Robin J. Phillips presents "Social Media in Business Journalism" during Reynolds Business Journalism Week, Jan. 6, 2011.
For more information, please visit businessjournalism.org
3. Twitter July 2006 190 million Facebook February 2004 500+ million LinkedIn December 2002 80 million Three main social media networks for journalists
4. Whatโs the difference? Twitter People you donโt know but who have common interests. Real-time search engine; platform for listening, promoting work; crowdsourcing. Facebook People you know or who know someone you know. Excellent source for finding sources; listening, sharing work; crowdsourcing. LinkedIn Colleagues, former colleagues, professionals. Online Rolodex you donโt have to update; good database of employees; good for crowdsourcing. SM tool Community Journalistic advantage
7. โ Instead of meeting for a cup of coffee, I shoot the breeze with some PR folks/sources on Twitter.โ Story ideas | breaking news | beat checks | brand development
8. โ I tweet and retweet high-value news and analysis on the economy, sustainability and urban issues.โ Promote blogs, columns | new trip wire | appreciate the speed
9. โ Twitter is only as good as the people who are on it.โ Immediate | concise | different form of writing | good multimedia tool
11. Linking to articles, distributing content โ What's even more unique about Twitter is the way competitors share and comment on each other's work. I constantly RT links from my rivals. .. .. โฆ Both Twitter and LinkedIn are terrific for crowdsourcing. For example, after the tax bill passed, I sent out a tweet asking for tax experts to comment. Thanks to the viral nature of Twitter along with LinkedIn groups, I had a bunch of sources in no time.โ
21. Self-promotion, taking it with you โ Used in the best way, reporters are liberated from the ivory tower of newsroom judgments and can directly interact with readersโฆ the reporter becomes a recognizable contact point for his stories and his beat.โ
33. Where to go from here Be an early tester but a late adopter. Find out what works for you and ignore the rest. Understand the landscape. Learn the pros and cons of the biggest social media sites so you can use them better. Stay informed. Twitter feed. Google reader. Create lists. Both Twitter and Facebook make this easy. Donโt flood the zone. Use a tool like HootSuite that lets you save drafts and schedule updates on multiple networks and from multiple profiles, all at once. Lose the guilt. Thereโs no reason whatsoever to worry about what you miss on Twitter or Facebook.