social media: tools for journos

Social Media:Tools for Journos

Saskatchewan Media GuildNovember 9, 2013

#SMGsocial

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You’re a journo, not a carrier

Social media toolbox1. Livetweet events &

breaking news2. Search3. Crowdsource4. Monitor community

conversation5. Curate

6. Hashtags7. Lists8. Photos & videos9. Embed content in

stories10.Verification

Social media = journo tool1. Live coverage2. Search3. Crowdsourcing4. Monitor


conversation

6. Lists7. Hashtags8. Photos, videos9. Embed content

in your stories10. Verify facts

• Many more users• Much info private• Tougher to search• Not as immediate

(less frequent updates)

• Engage, don’t intrude

• Great for breaking news

• Great real-time search

• Engagement not as intrusive

• Hashtags help more w/ search, conversation

Getting started on• Identify as a journalist in your profile• Upload a photo or logo as your avatar• Enable use w/ phone• Tweet a little before you start following• Don’t drink the whole stream• Integrate Twitter into your day

Organizing chaos• Use Twitter lists• TweetDeck & HootSuite help organize• Mobile app• Check @ mentions• Twitter alerts• Save regular searches (can be columns in

TweetDeck, HootSuite)

Why use• More people in your community use

Twitter than you think• They’re younger than newspaper readers• Produces content for your website• Powerful search function (find sources)• Changes your newsroom culture• Twitter rocks on breaking news

here?



conversation



Livetweeting exerciseNeed volunteers to:• Play by play• Commentary• Links• Photos• Video (Vine, Tout)#SMGsocial

Live-tweeting situations• Trials• Meetings• Sporting events (staff and/or public tweets:

Friday Night Tweets)• Festivals• Breaking storiesRemember to feed site (ScribbleLive, etc.)

Livetweeting tips• Don’t transcribe; observe & report• In sports, mix play-by-play & commentary• Use hashtag (& check & engage)• OK to pause for checking facts, names• Note significant pause (halftime, lunch)• Fun interludes, exchanges, anecdotes• Check facts before you hit “tweet”

Other live-coverage tools• ScribbleLive, CoverItLive, LiveblogPro• Twitter widgets• U-Stream, Qik, Livestream• Google+ Hangout w/ YouTube• Storify (almost live if you update frequently)• Facebook (frequent posts can be annoying)



conversation



Social search• Twitter advanced search• Facebook graph search • Search for keywords, hashtags, users• Search by location (but most tweets

aren’t geotagged)• Use Geofeedia (more than just tweets)• Big news? Search: Holy shit, WTF

Tips for finding tweets• Search (Twitter advanced, Google, Topsy,

twXplorer) for keywords, location• Check followers & timelines (replies, RTs)• Expand tweets to see conversation• Check profiles• Follow; DM or tweet asking for interview• Make screen grabs (they might delete)

Searching tips• Search for people suddenly in the news• Great for searching for sources, groups• Tougher to search posts (many are private)• Messages will go into “other” box; better to

post on wall or seek mutual friends

• Excellent search engine• Search for keywords on résumés• Search by employer (& former

employer) • Mutual contacts can introduce

• Foursquare “mayor” may be employee or loyal customer of biz or venue

• Who has “checked in” at event, scene• Check Reddit for discussion of your

topic (for tips, don’t assume info is verified)



conversation



Crowdsourcing tips• Say what you know, what you need to

know• Don’t ask for help; invite people to tell

their stories, share their photos• Reach broader audience (hashtags, ask on

FB pages of groups w/ interests)

Crowdsourcing tips• Use Facebook, Twitter, G+, website, paper• Search & crowdsource simultaneously• Be careful about repeating rumors• Invite contact (phone, email)



conversation



Monitor conversation• Follow officials, activists on beat• Searches, alerts for people & keywords

on beat• Save location searches for breaking-news

terms (fire, emergency, siren)• Save local searches• Join conversation

People to follow

• Look for sources (find people)• Ask sources• Journalists in other communities• When someone follows you, check out to

see whether you should follow back• When you follow someone, check whom

they follow• Tweeps mentioned in interesting tweets

Monitoring tools• Pinterest (especially in food, fashion,

travel, crafts, entertainment)• YouTube (do agencies, people in

community have YouTube channels?)• SlideShare (are people telling more on

slides than they’re telling you?)• Reddit



conversation



What is curation?Museum curator:• Studies topic• Chooses relevant

content (other sources & museum collection)

• Authenticates• Groups related items• Provides context• Presents exhibit

Journalism curator:• Studies topic• Chooses relevant

content (social media, blogs, staff)

• Authenticates• Groups related items• Provides context• Presents collected

content

NPR’s Andy Carvin

“I think curation has always been a part of journalism; we just didn't call it that.” – quoted in The Atlantic by Phoebe Connelly

CurationSituations• Reaction story• Public event• Second screen• Breaking story

Tools• Storify• Spundge• Geofeedia• RebelMouse



conversation



Lists• Organize beat by lists• Lists save time• TweetDeck, HootSuite• Create list for story (who’s tweeting

about it?)• Embed list in story or blog post



conversation



#Hashtags• Regular hashtags• Event hashtags• Breaking news• Cause hashtags• Humorous

#Hashtag tips• Use existing hashtag if there is one• Search before launching hashtag (avoid

duplication)• Look for secondary hashtags, especially

in events or breaking news• Hashtags help find witnesses & other

sources

#notjustonTwitter• Effective on Instagram & Tout, too• Work on Facebook, but have not caught

on yet



conversation



Photo curationPhoto sites: Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest, Picasa (don’t forget Facebook, Twitter)Finding photos: Search, Geofeedia, hashtags, ask community to submitCuration tools: Geofeedia, Storify, Spundge, Olapic, embed codesMake contact & ask for more!

Video curationYouTube: strong search engine, most are embeddableQuick video sites: Instagram (15 seconds), Tout (15 seconds, 45 for pro accounts), Vine (6 seconds) Finding photos: Search, Geofeedia, hashtags, ask community to submitCuration tools: Geofeedia, Storify, Spundge

Tout vs. Instagram vs. Vine

Tout• 15 seconds (or 45)• Widgets• Multiple social

platforms• Channels• Import from camera

roll or hard drive

Vine• 6 seconds• Can’t edit or importInstagram• Filters• Huge user base• May add more features



conversation



Why embed content?• Accuracy• Attribution• Authenticity• Interactivity• Visual impact• Actual voices

What can you embed?• Public Tweets & Facebook posts• Videos (YouTube, Vimeo, Tout,

Instagram)• Photos (Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest …)• Slides & documents (Scribd, SlideShare,

DocumentCloud)• Curation (Storify, ScribbleLive,

RebelMouse)



conversation



Vetting & verifying• Track back RTs, etc.

to source • Look for clusters • Location enabled? • Evaluate the network• Evaluate the history

• Links, photos? • Take it old school• Disclose, hedge,

repeat • Be brave only in

correction

Tips from Craig Silverman, Regret the Error

Evaluating tweeps• How long have they been tweeting?• Check previous tweets, interaction• Check bio, links• Check Klout score• Google name and scam, spammer• Contact & interview

Tips from Mandy Jenkins, Zombie Journalism

Ethical issues• Identify yourself as a journalist w/

Leader-Post (or whatever is your org)• Behave professionally on personal

accounts• Be personable on pro accounts• Discuss w/ editor whether opinion is

appropriate

Social fame is fleeting

CT Twitter study:• Newsroom accounts mostly heads & links• @5thDistrictCT conversational (links to

competition, RTs, replies, great info)• @5thDistrictCT = 2x to 10x more referrals

per Twitter follower

Tips for being conversational:• Monitor @ mentions & reply (answer

questions, thank for links, address critics)• Make link posts conversational• RT competition, community bloggers• Ask questions

engagement

Why converse w/ no link?• Question invites conversation• Engagement w/ question boosts

views/engagement on subsequent links• Builds brand, gain followers• Do you enjoy conversation w/ people

always calling attention to themselves?

Writing benefits of Twitter• Paste lead into tweet box. If it’s >140,

challenge whether it’s too long• 140 characters gives great practice at

getting to the point

Read more about it• stevebuttry.wordpress.com• slideshare.net/stevebuttry• @stevebuttry• [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

social media: tools for journos

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