Presentation to journalists in Singapore. March 19-23, 2012. Download PPT to get the notes and the URLs. (Part 1 of 4.) Part 1 covers concepts and definitions. Part 2 covers Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest. Part 3 covers Storify, Instagram, YouTube and WordPress. Part 4 covers Facebook, Google+ Hangouts, and LinkedIn.
3. WNYC RADIO: GOOGLE MAP
December 29, 2010 (3 days after storm): White = snow not cleared
4. WNYC RADIO: GOOGLE MAP
December 30, 2010 (4 days after storm): Purple = snow cleared
5. WNYC RADIO: SNOW CRISIS
Over the radio, listeners were asked to text
PLOW to 30644, the station’s mobile
shortcode
The location of each text was added to a
Google Map
The map was posted on the radio station’s
website
Each person who texted was asked to also
leave an audio report as voicemail
The audio reports were played on the radio
6. “IT REALLY ENCOURAGES
OTHER PEOPLE TO SEND IN
THEIR STORY AND
CONTRIBUTE, WHEN
THEY HEAR PEOPLE
JUST LIKE THEM.”
—Jim Colgan, former WNYC news producer
7. LESSONS LEARNED
1. The audience can help journalists
2. Journalists need to think creatively so
they can use this resource well
3. Social media can be very useful in
crisis reporting
9. WHAT JOURNALISM DOES
Inform
Entertain
Serve the public good
Amplify the voice of the people
Act as a watchdog
Filter: Select and prioritize news
10. WHAT JOURNALISTS DO
Gather (observe, seek, interview)
Select (choose, sort, discard)
Produce (write, edit, process)
Distribute (publish, broadcast, upload)
Interpret (analyze, discuss, comment)
11. SOCIAL MEDIA: GENERAL USES
Create a profile (or identity) to show
others who you are
Make links to things you support or like
Share information* with groups (friends,
family, work colleagues)
Post comments, messages, “statuses”
Maintain connections with many people
* Including images, videos, links
20. NEW ENVIRONMENT
The media universe has changed,
and there’s no going back.
What has changed?
How all of us gather, verify,
distribute, and consume news
and information.
37. Keep up on the latest news and tips
about social media and journalists:
http://www.scoop.it/t/social-media-and-journalists
Follow these sources on Twitter for updates
on the social media universe:
@NiemanLab
@mashable
Notes de l'éditeur
I will begin with an example of how journalists at a New York City radio station are using social media.
A blizzard on Dec. 26, 2010, paralyzed the New York metropolitan area. The three major airports shut down, along with trains and even some of the subway lines. Emergency vehicles, such as ambulances and fire trucks, could not get through. WNYC Radio (2010b). Winter Storm Photos. Retrieved from http://www.wnyc.org/crowdsourcing/winter-storm-photos/report/
The mayor of New York City had announced that all streets had been plowed, but the map from the radio station showed that streets were still buried in snow (Mobile Commons, 2011). Local radio station WNYC invited listeners to report where streets had been left uncleared of snow, trapping cars and preventing buses and emergency vehicles from reaching residents. To submit a report, a person simply sent a text message from any mobile phone. Each report was added to a Google Map, which was published on the website of the radio station (WNYC Radio, 2010a).WNYC Radio (2010a). Mapping the Storm Clean-up. Retrieved from http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news-2/2010/dec/30/mapping-storm-clean/
Because of the published map and the audio reports from the listeners, WNYC Radio was able to show that the local authorities had not done what they promised, and the voices of the people were heard. Plows were sent out, and the streets were cleared of snow. WNYC Radio (2010a). Mapping the Storm Clean-up. Retrieved from http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news-2/2010/dec/30/mapping-storm-clean/
Listeners to the radio station were asked to contribute photos of their street as well as audio messages. In this way, the radio station included the public in their coverage of the snow clean-up. They asked for meaningful contributions from the citizens, and they got them. The radio journalists used their website intelligently to add value to their radio reports.
Source: Mobile Commons (2011). How WNYC used mobile mapping to fact check Mayor Bloomberg. Retrieved from http://www.mobilecommons.com/blog/2011/01/how-wnyc-used-mobile-mapping-to-fact-check-mayor-bloomberg/
Part 1 of 3: Concepts
Social media can help journalists with all of these. BUT social media do NOT replace these functions or take them over completely.
This list is based on Hermida, 2011, p. 18.
These are NOT ALL the possible uses of social media, but the list includes some that are very important for journalists to consider. NOTE that most people connect to people they already know.
Pause … The point is to SHARE. If you’re not using it to share, you’re not doing it right.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Social_Web_Share_Buttons.png
The traditional journalism idea of “sharing” is one-way – from us (journalists) to them (the public). We talk. They listen.
Journalists need to realize that they can gain a lot from allowing the flow to become two-way. Social media provides many new pathways for journalists to receive information as well as send it. SHARING is not only SENDING OUT LINKS.
TWO WAY. It’s not a broadcast medium.
The diagram is meant to show that there is certainly some overlap. Not all journalism is “important,” and not all important information (e.g. scientific research) is encompassed in journalism. The intersection of all three in the middle shows us the possibility that sometimes social media might yield BOTH journalism AND important information.
I don’t believe citizens can replace journalists. But citizens can do some things that can HELP journalists do their job better.
I will talk about these in discussing various examples. Each of these is DIFFERENT. Each is something that can be especially useful to journalists – and the public – in certain circumstances, and NOT in others. The WNYC Radio example (snow) is a good example of 1. Participation and 3. UGC. It also has aspects of 2. and 4.
Part 2 of 3: Tools and Communities (culture of social media users)
This changes year by year. New sites and tools appear … others fade away into the background. Look at the DRAK GRAY ring … conversations and interactions. KEY. Sometimes it might not be clear if something is a site, a tool, a network, or a community. SOURCE: http://www.fredcavazza.net/2012/02/22/social-media-landscape-2012/
If the page – status – link – tweet – is NOT linked to a profile, then it is not an instance of social media.
Andy Carvin works for National Public Radio in the United States. He tweets revolutions. He’s famous for combing the Twitter universe when anything heats up in the Middle East and retweeting the most relevant messages. He also fact-checks when possible. More information: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/04/andy-carvin-tweets-revolutions Profile examples. Top: Andy Carvin, Twitter. Bottom: Andy Carvin, Facebook.
Profile examples. Top: Andy Carvin, LinkedIn. Bottom: Andy Carvin, Google+.
“We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.” boyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html
What does your profile say about you?
Again – emphasis on listening, not only speaking. THIS IDEA of YOUR NETWORK – who is in it? What is it for?
THIS IDEA of YOUR NETWORK – who is in it? What is it for?
Data from 2011 / n = 596 / via Michael Netzley (@communicateasia), who teaches at Singapore Management University.
Number ONE is SOCIAL INTERACTIONS Data from 2011 / n = 596 / via Michael Netzley (@communicateasia), who teaches at Singapore Management University.