Finding and Backgrounding Sources on Social Media

David F. CarrEditor, The BrainYard

InformationWeek.com/thebrainyarddcarr@techweb.com

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Outline

• Introduction• Show of hands time• Profiles of the networks, advantages of each• Demo searches• Q & A

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Introduction• Current gig: Editor of

InformationWeek web publication on social media / social business

• Past: newspaper reporter, Technology Editor for Internet World, Baseline Magazine, freelancer, web consultant

• On the dark side: politics, marketing and corporate writing

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Show of Hands

• Who promotes stories on social media?• Who uses social media to research / sourcing?• Who uses Facebook for business?• Who keeps Facebook strictly personal?• Who does not use Facebook (or minimally)?• Who is on Twitter?• Who is on LinkedIn?• Who is on Google+?

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Research Uses of Social Media

• Find experts, authorities, authors on any topic• Find people who work for any organization• Find former employees of any organization• Find people who are “talking about” any topic• Find eyewitnesses to news events• 5-minute research before the phone interview

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Clues to Credibility

• Established account vs. brand new account• Profile completeness: photo, links to other

biographical sources• Authentic content, consistent with claim of

expertise / first-hand knowledge• Connected to other credible people?• Check them out on Klout, Google• Contact and interview

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Profiling the Networks: Facebook

• Mostly personal contacts, business pages• 955 million monthly active users as of June

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Facebook: Personal Networking

• Limited (hidden) search. Easiest to find people if you can search by name, have connections in common• Profile (“friend”) vs. Page (“like”)• Celebrity / expert / public figure

profiles may offer “subscribe” option

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Profiling the Networks: Twitter

• Publishing and networking in 140 characters ~500 million users

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Twitter, Briefly

• Good search (free text keyword, #hashtag, names) biased toward current content.

• Advanced search– spj near:"ft. lauderdale" within:15mi

• Profiles very abbreviated.• Send anyone a message by writing to

@username

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Profiling the Networks: LinkedIn

• All business. Explicitly organized as a network of contacts and experts, structured for search by organization, expertise. ~175 million users

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LinkedIn: Boring Is Good

• Profiles resemble resumes. Well-developed profiles will include recommendations, group memberships

• Good repository of experts (finding people who want to be found)

• Introduction system lets you stretch and improve your network

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LinkedIn For JournalistsSign up for group, take training, get upgrade

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Why You Want The Upgrade

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LinkedIn Tips

• Build connections with existing sources, experts. Invite by email or search for profile

• First, flesh out your own profile• Include a note with connection requests

(provide context)• Use LinkedIn Group connections for easier

introductions• Participate in discussions, pose questions

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Profiling the Networks: Google+

• Still evolving but combines best features of others. ~150 million active users

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Google+

• Good search for names, specialties, content• Growing user base in niches including tech,

small business, websites trying to boost search ranking (get Google’s attention)

• Rich profiles• Posts can be short or long, include photos,

hashtags

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Demo Time

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Search LinkedIn

• Search for People, Updates, Jobs, Companies, Answers, Inbox, Groups

• Default keyed to site navigation (Groups when browsing Groups)

• Simple keyword search• Advanced Search for People

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LinkedIn Examples

• Expertise / background– Forensic accounting

• By title– CFO– CFO with expertise in forensic accounting

• By company– Keyword: FPL– Company: FPL– FPL, past not current (story on alumni)

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LinkedIn Examples (continued)• Geography

– Narrow any search by zip code, within x miles

• Company search– Follow organization, connect with employees

• News driven: Three charter schools close unexpectedly, including one founded by a former NFL player– Searches:

• Keyword: charter school• Company: Touchdowns4life

• Groups as a source of beat connections– Forensic accounting

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Search Facebook

• Search by name most prominent• Click through to “See more

results” for search filters• Additional people search filters:

location, education, workplace

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Twitter Searches

• Search by keyword for broad match• Search by hashtag for deliberate tagging of #subject• Narrow with Advanced Search or learn search operators• Twitter search operators– love OR hate– strike near:"springfield, ma" within:100mi

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Google+ Search

• Keyword search brings back a mix of post and profile results, which you can further filter

• Hashtags also work• Some standard google

operators work on Google+– "a * saved is a * earned"

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Using google.com to search Google+site:plus.google.com "charter school" -intitle:"charter school" "lived * Miami"

Credits/Further Reading• Mandy Jenkins @mjenkins

– zombiejournalism.com– slideshare.net/mandyjenkins

• “Best Practices for Social Media Verification” by Craig Silverman, Columbia Journalism Review– www.cjr.org/the_news_frontier/best_practices_for_social_medi.php

• How to Search Facebook video by JM Internet Group– www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzfasqEw260

• Social search techniques– www.booleanblackbelt.com

• Mashable article on Social Media Search– mashable.com/2011/03/25/advanced-social-media-search/

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Slides / Links / Follow-upDavid F. Carr

dcarr@techweb.com

www.carrcommunications.com/eij2012#SPJsbk