Tweeting the news

Tweeting the news

Breaking news Examples: 2007 Mexico earthquake 1st reported on Twitter.Hudson River plane crash.Fort Hood shooting. Hurricane Irene

Twitter useMore than 175 million users.Up from 58 million in 2009.Adding 370,000 a day!

Twitter as a news sourceNews travels fast.Osama bin Ladens death: 12.4 million tweets an hour.Sense of immediacy.How journalists use itEngage audiences, create community.Connect with people, sources.Develop personal brands. Link to their work.Crowd source content.Get questions answered.Provide real time news.

More ways to use TwitterInterviews Man on streetNewspapers Use Twitter to link to storiesNYTimes on TwitterCuration with Storify Hurricane IreneHumor/news Top 17 D.C. quake tweetsUnderstand Twitter termsDM Direct Message (Private message sent to a specific person)RT Retweet (Repost someone elses message)Automatic retweets cannot modify the messageMT you have retweeted a tweet but modified it.@ - Reply to someone (followed by their Twitter name)# - Hashtag Precedes a keyword and makes it easier to search for particular topics

Using hashtagsAutomatically groups tweets identified with that hashtag, making topic search easy.Great way to share information at conferences, events and during breaking news.Find out if an event has an official hashtag; if not, you can create one. You can save searches, to make it easy to review.Some hashtag examplesTwitterfallWhat to live tweetTwitter works well for breaking news and for the blow-by-blow account of an event.government meetingspublic forumspress conferencesspeechessporting eventsLive tweeting tipsConsider your live twitter stream a story it needs a beginning, middle and end.The first tweet should announce to your followers that youll be live tweeting. Describe briefly what youll be covering.

Live tweeting tips

Live tweeting tipsOnce the event begins, be sure you have an opening tweet that sets the stage location, what is happening, what is expected, etc.Cover the event on Twitter just as you would a story.You wouldnt write a story that includes everything that was said at a meeting or event.Be discerning use your reporting instincts to decide what is relevant and pertinent. You only want to report the highlights. Be a careful observer and have an eye open for novel and important information that might be relevant to your audience.

Live tweeting tipsEach tweet should cover one point at a time.Think subjects, verbs (like headlines).Drop articles.Punctuate for clarity.Strive to make each an understandable, self-contained message. Use URL shorteners tinyurl, bit.ly or go.unl.edu

Live tweeting tipsUse good grammar.Be useful provide information or insight.Be judicious about your links.Live tweeting tipsAlways be professional.Avoid using exclamation points, emoticons, jargon and slang (including LOL) Dont over-abbreviate if message too long consider using a follow-up tweet to clarifyTry to be consistent and concise in how you use attribution.

Dont be afraid to use color in tweets to help readers feel like they are there. This one could have indicated the person was angry and shouted.Live tweeting tipsVisuals either photos or videos are always good to include if they contribute to the story.

Does this one contribute?

Does this one?

Live tweeting tipsEnd with a wrap up tweet indicate to your followers that the event is over. Then tweet to tell readers to look for an upcoming web story on the event.

Encourage the conversationLet your followers know ahead of time that youll be live tweeting.

Also send tweets to interested hashtags know ahead of time that youll be live tweeting search for those that might not be obvious by topic.#LNK#UNL#OMA#immigration

Encourage the conversationBut be courteous when using others hashtags and dont flood them with tweets.They consider it spam when you overtweet on their line or frequency.

Encourage the conversation

Good idea several times during the course of your live feed to repeat a summary tweet that tells new followers who have joined what you are covering live.

In that tweet, you could also include other hashtags that might be interested.Encourage the conversationTry to watch for responses or direct messages to get reader comments and questions. Retweet or respond when its appropriate.

Using hashtagsWhen selecting a hashtag for a live event, try to keep it short and relevant.But be sure to explain it well in any promotional tweets and when you begin the live tweet.And be sure to use it in every single tweet.

Using hashtags

What happens when no hashtags used

Nuts and boltsCorrecting tweets: If notice a typo, delete and retweet.If a factual error, correct with new tweet and delete the original.If using a phone, make sure your battery is fully charged; take charger in case.Arrive early to scope out best location locate power supply.Be sure to check out Wi-Fi access beforehand.Do your prep workFind out before the event as much as you can.Interview people, if necessary, to get background info.If its a speech, can you get an advanced digital copy?

Be CautiousSource of breaking news but be cautious.

Ethics still applyVerify before you Tweet.Admit what you dont know.Credit what youre using. Remember its public.Tweets can be libelous.

See what journalists are doingMuck Rack is compiled of real-time Twitter activity by journalists. See what journalists are reading, following and talking about. The site is searchable by news organization, tweets, links and photos.Study live tweeting examplesWaPo live tweeterCoJMC immigration forum@TBD D.C. deathThe Lede on TwitterStorify@BreakingNews

ResourcesMashables guide Twitter for Journalists20 Tips forJournalists10,000 WordsTwitter etiquette10 commandments Twitter for newsrooms#TfN