twitter for reporters seattle spj/ona || 13 february 2012 @kegill

Twitter For Reporters

Seattle SPJ/ONA || 13 February 2012@kegill

1. Tweet More• Understand the rules of your newsroom http://

www.businessweek.com/technology/complicating-twitter-and-journalism-11082011.html

• Recognize that your personal “brand” may be more important to you (long term) than the brand of your news organization

2. Be conversational

• Talk to people (but remember you are publishing with every statement)• Ask questions (in general or directly)• “Be yourself”

Develop stories

• Crowdsourcing: ask community for ideas or information

• If you ask someone a question in email or in person, figure out how to ask the question publicly on Twitter (or FB)

Develop relationships

• Ask who to follow• Follow opinion leaders on your beat• Follow public officials on your beat• Follow other journalists on your beat• Then talk to them. ;-)

3. Listen

What, exactly does this mean?

#hashtags may be more important than individuals

Tools To Monitor #hashtags

• HootSuite.com (iPhone app)• Nearbytweets.com• Topsy.com• Trendistic.com• TweetDeck• Twitter Search

HootSuite : GeoLocation

Topsy : email, RSS

Breaking News

• Storify• CoverItLive• ScribbleLive• Embed individual tweets or a group of tweets

into a story using QuoteURL or Blackbird Pie.

Verify! Verify! Verify!

Other Tools

• Twitter Lists• Paper.li• Directories: twellow.com• muckrack.com• dev.twitter.com/media/newsrooms• Twitter -> email: twe.pe

Resources

• Twitter tips for journalists, Steve Buttry• How should journalists use social media, Nick

Kristoff• The new baseline skill set, Steve Yelvington• On Twitter, neither a Luddite nor Biltonite

be. Simply be human, Alex Howard

Credits

• Kathy E. Gill, @kegill• Creative Commons : attribution, non-

commercial, share-and-share alike• Resources at http://wiredpen.com/