ornetworks, are big and diverse (likeFacebook).But some sites (like Flickr) containdistinct communities, in whichmembers know one another well.

A WORD ABOUT COMMUNITIESMany of the social media sites, ornetworks, are big and diverse (likeFacebook).But some sites (like Flickr) containdistinct communities, in whichmembers know one another well.Be mindful of “invading” a communityor abusing people’s networks.

A WORD ABOUT ETHICSIn May 2011, the American Society of NewsEditors (ASNE) published a handycollection of social media guidelines from18 different news organizations.To download thePDF, searchGoogle for “10Best Practices forSocial Media”

ASNE’S 10 “BEST PRACTICES”1. Traditional ethics rules still apply online.2. Assume everything you write online will become public.3. Use social media to engage with readers, but professionally.4. Break news on your website, not on Twitter.5. Beware of perceptions.* * Conflict of interest; likes and retweets

ASNE’S 10 “BEST PRACTICES”6. Independently authenticate anything found on a social networking site.7. Always identify yourself as a journalist.8. Social networks are tools not toys.9. Be transparent and admit when you’re wrong online.10.Keep internal deliberations confidential.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND JOURNALISMINTEGRATION

Us Them

WHAT JOURNALISTS DOWITH SOCIAL MEDIA Invite comments & feedback from readers/viewers Find & follow useful sources of information Follow & learn from other journalists Share useful links Report breaking news, live

WHAT JOURNALISTS DOWITH SOCIAL MEDIAInvite comments & feedback fromreaders/viewers Make it clear you’re reading, listening Respond appropriately Show respect Ignore idiots

WHAT JOURNALISTS DOWITH SOCIAL MEDIAFind & follow useful sources of information Interested citizens NGOs Government officialsNote: Some will be background oroff the record

WHAT JOURNALISTS DOWITH SOCIAL MEDIAFollow & learn from other journalists Partly this satisfies your own desire for news Partly it can teach you good (and bad) habits (avoid the bad ones)

WHAT JOURNALISTS DOWITH SOCIAL MEDIAShare useful links You should not share a link to something that adds nothing new You should share links to other sources (not only to your news organization)

WHAT JOURNALISTS DOWITH SOCIAL MEDIAReport breaking news, live Before doing this, weigh the costs and benefits How many regular people really care? Doing this well can attract new viewers, readers Rare: Not many events warrant this

You can’t do everything.

1. SET PRIORITIESHow can social media help you in yourspecific work?Should your social media identity representyou as an individual (reporter)?Or should you downplay your individualidentity and emphasize a news productinstead?Should you do both? Can you?

2. EXPLORE OPTIONSSet aside a specific amount of time eachworkday to “play” with social media.Limit this time carefully.Check out what your competitors aredoing.Seek out the audience you want to have foryour news product(s).

3. CHOOSE AND USESelect which social media tools and/orsites you will focus on.Limit them to what you can manage.Commit to using them every day.Observe and follow typical usage patterns:for example, microblogging vs. full-scaleblogging.

4. TRACK, MEASURE, EVALUATESet goals and establish time frames.Watch the stats (visits, users, pageviews,followers, retweets, etc.).Record and analyze significant events (forexample, a big spike in pageviews orretweets).Track user engagement—not only howmany but also when (day and time).

Success can come insmall numbers.

Success can come insmall numbers.This is not an exactscience.

Success can come insmall numbers.This is not an exactscience.Don’t get carried away.

To understand socialmedia, you must use it.

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SOCIALMEDIAPresentation by Mindy McAdamsUniversity of Florida, USAmmcadams@jou.ufl.edu

Keep up on the latest news and tipsabout social media and journalists:http://www.scoop.it/t/social-media-and-journalistsFollow these sources on Twitter for updateson the social media universe:@NiemanLab@mashable

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Social Media and Journalists: Part 4

by Mindy McAdams

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