principles ofnewssocialmedia overview(1)

Social Media & NewsJOUR 2300 – Principles of NewsProfessor Neil Foote

Engagement

Social Media? Really?

Listening

Conversations

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EngagementListening

Conversations

COMMUNITY

COLLABORATORS

Content & Conversations

Joy Mayer:• Journalists have to transition from

distancing themselves from “community” to “engaging” themselves

• Use information to improve their communities

• Make citizens feel more invested in and connected to the news product 4

Source: “Engaging Communities: Content and Conversation, by Joy Mayer

Content & Conversations cont.

• Journalists need to get as much information about what their readers want to know

• Journalists need to define engagement • Use the tools available

• Social media is the enabler, the connector, the conduit 5


Content & Conversations cont.

• Social media is the fuel for community engagement• Solicit ideas• Invite feedback• Gather information • Solve problems• Serve as a forum for debate

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Steve Yelvington: Three Primary Roles of Local Media

Source: The three primary roles your local website should play, http://www.yelvington.com/content/three-primary-roles-your-local-website-should-play, By Steve Yelvington

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http://www.yelvington.com/content/three-primary-roles-your-local-website-should-play

The town crier:The quaint colonial-era village character who walks around ringing a bell telling you what's happening.


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The town square:Social media, blogs, photo/video sharing


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The town expert:Sharing resources, contacts, lists, key information


Seattle Times

WFAA

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http://seattletimes.com/html/localpages/2021860490_acaguide.html

http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/health-reform/Affordable-Care--How-to-prepare-225535422.html

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/tkawaja/social-lumascape-8223008

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SOCIAL MEDIA ICONS

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The “Traditional” Flow Chart

In print/On

air

Media website

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The “New” Flow Chart

In print/On air

Media website Media Blog

Facebook/media name

Twitter/media namePinterest

LinkedIn Tumblr/Digg / De.li.ci.ous Mobile

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Social Media – Evolution

• Evolved from three previous forms of short, text based communications• Internet Relay Chat (IRC)• Short Messaging Service (SMS, texting)• Instant Messaging

• Twitter’s co-founder Biz Stone as a combination of all of these

• Simple to set up, simple to use• 140 characters – that’s all

Source: Journalism NEXT, Microblogging, pg. 95 - 119

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Social Media – Why it matters• It’s real time: As good or better than the

wire services• “One great thing about Twitter – and this

is why it is so useful for student journalists – is that after a while it trains you to look for interesting things around you (and think how you can communicate that in 140 characters).

• -- Paul Bradshaw, a journalism lecturer in Birmingham, England


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Social Media – Why it matters• Open-source journalism• Pulling back the curtain on what we do• Engaging readers/viewers as news

happens • Perhaps giving non-broadcast media the

chance to compete with “live TV”


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Social Media – Why it matters• “Social media platforms such as Twitter enable budding

reporters to be part of a more open journalistic culture. Traditionally the work of journalism has been hidden behind the walls of the newsroom. Through social media, journalists can be more open about their work, offering insights into the process of news, and connect with audiences in a way that simply wasn’t possible a generation ago.”• -- Alfred Hermida, University of British Columcia and

founding news editor of the BBC News Web site


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Social Media Impacts Media Habits

Choice

• Media• Search Engines• RSS• Quality varies

Conversation

• Comments• Groups• Email• Chats• Twitter• Instagram

Curation

• “Gatewatchers” v.” Gatekeepers”

• “Tagging”• DIGG• REDDIT• Flickr• Youtube

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Source: “Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Communication, Chapter 8, Social Media and Web 2.)

Social Media Impacts Media Habits Cont.

Creation

• Low barriers to entry

• Little, or no cost to publish

• Creativity versus “stealing”

• Huge volumue

Collaboration

• Sharing is good• “Widgets”

commonplace• “Open source”

development for code and content

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1997 – SixDegrees.com

1999 BlackPlanetLiveJournal

2000MiGente

2002Friendster

2003LinkedInMySpace

2004Flickr

Facebook (Harvard)

2005YouTube

XangaFacebook (HS)

2006Facebook (all)

Twitter

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Journalists Using Facebook• Searching for sources• Find other journalists• Distribution• Breaking News• Storytelling• Creating Events• Crowdsourcing

• Posting photos• Streaming video• Engagement• Personal brand

identity• Creating PAGES• Creating Groups

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• Breaking news• Hudson River plane crash

• Janis Krums caused the TwitPic servers to crash

• The Arab Spring

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How to use twitter

• What to ‘tweet’ about• Link to a new blog, story, video, phot• Retweet a comment or link• Replay to someone in your community• Talk about an unfolding story• Insight, humor, thought-provoking

Source: Steve Buttry

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Why Twitter?Shortened links:

http://bit.lyhttp://tinyurl.comShort and Tweet @ 101.gs: http://101.gs

Use a headline to give folks –”tweeps” a reason to click

Follow sources, journalists, organizations, trendsCrowdsourceDevelop story ideasDrive traffic to your stories 27

http://bit.ly/

http://tinyurl.com/

http://101.gs/

Twitter• Identity of the Twitter account: Does it represent you, alone, as a

reporter?Is it for a regularly scheduled news

program?Is it for the entire news organization?

• Choose one identity, not more.• Be consistent with this identity.

Courtesy: Mindy McAdams

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Mastering Twitter Communicate within the 140-character limit Search and find Twitter feeds by name, topic, or

hashtag (#) Choose Twitter feeds to follow (curation) Create Twitter lists (also curation) Learn the art of the retweet (RT) Learn the difference between replies and DMs

(direct messages)


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Hashtags

• Any Twitter user can make a hashtag• Add # before a word (no spaces and no

punctuation)• Create an impromptu grouping or

collection• Examples:• #opennews (The Guardian)• #asknyt (The New York Times)


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Twitter for Journalists

• Uses of the Twitter account: Ask for comments and feedback from audience Follow fellow journalists Follow sources (monitor what they’re discussing;

discover trends) Share links to news content Tweet breaking news updates

• Which of these are consistent with the account’s identity?


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The pitfalls

MisuseDistribution of wrong informationFact checkDistraction from core tasksSpreading staff too thin

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The pitfalls

“It is not quite clear what the right use is,” says Andrew Nystrom, a senior producer for social and emerging media at the Los Angeles Times. “If you aren’t a friend of someone on Facebook, should you be pulling photos off Facebook? We err on the side of caution.” 33

Tips on Tweeting

• Be newsworthy• If you witness a newsworthy even or discover

someone else has, share that knowledge• Be instructive

• Consider posts that link to tips/advice• Include links• Reflect your personality• Build relationships

Source: “JournalismNEXT, Mark Briggs/Ellyn Angelotti, Poynter Institute

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TODAY’S DISCUSSION QUESTION

“Facebook, shamacebook, Twitter, smitter. I don’t know what it all means other than a bunch of young journalists who don’t want to learn how to report and write. “Give me three good examples of how any of this social media stuff will help me do great journalism.” --- Anonymous editor of a local newspaper.

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Facebook Stats 2011

Breaking down Facebook

• More than a billion monthly active users as of December 2012.

• Approximately 82% of our monthly active users are outside the U.S. and Canada.

• 618 million daily active users on average in December 2012.

• 680 million monthly active users who used Facebook mobile products as of December 31, 2012.

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• Over 1.13 trillion likes since launch in February 2009

• 140.3 billion friend connections• 219 billion photos uploaded

• Data was pulled on 9/10/2012, and represents the total # of photos currently on this site – in other words, it excludes deleted photos. If we wanted to include all photos ever uploaded, the estimate we have is 265 billion. Photo uploading launched fall 2005.

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• 17 billion location-tagged posts, including check-ins• Includes location-tagged posts as well as check-ins.

Data was pulled 9/10/2012, and represents total location-tagged posts & check-ins since launch of the product in August 2010

• 62.6 million songs have been played 22 billion times - that’s about 210,000 years of music • Data was pulled on 9/11/2012, and represents song

plays since the launch of music-listening applications in September 2011 39

Characteristics of users joining the week Facebook hit 1B• The median age of the user is about 22• The top five countries where people

connected from at the time we reached this milestone were Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States (NOTE: in alphabetical order)

• Facebook now has 600M mobile users

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Characteristics of users joining the week Facebook hit 500 m Users (July 2010)

• The median age of the user at that time was about 23

• Top five countries where people connected from at the time we reached this milestone were Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States (NOTE: in alphabetical order)

• Users signing up at this time now have an average of 305 friends

•

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Characteristics of users joining the week we hit 100M (August 2008)


• The top five countries where people connected from at the time we reached this milestone were Chile, France, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States (NOTE: in alphabetical order)

• The user signing up at this time now has an average 334 friends

• • 42

Characteristics of users joining the week we hit 100M (August 2008)


• The top five countries where people connected from at the time we reached this milestone were Chile, France, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States (NOTE: in alphabetical order)

• The user signing up at this time now has an average 334 friends

• • 43

Anatomy of a News Story: Via Twitter

• Adam Pasick, Reuters, tracked this, May 6, 2008:• At about 1:37 pm, software developer Dave Winer asked the

Twitterverse: “ Explosion in Falls Church, VA?” (Perhaps not coincidentally, Winer is a well-known blogger and podcasting evangelist).

• A flurry of posts, or “tweets,” followed, as users reported rumbles as far away as Alexandria.

• The mainstream media entered the fray at 2:33 pm, with radio station WTOP reporting ground rumblings throughout Northern Virginia, citing a possible earthquake

• By 2:56 pm — nearly 90 minutes after Winer’s initial alert — WTOP had the official word from the U.S. Geological Survey: A not-exactly-massive 1.8 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter near Annandale, VA.

Source: http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2008/05/06/breaking-news-twitter-style/

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave%20Winer

http://twitter.com/davewiner/statuses/804852522

http://summize.com/search?q=falls+church

http://wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1399162

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1399162

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ld1022071.php

The Industry Leaders – Twitter followersMedia Company Now July 2011

NY TimesAssociated Press

9.5 mm2.5 mm

2.5mm

CBSNews 2.8 mm 1.2mm

CNN 10.4 mm 1.2mm

ABCNews 2.8 mm 1.1mm

WSJ 3.5 mm 359k

FoxNews 3.3 mm 255k

LATimes 668n k 70k

USAToday 788 k 40k

NBCNewsESPN

1 mm7.2 mm

36k48

Tumblr

• Many of the best Tumblr blogs emphasize photography and keep the text brief.

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Example post: SI Photo Blog on Tumblr (siphotos.tumblr.com)

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TUMBLR in a Nutshell

• Tumblr users are rebloggers: They will spread your content (and your links).

• Tags are very important: Many Tumblr users subscribe to tags.

• It’s not a full-scale blogging platform like WordPress.


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Best Uses for Journalists

(re)Broadcast your own content News organization Program Topic (e.g. Singapore)

Subscribe and follow Tumblr blogs to get ideas, see what’s being reblogged

Use Tumblr as a clip file for ideas Create your own tags to improve usefulness


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•“Tumblr is the 25th most popular site in Singapore based on a combination of average daily visitors and pageviews.”

“Tumblr is

—Alexa Traffic Rank, March 9, 2012


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Some Great Tumblr Blogs

• soupsoup.tumblr.com (Reuters)• life.tumblr.com (photography)• shortformblog.com (news)• links.laughingsquid.com (weird & fun)• theeconomist.tumblr.com (news)• fotojournalismus.tumblr.com (photo)


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Still in the “invite only” phase, Pinterest

beat Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube combined for traffic referrals in February

2012.It also beat Twitter.

PinterestFindings based on aggregated data from more than 200,000 publishers that reach more than 270 million unique monthly visitors each month.


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PinTerest

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Pinterest for Journalists: How to Use It

• Feature your top stories. The most clear-cut way to use the site is to promote your work, as many news organizations already do: Mashable features pinboards on tips and tricks, web humor and tech and gadgets. USA Today has boards about tech gift ideas and CES. Time dedicates a board to its weekly magazine covers.

• Mobile-pin pics. If you're out in the field and news unfolds, snap a pic from your iPhone, upload and pin it to your themed board of breaking news shots. Post images to a sneak-peak board to advertise stories soon to come. You can also upload videos.

Source: http://ijnet.org/stories/seven-ways-journalists-can-use-pinterest

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http://pinterest.com/mashable/

http://pinterest.com/usatodaytech/holiday-tech-gift-ideas/

http://pinterest.com/usatodaytech/ces-2012/

http://pinterest.com/time_magazine/time-covers/

http://pinterest.com/videos/

http://ijnet.org/stories/seven-ways-journalists-can-use-pinterest

Pinterest for Journalists: How to Use It cont.

• Find ideas for trend stories. Use the Popular button to find trending pins or search for top pins by topic.

• Find pictures suitable for online stories. Heavily image-based, the site is an archive of photographs available online. Once you find a fitting image for your story, perform a reverse Google image search to find the original source and link/attribute from there. You can also embed pins into blogs or online stories.


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http://pinterest.com/popular/

http://www.google.com/imghp?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=899&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&oq=&aq=&aqi=&gs_upl=


Pinterest for Journalists: How to Use It cont.

• Photojournalism portfolio. Photojournalists could advertise their prints and sell them to the public. Arrange shots by category via boards, add a price banner to any photo and link to the website where prints can be purchased.

• Use it as an online storyboard. If you're doing web-based research for an upcoming story, pin useful items to a board dedicated to the topic. If you're collaborating with another journalist, you can share pinning access by adding a contributor to your board.

• Curate the news. Take a lesson from Scoop.it, a curating site focused more on articles than images, and make your own online magazine with the top news pins of the day.


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http://pinterest.com/gifts/?price_start=1&price_end=20

http://www.scoop.it/


WHY CARE ABOUT Pinterest?

Female: 68.2% of Pinterest users are women Well off: 28% of users have annual household

income of US$100k+ Young: 27.4% are ages 25 to 34

Pinterest 15.8 minutesYouTube 16.4 minutesFacebook 12.1 minutesTwitter 3.3 minutes

Average Time Spent on Site

Source: mashable.com

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Pinterest Pros and Cons

•ProsAddictive: Users like to spend a lot of time on the

siteLots of repinning: Users can spread your content

far and wideHuge increase in referrals from Pinterest prove

that people do go to the original (your content, your site)


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Pinterest Pros and Cons

•ConsIt’s the hot new thing; it may fizzle outThe visual bias is even more dominant than on

TumblrIt may be better suited to product advertising:

popular categories include home decor, DIY and gifts


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Pinterest Tips

Don’t fight the visual bias. Choose a really good visual (make sure it’s on the content page).

Write a short, interesting caption. Make people want to know more (so they will click).

Play like everyone else: Repin!

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Copyright and Pinterest

• Even though images link back to the original site, this kind of re-use does appear to violate copyright laws.

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• Even though images link back to the original site, this kind of re-use does violate copyright laws.

Pinterest has an online form for reporting any copyright violation.

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• Even though images link back to the original site, this kind of re-use does violate copyright laws.

• Pinterest has a form for reporting any copyright violation.

• For news organizations, any desire to prosecute copyright violations should be weighed against the value of referral traffic.


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Pinterest Tip

People can follow you (your profile) Or they can choose to follow only one of

your “pinboards” … Or just the specific pinboards they like

(instead of users + all of their pinboards)• (You can do the same)

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Storify: What Is It?

• A tool that makes it easy to create and update a string or stack of items from various sources

• Items can come from Twitter, YouTube, etc.• Text can be inserted between items to add

context, to explain• A Storify can be embedded in a blog post or Web

page on your own site

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Storify: Best Uses

Breaking news Social movements Internet humor and memes Reaction stories Weather events

Source: Poynter.org


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Weather events provide a good opportunity for using Storify to curate user-generated content.

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Storify

• More than any other tool, Storify exemplifies curation.


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Storify


• To use Storify well: Don’t just tell a story—enhance people’s understanding of a story.


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Storify


• To use Storify well: Don’t just tell a story; enhance people’s understanding of a story.

• Never succumb to random copy/pasting!


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Instagram

27 million registered users iPhone only: 5-star (highest) rating on iTunes,

with 400,000+ reviews Android version coming soon An average of 26 new pictures uploaded every

second

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A TV Reporter & Instagram

• “Today was a perfect example of how I use Instagram in the field. My goal is to spark interest and start discussions well before the story airs. My updates mention my station, and if I know what time the story will air, I’ll mention that as well.”

—Lindsey Mastis, WUSA 9 TV (Washington, D.C.)December 2011

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A TV Reporter & Instagram

• “I snapped a picture with my iPhone camera … Then I added the photo to Instagram and shared it on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Foursquare.”

—Lindsey Mastis, WUSA 9 TV (Washington, D.C.)December 2011


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principles ofnewssocialmedia overview(1)

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