Social Media

What and Why(Tomorrow: How)

Why are we learning this?

Social media can be a great reporting tool…

Catch a story before it breaks

Get on-the-ground insights and tips

Find unique angles and new stories

Expand your sources

Understand what your current (and potential) audience wants to know

Some examples from VOA

Cecily Hilleary’s Twitter Steve Herman’s Twitter

Live coverage of the earthquake in Japanhttp://www.voanews.com/english/news/Major-Earthquake-Tsunami-Hit-Japan-117785138.html

Audio interview with a Japanese woman in Tokyo, contacted through Facebook

First-hand accounts, found on social news site “Reddit”

Informative video from NOAA, found on Twitter

Interview with a blogger found on Pakistani social media site “Reform Fraternity”

Interview with another blogger

This article also contained 2 more anecdotes contributed by people found on social media

South Asian Women Caught Between Tradition and Modernityhttp://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/South-Asian-Women--between-Tradition-Modernity-119185479.html

Daughter of Prominent Bahraini Activist Challenges Obamahttp://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Daughter-of-Prominent-Bahraini-Activist-Challenges-Obama-119709944.html

Interview for radio and web with the daughter of an arrested Bahraini activist, found and contacted on Twitter

Peace Corps Volunteers Share 50 Years of Memorieshttp://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Photo-Essay-Volunteers-Share-50-Years-of-Peace-Corps-Memories-117524744.html

We found photographs on Flickr from Peace Corps volunteers stationed in every region and from every decade of Peace Corps operations, and interviewed the photographers about their experiences

What is social media?

Twitter Facebook

•“Micro-blogging”

•Short updates

•Information-sharing

•Networking

•Niche communities

•Social networking

•>500 million active users

•Trusted networks of friends

But social media is also….

What is social media?

Essentially just any digital platform on which people interact with each other – yeah, it’s pretty broad

Source: Fredcavazza.net

What changes in our jobs?

EVERYTHING!

• It’s never been easier to connect with and get feedback from the audience• Anyone with a phone becomes a potential source of information• Information we report, particularly on the web, can spread well beyond its original audience through sharing and searching

NOTHING!

• Our job is still to report the news accurately, using all the sources of information at our disposal – this is just another source of information• Sources always have to be verified and confirmed – the same applies to social media sources• Information has always spread through word-of-mouth – there are now just more words with access to more mouths

Answering some common complaints

Twitter:

-There’s too much information – I can’t read all of it!You shouldn’t try to consume all of it – the key is to find tools to help you filter, browse and scan

-People are talking about mundane things like what they had for lunch – I don’t care!Yes, some people do, but many don’t and we will focus on finding those people

“Citizen journalists”:

-They’re biased – I don’t want to know what they think!

-They don’t know what they’re talking about – they’re not journalists!Some are, some aren’t – either way they can be a valuable resource for understanding the opinions out there and finding new/interesting sources to talk about them

Using the right tricks and tools helps you cut down on the noise and use the tools for what you really need them for

The lesson plan is…

Today: Introduction to social media

Tuesday: Basics of Twitter – learning the language and conventions

Wednesday: Twitter as a reporting tool part 1 (search)

Thursday: Twitter as a reporting tool part 2 (browse)