The document provides tips for using various social media tools for different purposes related to journalism and news reporting. It recommends tools for finding sources, promoting news stories, live tweeting events, crowdsourcing information, conducting interviews, and other newsgathering activities. The tips are organized by topic such as breaking news, events, other uses of social media, posting on different platforms, and tips for specific contexts.

1. The Right Tool
for Each Job
Steve Buttry
The Daily Camera
September 10, 2013

2. Which tool(s) to use today?

3. • Best place to look for people
• They may not see messages
• If they’re public, post contact request on
their wall

4. • Promote several stories a day, but don’t
spam your fans with too many
• Photos engage better than links
• Try to start a conversation

5. • See if you have friends in common who
can reach out for you
• Ask permission to use photos (but they
may not have rights)

6. Breaking news:
• Search for sources (w/ and w/o location)
• Search for “holy shit,” WTF
• Crowdsource
• Tweet the unfolding story
• Use hashtag (for search & in your tweets)

7. Events:
• Livetweet all routine events
• Especially livetweet big events
• Use hashtag
• Set context (warn about lots of tweets)
• Feed tweets into ScribbleLive
• Not transcript or play-by-play

8. Other uses:
• Crowdsourcing (usernames & hashtags)
• Listen to community conversation
• Follow people on your beat
• Use lists to organize tweets
• Save searches
• Save alerts

9. • Post all stories
• Don’t just post headline & link
• Conversational statements & questions
• Share related links (not just Camera)
• Become the source for interesting tweets
about the topic you cover

10. • If you leave the office, consider a Tout(s)
• In interview, re-ask best question
• After event, ask one question
• Action better than talking heads
• Doesn’t have to be 45 seconds (maybe
shouldn’t)

11. • Posting stories on Google+ boosts SEO
• Hangout better than phone interview
(if source has video; you can help set
up on G+)
• Can livestream & record on YouTube
• Not if source might go off record

12. • Livestream & record remote interviews
using Google+ Hangout
• Search for videos related to stories
• Embed
• Be sure to attribute

13. • Post entertainment content as tips at
venues
• “Mayor” may be source on stories
• People who have checked in may be
witnesses to news there