Social Media and Journalism

How You Can Use Social Media to Generate Tips and Story Leads that Lead to Better Reporting and Journalism

Social Media Research: Facebook

Facebook is the largest social network in the world, with 1 billion active users. So, access to lots of people!

More than a billion pieces of content posted a day

People post information privately, but many post publicly, too

Facebook’s Graph Search (relatively new):Allows you to drill down to searching for specific people, media created by those people, friends and more

Also check bing.com/social to search public tweets, Facebook posts

Openstatussearch.com will search public Facebook posts

Social Media Research: Geofeedia

Geofeedia.com allows you to search photos, video posted on social media websites Instagram, Flickr, YouTube, Picasa, Twitter — all plotted on a map

Sort by date range and filter content

Possible uses:Searching for photos around a breaking news situation

From there, finding possible witnesses to stories

It’s not free, and costs can vary, but you CAN sign up for a free trial

Social Media Research: Instagram

If you can’t use Geofeedia…

Use Instagram’s search feature in the app to find specific hashtags for breaking news events

You can also search for specific users (if you find someone’s Twitter account, check that name against Instagram)

Usage Rights with Images

You do not have a right to take someone else’s photo from Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to use online, in newscasts or in print.

The photo has to be presented in the context of being on the social network.

Take a screen shot of the picture, always (you never know if it’ll be deleted)

Contact the photographer for permission

Taking a screenshot of a profile picture, in the context of the network, is fine.

But it’s even better to use Storify

With Twitter, you can embed the tweet itself into a story

Have language ready for asking to use photos and permission to use them. Ask users from images on social networks.

Social Media Research: Reddit

Reddit has largely become what Digg used to be: The Internet’s front page

Users submit links or posts, and other “redditors” vote the submission either up or down

Top submissions make the front page

Numerous “sub-reddits” for granular topics

Reddit community is generally smart and extraordinarily resourceful, which we found during Aurora

“Comprehensive timelines, part 2: Aurora Massacre”

Someone came into our theater at the midnight release of Dark Knight Rises and began opening fire. Who here on Reddit can help me calm my nerves? [Link]

I am one of the 50 wounded in the aurora theatre shooting. Here are a few photos of my very lucky but nonetheless terrifying brush with death. My thoughts go out to those less fortunate than me. [Link]

I watch the sub-Reddit for Denver closely

What should editors in the newsroom do?

It’s not always possible for reporters to constantly watch Twitter while they’re in the field

Be both the eyes and ears by feeding information

An editor must have specific lists on Twitter to people able to quickly find relevant information for a story

Does everyone know how to set up Twitter lists?

List examples:Colorado Media

Waldo Canyon Fire (i.e., event-specific ones)

Aurora theater shooting

On Twitter follow hashtags, but be aware hashtags (like #theatershooting) can quickly grow out of control

How I worked #theatershooting

For starters: I wasn’t in Colorado

Used Twitter lists after #theatershooting hashtag proved useless to follow, though I still tagged content with it

Twitter lists (specifically, Colorado Media) were invaluable

Had a head start on national outlets

People who normally wouldn’t tweet were suddenly tweeting

Live-tweeted, posted to Facebook and Google Plus, used source material from other news orgs (and credited them)

How Our Team Worked Aurora

Divide and delegate duties online and in social mediaEnsure each key network is updated: Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Pinterest (if necessary)

Ensure someone is checking Geofeedia (or scanning somewhere for pictures)

Had someone searching for eyewitness accounts on social media

Someone watches comments on the website

Livetweeted press conferences (now have a live account)

Had someone set up using ScribbleLive for a live blog

Had someone pulling audio of 911 dispatches, press conferences

Ask people for help with tips and information

We weren’t afraid to pass info along from other news orgs, too.

In rare cases, ask your audience to share information (please RT or please SHARE to get the word out).

But don’t abuse the privilege

Our final online story had six bylines

Crowdsourcing

You can use your followers and fans to find anecdotes for trend stories, even on some of the most obscure topics

The Denver Post business and features departments frequently come to us to find sources for stories

Case Study: Parents raiding their children’s credit during the recession

Looking for a 20-something person whose credit had been trashed by parents who had taken a social security number for loans and other credit services

Found her through Twitter

Front-page story that generated 73 comments and numerous shares across social networks

Our most-popular story that day (yes, even beating out Broncos news)

An awesome photo, too.

Crowdsourcing

You can collect data from your followers and fans, too

Use Google Docs to create a Google Form, fill out the fields, then share the link on social media

Not recommended for scientific surveys

We used this technique to find people to help us live-blog their responses to the first Presidential debate

Collected name, occupation, age, contact phone, email, party affiliation, race, and open-ended response

Received 297 responses for 12 slots

[Link] to spreadsheet

Monitoring Breaking News

Follow hashtags using a program like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite on Twitter, then curate the best information in a tool like Storify.

Pull in information from multiple sources (even competitors) because the goal is to be the best source of information

Flickr, Facebook, Instagram

YouTube, Google

Embed URL

Case Study: Lower North Fork Wildfire

Case Study: February Snowstorm in Denver

Social Media Research: Twitter

Twitter search only lets you go back seven (7) days, though tweets exist for much longer

Use Tweetdeck’s filters/search to pull out information irrelevant to your searches (e.g., if spam is an issue)

Basic Twitter search: twitter.com/search

Advanced search is twitter.com/search-advancedFilter by words (i.e., all words, exact phrases, hashtags)

People filter (i.e., from these accounts, to these accounts)

Places filter (i.e., near Denver, CO

Filter by emotions (i.e., if they have smile or sad faces)

Verifying InformationIncreasingly, news is breaking on a social network before it’s being officially acknowledged by official sources

Often, you approach a degree of confidence, but you can’t be 100 percent certain

Scanner traffic is very often unreliable

We don’t post direct from the scanner, even if it means being late.

Better to be late and right, than first and wrong

Suggestions, from Poynter, on what to ask:

How credible is that information?

How important is it to your audience?

And how urgent is the situation?

Source: Poynter Institute

How credible is the information?

Consider the source’s historyAre they new to the social network?

Has the person posted credible information before?

Is the source in a position to know what he or she claims?

Did the person witness the event first-hand?

Fact-check the claims: Message on Twitter or message on Facebook. Ask to talk to the person on the phone.

Could the source have missed something important? (i.e., driving by the crash, or standing at the scene)?

Don’t mistake quantity of information for quality of information (e.g., Peyton Manning coming to Denver)

How important is the info?

Is the information a fundamental claim (something happened?) or an incidental fact?

Is this worth taking the risk, especially if I’m wrong? Or is there, in fact, little public interest?

What could happen if I’m wrong?

Case Study: Occupy Denver and pepper spraying of a 7-year-old girl.

Lots of tweets from a night-time march that eventually spread

But no one was officially confirming it

Reaching out to sources yielded nothing. No photo of the incident or videos

How urgent is it?

By the time you’ve finished trying to solve the problem, will the moment have passed?

What damage could be caused by waiting to publish? Is there a public safety concern?

Case Study: Reporting Joe Paterno’s death prematurelyHuffington Post, CBS News carried a report from Onward State, a student publication, about Paterno’s death Saturday evening – but didn’t cite them

Onward State gained credibility during the Sandusky scandal

NYT, AP, CNN knocked the reports on Twitter down

AP held off reporting until it had it confirmed the next morning

Social Media in Perspective

16 percent of Americans tweet, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center study.

51 percent of Americans ages 12 and up have Facebook accounts, according to Edison Research.

It’s growing – and quickly

Recognize that you’re probably reaching people on social media who you normally aren’t reaching

Case Study in Social Media

3 die after mid-air collision near Boulder Municipal Airport in Feb. 2010

Ran search for “plane crash” on Twitter, Facebook

No names released, but family member tweeted hours after the crash

What should you be active on?

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Quora, Pinterest, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Google Plus, Foursquare, LinkedIn

First: Where’s your target audience?Politics? Probably Twitter.

Recipes, fashion, style, photography? Pinterest

Photography only? Tumblr, Pinterest, StumbleUpon

Breaking News? Twitter and Facebook, not Pinterest

Energy reporter Mark Jaffe uses LinkedIn groups

Facebook applies to everyone, but it’s not open

Twitter’s big, but not everyone uses it (but it is open)

Have a plan, write it down, set goals — but don’t set them too far out because social media changes too quickly

Consider the resources you have and go after the quick wins

What should you be active on?

For smaller networks, someone must own them, with others helping as it comes up

We all share Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus

Pinterest, Tumblr, Foursquare, Reddit are owned by people

Step outside the traditional storytelling modesHost G+ hangout with journalists on popular subjects

Facebook chats

Allow writers to respond to questions on Quora and Reddit

Use the right tool for the right job – just like you wouldn’t do a video for the sake of a video, don’t use a social network for something if it doesn’t fit

Experiment — and then fail. But iterate, adapt and change.

You’ve done research. Now what?

Present the informationUse Storify to pull in images, write longer text and then embed on your website, like a story

If you refer to Twitter posts or other bits of social media research, LINK TO THEM

The link is the foundation of the entire web

It’s your source material, your paper trail in case someone wants to check you

And it saves you from being sloppy (you can’t be as easily charged with plagiarism if you’re linking)

You’ve published. Now promote.

Promotion of your work is key — it’s where so many people now get their information

On Facebook (and Google Plus)Pictures go farther than standard links

Links should have thumbnail photos — more visibility

Ask a question to get your users to engage

On Twitter:Don’t use all 140 characters, ever

Don’t give away all of the news, but don’t be obnoxious

Mix with both professional and some personal, but don’t be an open book

Data: Are you reaching people?

Chartbeat provides us real-time analytics showing how people are moving through our website, and where they came from

We make editorial/social media decisions based on what people are sharing NOW

Omniture gives us a long term view of traffic and social media trends

Social media data is still very new, and in many cases very hard to track

Mobile devices and apps make this more difficult