Rachel McCarver's social media presentation she shared first at the 2010 JEA/NSPA Spring Convention in Portland. In this presentation, Rachel talks about everything from promoting content and crowdsourcing to personal branding and ethics.
2. Whatâs cominâ up? What is social media? Promoting Content Interviewing News Gathering and Research Crowdsourcingand Building a Source List Blog and Website Integration Building Community and Rich Content Personal Brand Ethics: Remember, Youâre Still a Journalist Experiment, Experiment, Experiment
3. What is social media? A service that focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in in exploring the interests and activities of others. Examples Facebook Flickr (Photo) Blogging Twitter Twitter Paul Farhi wrote, âTwitter attracts the sort of people that media people should love â those who are interested in, and engaged with, the newsâ
4. What is social media? (contâd) Facebook Facebookgives reporters a means to connect with communities involved with stories, find sources, and generate leads. For media companies, Facebook is a way to build community and reach a larger audience.
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6. Fan Pages Facebook fan pages are also being used by enterprising media companies to grow awareness of their brands and connect with readers. On November 5th, 2008, the day after Barack Obama became President-Elect of the United States, The New York Times ran an ad campaign on Facebook asking fans what Obama should do first as president. The newspaperâs fan page led with a call-to-action image asking fans to join the discussion. It also offered a free virtual gift of its newspaper with the headline âObama Wins.â
17. News Gathering and Research The power of real-time search is providing journalists with up-to-the-second information on the latest developments of any news, trends and happenings, worldwide. Sreenivasan said searches on social media sites can point journalists to supplementary information for their reporting. Farhi described Twitter as a âliving, breathing tip sheet for facts, new sources and story ideas.â He added, âIt can provide instantaneous access to hard-to-reach newsmakers, given that thereâs no PR person standing between a reporter and a tweet to a government official or corporate executive. It can also be a blunt instrument for crowdsourcingâ
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21. Using groups or communities Last year the Orlando Sentinel discovered a Facebook group devoted to the lack of water at the University of Central Floridaâs brand new football stadium This group provided immediate access to dozens of sources who had experienced the first opening game in 95 degree heat
22. Using groups or communities Building a community among social networks doesnât happen overnight. Donât try and parachute social network. An example: Jump in a group related to a particular event (like the Virginia Tech shootings) âDonât be a parasite,â he said. âDo see this as a long-term investment in your community â contribute,â said J.D. Lasica, founder and editorial director of Socialmedia.biz and a former editor at the Sacramento Bee
23. How to get the community open up to you (contâd) Working a beat takes time. Itâs no different as a user on a social networking site. âItâs all about karma. The community wonât share with you unless youâve shared (your experiences, your thoughts, your passions) with them. Donât just be a journalist. Be human,â Lasica said.
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38. Crowdsourcing and Building a Source list A journalist can tweet a question involving their reporting or announce that they are looking for a source via their FriendFeed and get some remarkable responses Not only do you have to find these sources, you have to keep them
39. Messaging Mass messaging to friends âDoes anyone know someone who isnât going to prom and has alternative plans?â âDo you know anyone who recently adopted a pet from an animal shelter?â
40. Publishing with Social Tools Publishing via social media tools can be as simple as updating readers or âfollowersâ on Twitter during a breaking news event or building an entire news site focused around Facebook connectivity and conversations about local news Wordpress for blogging Twitter for live updates Facebook for posting articles or video Delicious for bookmarking Flickr for photos Youtube for video
41. Building Community and Rich Content The greater goal is to build a community through engagement. Crowdsourcing, live blogging, tweeting â itâs about building a network around issues that matter to the community. Social media should help journalists do their job and be integrated into their reporting, but not take it over. Content is still king.
42. Building Community and Rich Content (contâd) Paul Jones, a clinical associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill emphasized the importance of creating rich content. âA tweet shouldnât just be âI am eating a sandwich,ââ he said. It should include a link with details that are useful to someone reading it. And retweets, he said makes the original tweet more rich and gives it credibility because someone else thought it was useful to share with their network. In a way, it is like the Associated Press wire picking up your story, Jones said
43. Personal Brand Students canât stay in school forever â eventually they need to get jobs. Social networks can be used to build a personal brand that can help students land a reporting gig after college
48. Ethics There are no hard and fast rules for ethics and social media yet. Keep in mind the horror stories of people not getting jobs because of their social media profiles and the things they put on them â remember that employers no longer just look at your resume.
49. Ethics in social networking Consider everything public Even though sites generally allow you some control over who sees your contributions, you should regard everything you post online as public. Some of your âfriendsâ could pass along what you have posted. Once you post anything even to a closed network, you lose control of it.
50. Ethics in social networking (contâd) Consider everything signed If thereâs any chance you might use a social-networking platform professionally, itâs best to identify yourself, your publication and your position candidly.
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52. Some people use fake names on social networks. Some people use fictional profiles. Some people will make exaggerated or false claims or accusations.
53. You will find valuable information on social networks, but it wonât always be easily distinguished from the lies, mischief and misinformation. Use the social network as a starting point in your reporting, but be sure to verify and attribute.
56. Discuss with your editors (or with your staff if you are an editor) what kind of statements of opinion, if any, are appropriate for you to make on social-networking sites.
57. If you have or are getting a Facebook page, leave blank the section that asks about your political views.
62. On Facebook, Twitter and personal blogs, many people discuss the everyday matters of their work life.
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64. If you want to conduct truly personal social networking, consider maintaining a personal profile separate from your professional profile. Then you can do your reporting from one platform and pursue your hobbies or entertainment or sports interests separately from your professional work.
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66. 2. Remember that nothing on Facebook or social media is really private.
67. 3. Once itâs posted thereâs no way to take it back or restrict what other people might do with it once they get access to it.
68. 4. Reporters should disclose in their stories that they utilized Facebook as one of their reporting tools.
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70. 7. Friending an unnamed source is the same as revealing the sourceâs identity. If youâve promised confidentiality, you shouldnât do it, even if the friend is using a pseudonym.
71. 8. Journalists are regarded as âjournalistsâ virtually 24/7, especially nowadays with people with all kinds of agendas who are constantly looking for evidence of journalistsâ bias.
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75. âPoynter Develop Ethical Guidelines for Journalists Using Facebook, MySpace and Twitterâ Kelly McBride
78. â10 Ways Journalism Schools Are Teaching Social Mediaâ VadimLavrusikâThe Social Media Revolution: Exploring the Impact on Journalism and News Media Organizationsâ Ruth A Harper Â