Making Better Journalists
Monday, April 12, 2010
In a world where social media sites are taking over traditional forms of communication, journalists have no use but to use them to their advantage.
According to Mashable's Brenna Ehrlic, there are seven major ways journalists are using Facebook and Twitter to enhance their stories or careers.
Journalists can use Twitter to find out potential stories from independent sources before other corporations would discover them. Besides finding these leads, journalists can also use Twitter to follow trends by noticing popular hashtags.
Another way social media sites are beneficial to journalists is the number of sources it provides. Facebook can connect someone to over 400 million people across the world. Twitter also makes sources more accessible.
A fourth way journalists are using social media to enhance their stories is through crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing allows the public to contribute to stories via quotes, different perspectives, and through photos and video.
Twitter and Facebook have also been helpful in producing journalists. Through Twitter, people who may never have had the chance to voice their opinions, now have a platform that is specifically for it.
A sixth way journalists use Facebook and Twitter to enhance their work is by sharing it. Journalists are able to get feedback by posting their content on social networks and allowing readers to leave comments and suggestions.
Perhaps one of the most effective ways journalists can use social media sites to enhance their careers is by promoting themselves. Through Twitter, aspiring journalists can create their personal brand, connect to their community and promote their work to any audience.
A last reason Ehrlic believes social networks are beneficial to journalists is because it allows journalists to truly embrace the possibilities and use them to move forward in their work. By adapting to the newest technology and fads, journalists are able to appeal to wider audiences, which in turn enhances the overall experience of journalism.
4 comments:
I didn't think about using Twitter for tracking hot topics by reviewing the popular hashtags. I also think the concept of using Twitter to get responses and perspectives from the audience almost immediately on hot topics could be very beneficial to a journalist. Crowdsourcing would allow you to quickly know how viewers are initially reacting to a story.
It's interesting that this article promotes using Twitter and Facebook for self promotion, and another blog below states that one of the Twitter laws is to not promote yourself. Personally, I think journalists are smart to use social media to promote themselves and their stories. It's also a good place to build yourself an audience base.
I agree that social networking sites are a good way to promote your self and to gain an audience otherwise untapped. Have you ever Googled yourself? since I have been Tweeting and blogging, I have noticed that my name search appears "more credible" and "rich" than before. By hashtagging and crowdsourcing, you are creating more oppurtunities (hopefully positive) to get noticed.
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