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Around the Web links about Social media
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Shared by Tommy Thomason 31 weeks 2 days ago
One way to know you’re getting older: When you hear the word “branding” and cattle come to mind. But if you’re at all plugged in, you know that today the word is typically used to refer to a product’s – and now a person’s – identity. Who you are. What you’re known for. Your uniqueness. What one writer called your “digital footprint.” Some of the more traditional journalists still shy away from “branding” as applied to individual reporters – they see it as a concept that applies to cereal or soap, not journalists. But actually, many journalists have been branded for years, though they never thought of it in those terms. One reporter might be known as the go-to guy for public records and making sense of data in a way that related to readers. Another might be a word-person – her prose full of voice and the type of writing that made you want to read sentences out loud. But it’s more than that, and this is why you need to read Steve Buttry’s blogpost (Steve is also a consultant to TCCJ). This article will help you think through what your brand is, and what you can make it. And as an added bonus, at the end of the post he also refers you to a number of other postings that will help you to develop your personal brand. This is a must-read, especially for younger journalists.
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Shared by Tommy Thomason 50 weeks 4 days ago
So is it smart phone or smartphone? Ereader or e-reader? And can you use "friend" as a verb now? The AP Stylebook has the answers in its new revision, which now includes guidelines for references to social media.
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Shared by Tommy Thomason 1 year 7 weeks ago
A few years ago, most of us thought of Facebook as something our kids were into. And now, here we are, with a Facebook page for our paper – and lots of us are still trying to figure out how to make the best use of social media in covering the news. If that sounds like you, check out this article in the blog Journalistics. Writer Kim Wilson gives eight ways your newsroom can make better use of Facebook. And it’s practical stuff, like always including a link with your post, posting every two hours, reading and responding to comments, and the like. And do you know what’s the best time of day to post to take advantage of Facebook’s peak times? Check out this article to find out.
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Shared by Tommy Thomason 1 year 9 weeks ago
If you're a reporter who uses Twitter (and if you aren't, why aren't you?), take a few minutes to look over this list of six suggestions on how to make Twitter work for you. No obscure techie-stuff here, just concrete, practical ideas you may not have thought of. Reminders include suggestions about upgrading your bio and your photo to ideas about how to use Twitter to prepare for interviews. And if you get really interested in Twitter as a reporting tool, there are lots of useful links to help you dig deeper.
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Shared by Tommy Thomason 1 year 32 weeks ago
The very best way, of course, to get an overview of social media and to see how you can use Facebook and Twitter and the like is to come to one of TCCJ's workshops (And you're in luck, because another is scheduled for the University of Texas at Tyler on July 21). But here's a nice summary of how individual journalists and newspapers are using Facebook. It also includes a look at some of the ethical issues we have to deal with when we begin to use social media at our newspapers.
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Shared by Tommy Thomason 1 year 33 weeks ago
Here's a blog you'll definitely want to follow. It's by Broc Sears of the Center's staff; Broc is also a professional in residence in new media at the Schieffer School of Journalism. Broc is leading a team of students who are redesigning the Daily Skiff at TCU, but he has done something that lots of community papers can emulate when they do a redesign -- he is blogging the redesign, asking the campus community for input. A university is much like a small community, and a university newspaper is community journalism -- TCU, for instance, has a campus community of about 10,000 students, faculty and staff. Broc and the redesign team have taken the campus community on the redesign journey, and it's very much worth following. It's amazing how much the campus has followed the blog -- it's a great way to get the community to identify with the newspaper and to buy in to the whole redesign effort. When it's all over, Broc will be writing a blog for the TCCJ website on how, and why, to do a redesign "in public," but for right now, this one is worth following.
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Shared by Tommy Thomason 2 years 2 weeks ago
At the Center, we talk a lot about the Web and social media as being platforms that Texas newspapers cannot afford to ignore. Some believe us; some don’t. But please take four minutes and 22 seconds to look at this video – and remember that those who put none of their eggs in the new media basket will come to regret that decision. Not in 20 to 30 years, or when their grandchildren are grown, but probably in the foreseeable future. So give this a look and think about its implications. And if you’re motivated to action, one such action might be to sign up for our workshop May 27 on developing a Facebook strategy for your paper.
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Shared by Andrew Chavez 2 years 18 weeks ago
So you've found a video on YouTube that you'd like to use on your Web site or you're interested in writing a story about. What are the ethical considerations and how do you decide if it's worth covering? What are your legal responsibilities from accepting video from a user? Leah Betancourt, the digital community manager at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, has all of those answers in this post.
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Shared by Andrew Chavez 2 years 21 weeks ago
In a Q&A with an online digital marketing journal, BusinessWeek's John Byrne elaborates on some of the company's user engagement efforts, many of which would carry over well to community newspapers. He talks about how BusinessWeek leverages readers' knowledge in creative ways from crowdsourcing questions to guest columns.
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Shared by Tommy Thomason 2 years 23 weeks ago
A what, you ask? My newspaper needs a Facebook strategy? Yes, you do. And the fact that you do is symptomatic of the changes that are engulfing today’s community journalism. This article will take only a few minutes to read, but it overviews the issue, including some ideas on monetizing your Facebook presence.
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Shared by Andrew Chavez 2 years 27 weeks ago
So if you think the Twitter trend is overplayed or just "don't get it" when it comes to the microblogging service you're not alone. A Harris poll indicates 69% of adults don't know enough about Twitter to have an informed opinion about it. Mashable has the full report posted. If you're curious about Twitter, just click the Twitter tag under the Topics section on our Around the Web page for some Twitter info.
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Shared by Andrew Chavez 2 years 29 weeks ago
Steve Buttry from the from Gazette Communications in Iowa posted a tip sheet for journalists on how to use Twitter. He covers everything from breaking news to linking to figuring out who to follow on the service. If you don't have a Twitter account, read Buttry's post then check it out.
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Shared by Andrew Chavez 2 years 30 weeks ago
The thing newspaper columnists do best, Robert Niles says, can make them great assets online. Many columnists already have established followings, it's just matter of converting those followers into participants in an online dialogue. His piece in Online Journalism Review has some practical advice on how to do that.
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Shared by Andrew Chavez 2 years 31 weeks ago
Daniel Honigman, one of the Chicago Tribune's social media presence, has some advice on how to mold your newspaper's online persona. At the Tribune, Honigman was part of a team that created Colonel Tribune, a fictitious avatar who represents the news organization in social media circles.
His advice can carry over to newspaper of any size, and should fit just as well for community newspapers. If social networks are active in your community, Honigman's advice could prove quite useful, and presents a more fun alternative than simply opening up a Facebook account under your newspaper's name.
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Shared by Tommy Thomason 2 years 31 weeks ago
Community-based newspapers -- in this cast, alternative newsweeklies -- are finding a place for new technologies faster than traditional media, according to a news story coming out of their annual meeting.
One publisher quoted in the article above said this: “As those big guys crumble, it’s an opportunity for us. We know that they are stuck halfway between print and the web. And now they have to figure out what to do about mobile. They have far more resources than we do, but they also are much more bureaucratic.”
At the opening session, Rob Curley of Greenspun Interactive told publishers that they needed to be "of the Web" and not just "on the Web." Curley said: “It’s not about getting people to your site. It’s about getting your site to the people.”