SOCIAL MEDIA SUMMITReview

C O M P I L E D B Y T H E E N G A G I N G N E W S P R O J E C T

N0V . 1 1 , 20 1 6

Sponsored by the Engaging News Project & the University of Texas School of Journalism

The f i rst Social Media Summit sought to answer these quest ions :

Has social media helped or harmed news organizat ions?

What social media platforms most benefit news s ites? Which

platforms present the most chal lenges?

What ’s in i t for social media companies to get involved with

news organizat ions , such as through Facebook ’s Instant

Art icles?

How did news s ites use social media during the 2016 elect ion?

Thank You to our FundersThe Dallas Morning News Innovation Fund , Democracy Fund ,

Hewlett Foundation and Rita Allen Foundation

COV ER I NG TH E 20 1 6 E L E C T I ON THROUGH SOC IA L MED IALivestreaming was a big success this election

cycle. It provided access to candidates,

campaigns, and events in ways that traditional

news programming couldn't (e.g. when the TV-

feed goes to commercial, the livestream can

catch events behind-the-scenes.)

(From L to R): Moderator Robyn Tomlin, The Dallas Morning News; Jessica Huff, McClatchy,Selymar Colón, Univision; and Katie Harbath, Facebook

Moving forward, the biggest challenges for these

organizations include:

Balancing limited staff resources on a day-to-

day basis

Fighting the spread of fake news

Winning back people who felt that news

organizations didn’t represent their interests

FAC EBOOK L I V E D I S CUSS I ONNewsrooms are experimenting with

Facebook Live , often for sharing

breaking news

Benefits

Can answer audience quest ions in real

t ime

Can increase page l ikes

Shows people that you have a reporter at

the scene

Chal lenges

No monetizat ion r ight now (although may

be coming soon )

Ethical quest ions about showing some

things l ive (e .g . a dead body during a

shooting )

Poor qual ity of video captured “on the

f ly ”

Tips

Think about the f i rst image – i t i s the one

that wil l show up on Facebook

Look to answer audience quest ions

A reporter taking the in it iat ive might

jumpstart interest f rom the newsroom

Moderated by Kelsey Whipple, The Dallas MorningNews Graduate Fellow for Innovative Journalismat UT­Austin

L E S SONS F ROM # E L E C T I ON LAND

Electionland is a nationwide project that tracked and covered voting problems during the 2016

election . Partners included ProPublica , the Google News Lab , WNYC News , Univision , the First Draft

Coalition , and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism . Thirteen universities participated

With the proper tools (TinEye , Dataminr , Google , etc .) and nationwide coordination , social

media could provide an accurate assessment of Election Day problems

Electionland came together in just a few months before Election Day . With the lessons learned this

time around , it could be an important force for improving elections and voter access in the future

Presented by Dale Blasingame andstudents from Texas State University

DARE TO BE SQUARE : WHY I N S TAGRAM I SCR I T I CA L I N NEW MED IA S TORY T E L L I NG

When using user -generated content , you must ask for permission and give appropriate

photo credit by including their Instagram handle .

Instagram al lows you to pull f rom the community .

When posting on Instagram as a newsroom , be open -minded with what you post . Mix

it up and post hard news , but also include a sel f ie or a picture of your dog . The key i s

to add something personal or dif ferent to connect with your audience .

When possible , put other people ’s handles in your

caption . This wil l help generate new fol lowers .

This also shows that you are part of the community .

Presented by Addie Broyles of the Austin American­Statesman

A /B T E S T I NG I NTH E D I G I TA L AGEA /B test ing can help with business

outcomes (e .g . page views , return

vis itors , t ime on s ite ) and

democratic outcomes (e .g .

learning , civ i l i ty )

Tips for A /B test ing

Ask what you want to learn before

start ing

Test one change at a t ime

Test many t imes

Make sure that your sample s ize i s

adequate to see dif ferences

Evaluate why vers ion A did better

than vers ion B

Many A /B test ing programs

avai lable :

Try engagingnewsproject .org /quiz -

creator for A /B test ing quizzes Presented by Ashley Muddiman (pictured) andTalia Stroud of the Engaging News Project

DOES TONE ONSOC IA L REA L L Y

MA T T ER ?

Text overlay , inspir ing quotes , and

faces al l work to personal ize the

message and grab the reader ’s

attention

Three rules of posting news art icles

to Facebook :

Shorter i s better

Express some kind of relatable

emotion

Include something in the “share ”

text ( l ike a caption )

Presented by Penny Riordan ofGateHouse Media

Presented by Penny Riordan of GateHouse Media

What you write on social media can

affect whether the audience vis its

your website

ENGAG ING P LA T F ORMS D I S CUSS I ON

Outlets worry about the small payoff when i t comes to day -to -day newson Twitter

With so many platforms , i t ’s hard to distr ibute resources toward thingsl ike Snapchat and Instagram (these platforms are dif f icult to monetize

so i t might feel l ike a waste of team resources )

Some news organizat ions struggle with balancing sending readersimportant push noti f icat ions and the concern that they 're violat ing

their personal privacy

Moderated by Amanda Wilkins of The Dallas Morning News 

A few platforms that newsrooms use for data analys is include ShareRocket , CrowdTangle and Chartbeat

F ROM PAP ER ROUT E S TO PUSH A L E R T S : HOW WE ’RE SAV I NGOUR L E GACY NEWSPAP ER In the digital age , math and analyt ics

play a huge role in the newsroom with

real -t ime metrics

The role of “Web Producer ” i s rapidly

changing ; focus on writ ing , abi l i ty to

produce strong content , and social

media ski l ls

What 's next?

Austin -American Statesman confident they are going in the r ight direct ion

They are dedicated to growth in the digital f ie ld , and are looking to hire

people who are also dedicated

Presented by Courtney Sebesta and Eric Webb ofthe Austin American­Statesman 

WHY YOU SHOU LD BE US I NG SNAPCHA TSnapchat i s successful for newsrooms because audiences l ike to get that “behind the

scenes ” experience

Snapchat i s less about monetizat ion , more about branding and promotion

Outlets should be downloading the Snapchat stor ies they post for onl ine content

Teasing a story onl ine might increase engagement

Presented by Cassandra Jaramillo, The DallasMorning News; Jon Zmikly, Texas State

University (pictured); and Shannon McGregor,Engaging News Project. Photo courtesy of Cindy

Royal, Texas State University.

NASTY TALK ONL INE : WHAT 'S A JOURNAL IST TO DO

Study #1 : Interviewed 34 journal ists ranging in gender , work experience , and

medium to ask how they handle comments

All journal ists interviewed read comments

Most feel overwhelmed by number of comments

Spl it on whether to answer back - majority said journal ists should respond in

comments , but not when the comments become uncivi l

Presented by Gina Chen of the Engaging News Project

Main f indings :

Study #2 : Interviewed 38 female journal ists on how they handle harrassment

Extent of harassment :

100% faced some type of uncivi l comments

81 .5% experienced gendered harassment

TV journal ists faced the most

Harassment worse i f cover "male " topics

Strategies for deal ing :

Call out the commenters or block them

Pre -moderate on professional Facebook page

Delete offending comments quickly

" Ignore i t and do my job "

Hide page f rom family

SUMMARYLivestreaming platforms , l ike Facebook Live , offer opportunit ies that other

platforms can 't provide , such as connecting with the audience in real t ime . But

there are chal lenges to l ivestreaming , including the ethical i ssues that come f rom

sharing l ive , unedited video .

There are a number of ways for news organizat ions to use social media to cover an

elect ion cycle , including as a way to connect with audiences and track voting

issues on Election Day .

Although news organizat ions may not think they can devote the resources needed

to manage non -Facebook or Twitter accounts , there are benefits to using

Snapchat and Instagram . Both platforms provide a way to give the audience

"behind the scenes " access , and they can help news organizat ions build

community .

CONNECT WITH ENGAGING NEWS PROJECT

@engagingnews

/engagingnewsproject

engagingnewsproject .org