Tips and tricks for journalists using social media. Presentation for ONA Camp at NABJ's conference in New Orleans.

1. ONACamp @ NABJ12
Social Media as a Reporting Tool
Niketa Patel | Social Media Product Manager |
CNNMoney | @Niketa
#ONACamp #NABJ12

2. Social @ CNNMoney
Goals:
• Referral Traffic
• Engagement
• Conversation
Platforms:
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• Linkedin
• StumbleUpon
• Tumblr
• Instagram
• Storify
• Stocktwits

3. Social Media Stats
• Social media has disrupted media landscape like no other medium.
• Facebook now has 900 million users and is a publicly traded
company
• Twitter is said to have around 500 million users.
• Instagram has over 50 million users and was bought by Facebook
for a billion dollars but then Facebook released it’s own photo
sharing app which is an Instagram clone!
• Social Media is also slowly but surely helping to increase referral
traffic for some media sites
• One example of this is The Atlantic. They says 40% of their traffic
now comes from social media
• On the flip side - Pew Study: Facebook users get 70% of news links
from friends and family, not from news organizations -
The State of the News Media 2012

4. .
• Facebook is a huge traffic driver for some sites.
• Journalists can post content and ask questions to create a
conversation.
• Post a variety of content spread out evenly overtime. Images and
slideshows & video perform very well.
• Take advantage of Timeline – brands are highlighting historic news
events. Journalists can showcase stories, projects, etc
• Enable Subscribe on your FB page. Subscribe allows you to share
stuff selectively or publicly – For example, Poppy Harlow
• Interest Lists – Create lists based on a certain topic or enable other
people to follow like minded people, newsrooms i.e. CNNMoney List
• Groups – find groups based on your beat or interests to join
conversations and interact with others. There are a lot of journalism
ones also: Social, Mobile Journalism and Social TV.

5. .
• Build a following by posting a variety of content, retweet, reply,
favorite.
• Follow fellow journalists, sources, competition (media org. accounts
and journalists with the same beat.)
• Stick to 120 characters in tweets instead of 140 characters so
people can easily add a comment and retweet you.
• Exercise caution when retweeting – ensure information is accurate.
Verify information first.
• Use hashtags to follow events, stories & gain visibility and such as
#Egypt, #Occupy, #Greece
• Use Tweetdeck or Hootsuite to manage lists, scheduling, etc
• Create Lists: Twitter’s Guide to Lists
• Do searches if you want to look up people or topics: (
search.twitter.com)
• Topsy: Search for timely and relevant tweets among other things.
• Bit.ly: URL shortening service that saves characters in tweets. Add
+ at the end of a bit.ly link to see analytics: cnnmon.ie/KvwaxV+

6. .
• Linkedin is often overlooked but it can be a great source of traffic for
niche sites.
• It’s ideal for scouting out potential sources and connecting with them
in a professional manner.
• Observe activity on company pages or individual's pages to see
who’s switching jobs or hiring in certain sectors to get story ideas.
• Search for people, companies, groups
• Answers: Q&A tool where people are likely to be more genuine
since it’s tied to their real identities.
• Join the Linkedin for Journalists group for tips and tricks on how to
use it more effectively.
• Take one of their webinars and you will be upgraded to an executive
account for a year for free.
• Executive level: InMail, better search capabilities, in-depth who’s
viewed your profile & more.

7. .
• Thriving photo sharing app that lets users apply filters to images
• Treasure trove of striking images from users.
• It's used both personally and professionally by journalists.
• News orgs. using it to crowd source images for breaking news
#joplintornado or for features - NBCNews: #WhyILoveMyDad
Father’s Day Tumblr feature.
• Campaign embeds posting images from the campaign trail which
adds good behind the scenes/color to election coverage.
• Filters Debate: To use or not to use them with regards to newsy
images.
• Tags: Use existing tags or create new ones. #MardiGras
• Statigram: Web viewer, reposts, stats and content management.
• SearchInstagram.com: Enter a tag and see all the images in a
stream.

8. • Burgeoning platform that comprises of digital cork boards
• Immense visual appeal for food, fashion, travel and lifestyle content
junkies.
• Top 10 traffic referrer for some sites
• Create boards and ‘pin’ content based on coverage and interests.
• Ensure your pins lead back to your site, so that re-pins will also lead
to referral traffic back to your site.
• News orgs are joining Pinterest to experiment with ways to capture
new audiences
• Showcase historic covers, newsroom staff, profiles, features,
slideshows. (Time, Today Show, NYT)
• Public Boards: Some sites are even opening up boards to the public
to submit their own images for features and for contests.

9. • Social blogging platform • Create social stories by
• Journalists use Tumblr to curating several types of social
share their stories, projects, media components across
etc platforms to create a narrative.
• You can follow people who • Several news organizations
cover the same beat or who have been using it. The
have similar interests as you.
Reblog them and they might Whitehouse and UN are too.
follow you back • Weave together compelling
• Tag posts to gain visibility on timelines for long form or
tag pages by editors who breaking news stories.
curate them. Search for tags at • UGC: Showcase user tweets,
http://www.tumblr.com/explore images, videos etc.
• Track feature: This can be
found in the side bar and it • Great archival tool: Preserve
helps you stay on top of posts social media elements,
in relevant tags. conversations, reaction, etc.

10. Other Emerging Platforms
Quora Storination
• Q&A site whereby users can ask a • New top level creation tool that
question or answer one to gain allows journalists to create a
visibility. storyboard of a group of Storify
• Journalists can become subject stories around a specific topic.
matter experts based on their • Create ‘Nations’ of Storify’s.
beats or it can be a great resource • Beta - Invite only. Sign up at
for information. Storination.com
Storyful Rebel Mouse
• Social media news agency that • Social media home page
verifies content across social • Plug & play or curate.
media.
• Storyful.com/pro is a paid service • Customize your page to look like
and can be used to help confirm your personal website
reports and tweets you see on • News orgs slowly dipping their
social platforms. toes in it
• More sources to come.

11. RebelMouse

12. Live Chats/Blogging
Chats/Video Live Blogging:
• Facebook • Livefyre
• Twitter • Scribblelive
• Google+ Hangouts • Coveritlive
On Air • Wordpress Plugin
• UStream
• Airtime

13. Resources
• Poynter
• Nieman Lab
• ONA Local – Join or form a group in your area.
• Muckrack.com
– Sign up for a free account and you can do searches
based on journalists, newsrooms, stories and beats.
– Sign up for their daily digest which highlights popular
articles among journalists. It also includes who’s
hiring or shifting jobs.
– Local meetups: They are kicking off networking
events in select cities so you can offer to help
organize one too.

14. Jobs!
• A lot of journalists, editors & recruiters post jobs on Facebook and
Twitter all the time.
• What’s more, recruitment divisions for media corporations also have
Twitter accounts too.
Job Listings:
• @Tweetmyjobs
• @journalismjobs
• @mbJobPost – Media Bistro
• @mashablejobs
• @socialmediajobs
Corporate Accounts:
• @TurnerCareers
• @NBCUniCareers
• @ESPNCareers
• @DIMGrecruiting

15. Final Thoughts…
• Be Smart: If you wouldn't write something in a story or say it on air,
then don't tweet it! Follow your company’s social media guidelines.
• Credit: Give credit where credit is due! This builds relationships,
trust and linkage.
• Link Economy: Share content from other sources too and they
might reshare your content too.
• SMO: (Social Media Optimization) Optimize your posts for maximum
benefit since social components are indexed across various
platforms.
• Transparency: If you post something that turns out to be false or
has a typo in it, then fess up! This helps you maintain credibility.
• Explore: Don’t be afraid to test out new platforms and apps so that
you can help to brainstorm ways for your newsroom to leverage
them.
• Become an early adopter!

16. Slides:
http://slidesha.re/onacampsocial
Social Media as a Reporting Tool
ONACamp @ NABJ12
Niketa Patel | Social Media Product Manager |
CNNMoney | @Niketa
#ONACamp #NABJ12