6. HEIGHT OF THE STORM
• #memstorm impressions reached 1.4 million
• Over 200,000 Twitter accounts were reached
• 0.01 percent of all tweets on Twitter were tagged with #memstorm
• **Source: Aaron Prather, local technology entrepreneur and CEO of startup StiQRd
7. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• How did the hashtag come into use in Memphis as a way of reporting on the storm?
• What are some of the uses & gratifications of Twitter use during a breaking news situation
such as #memstorm? What motivates the public to participate?
• How is this new system of “ambient journalism” affecting local journalism? What kinds of
ongoing role can journalists play in this increasingly participatory, always-on news
environment?
8. AMBIENT JOURNALISM/PARTICIPATORY
JOURNALISM
• News today is all around us, all the time, often held in our hands in the form
of a mobile device, but we are also not simply receivers of this news but also
contributors to it as we go about our day and share observations and
information with the world. - Alfred Hermida
9. METHODS
• Content analysis of 1639 tweets tagged with the #memstorm hashtag during April 2011
storms
• Interviews with prolific hashtag users and local journalists
• Survey
• Participant observation
10. R1: How did the hashtag come into
use in Memphis as a way of
reporting on the storm?
17. R2: What are some of the uses &
gratifications of Twitter use during a
breaking news situation such as
#memstorm? What motivates the
public to participate?
18. KEY FINDINGS
• Sharing news and information is, not surprisingly, a key motivation for using Twitter/the
hashtag.
• Direct observations/eyewitness accounts is most popular, followed by more general
information e.g. watches and warnings.
19. NEWS AND INFORMATION
Tweet Was… Number in sample
Witnessing/Direct Observations 239
Sharing general news/info 46
Includes link 10
From newspaper 4
From television 9
From undetermined source/other 22
From NWS or independent 1
20. Retweet was… Number
Witnessing 45
News/Information 317
Includes link 23
From newspaper 21
From television 180
From undetermined/other 18
From independent/NWS 75
24. KEY FINDINGS CONTINUED
• Connecting with others/building community is another key motivation for using the
hashtag.
• Related: Sharing feelings, expressing fears, etc.
• Joking around
• Asking questions/seeking help
• Talking about Twitter/the hashtag/Foxstorm vs. Memstorm
• Praising journalists for their storm coverage
25. CONNECTING WITH OTHERS/BUILDING
COMMUNITY
• “I feel like I have company, a community, and we are all going through something
together.”
• “It gives a sense of comfort to be able to talk to other people, because I am so afraid of
tornados.”
• “Twitter has a huge advantage over traditional sources because it creates more of a
community. Everyone is looking out for everyone else during these severe weather
events.”
29. ASKING QUESTIONS
• “Wondering what #memstorm and #memtraffic is like in midtown since I have to go to
work.”
• “We have people [in our restaurant] concerned about Hernando. Anyone know is
Hernando is going to be in any trouble at all? #memstorm”
• “Sirens at work. Can anyone give me an update on the Germantown/Collierville area?
#memstorm”
30. How is this new system of “ambient
journalism” affecting local
journalism? What kinds of ongoing
role can journalists play in this
increasingly participatory, always-on
news environment?
31. ROLE OF JOURNALISTS, IN BRIEF
(SURVEYS/INTERVIEWS)
• VERIFY
• AMPLIFY/CURATE
• SHARE INFORMATION USING NEW DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
• ENGAGE WITH AUDIENCE
• PROVIDE LOCATION-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
32. IN APRIL 2011, STILL MOSTLY ONE-WAY,
BROADCAST MODEL
Tweets Number
News/information 280
Total replys 5
Total retweets 38
Of other journalists 31
35. WHEN NON-JOURNALISTS WERE ASKED THEIR
VIEWS ON ROLE OF JOURNALSIM:
• “Journalists can participate by interacting. If they aren’t interacting and just dishing out
140-character bites of news, the advantage is gone and the viewer might as well be
reading a news app or watching the weatherman flip his wig. The talkback factor is
invaluable.”
• “The TV stations in New York are now saying, Tweet us a question, and we will ask it on
air. I’ve been telling media here, you know, just use Twitter to ask questions and use
Twitter to get information you need. Clearly [journalists] are needed. Clearly their jobs are
not going away. Clearly they have the responsibility to report non-biased, factual,
checked-out, verified information, but that doesn’t mean they have to break [news] all the
time. Their job has to be, we may not be first all the time, but we have to be right.
Somebody make break that Whitney Houston died, unconfirmed, because they may know
it somehow, but that’s okay, the media has to be okay with that, they have to be, we are
trying to verify.” – head of a local marketing firm
