Tweeting the news

Tweeting the news

TwitterInvented as internal communication tool

Based on SMS (small message service)

Messages restricted to 140 charactersIm going to focus on Twitter because I think it is the social medium that has had the biggest impact on journalism. Developed by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Ev Williams to communicate with a small entrepreneurial group that was working on a new tech start-up. Ev Williams, by the way, grew up in Clarks, Neb., and attended UNL for a while. They were inspired by the away messages that many people leave on their computers to let others know their whereabouts. What if you just took that, just that simple idea of status, Stone recalls thinking, and you turned it into a service, so that you and your friends could know what youre doing?

2First tweetFrom Jack Dorsey:

just setting up my twttr

twttr later became TwitterSo nothing particularly prophetic or profound. Indicative of their mindset. They had no idea what they had created. Later added some vowels and changed the name to Twitter. 3Early reviewsUsing Twitter for literate communication is about as likely as firing up a CB radio and hearing some guy recite The Iliad. Bruce Sterling, journalist

This is like the Seinfeld of the Internet a website about nothing. anonymous commenter on a blog about Twitter. Early reviews were not good. It was easy to dismiss it. Started as sharing mundate aspects of peoples lives. Lifecasting as NYU professor Jay Rosen calls it. But something interesting happened quite quickly because it morphed into something far grander, as you shall see.4Twitter560 million active users492 million tweets a day (5,700 tweets per second)

And it grew quickly.5TwitterInfluential in the Arab Spring uprising.

The creators had no idea that their little service would 6TwitterPresident Obama would leverage it so masterfully.

Obama 25 million; Lady Gaga has him beat with 33 million. Singers Justin Bieber and Katy Peery also have more followers.7TwitterThe Pope would open an account.

8Twitter

TwitterChanging the way journalists gather the newsinteract with their audience distribute the newsA few years ago, I had to persuade journalism students to use it. They had dismissed it as Facebook wannabe. That is not the case today. I have a very long waiting list in my social media class and students in my advanced reporting class understand that they need to be on Twitter. But the argument I used to make with students was this: its an amazing place to pick the brains of really smart people. For that reason only, it was worth it.10

Gives the ability to curate their own personalized information feed. I can stay current on media research and media commentary. A few years back, I helped teach a joint reporting course with the University of Maryland and Arizona State University as part of the News21, which was funded by the Carnegie Corp and Knight Foundation. The topic was food safety. Twitter was invaluable in our reporting from the standpoint of helping us find the really smart people in this field and discover the issues get in touch with them. Show Twitter list.11Breaking news Hudson River plane crashFort Hood shootingHurricane IreneAurora theater shooting

Breaking news@OWHCrimeNew Yorkers received tweets about an East Coast earthquake 30 seconds before they felt it.

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

More ways to use TwitterInterviews Man on streetNewspapers Use Twitter to link to storiesNYTimes on TwitterCurate with Storify Neil Armstrong + Hurricane IreneHumor/news Top 17 D.C. quake tweets + Pizza in newsrooms

Understand Twitter termsRT Retweet (Repost someone elses message)Automatic retweets cannot modify the messageMT you have retweeted a tweet but modified it.DM Direct Message (Private message sent to a specific person) # - Hashtag Precedes a keyword and makes it easier to search for particular topics

Understand Twitter terms@Reply -- a tweet sent in direct response to another tweet. (@ followed by their Twitter name)

Your @reply message will only show up in your followers tweet timelines if they also are following the person to whom you sent the reply.

If they are following you, but not following the person you replied to, they won't see your reply tweet. Understand Twitter termsHow to get all of your followers to see?

Understand Twitter termsPlace a period before @username.

Or post a direct tweet, but use the @username somewhere other than the beginning.

Be judicious with @reply tweets.

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 examplesTwitterfallHootsuiteWhat to live tweetTwitter works well for breaking news and for the blow-by-blow account of an event.government meetingspublic forumspress conferencesspeechessporting eventsBreaking news

Live tweeting events

Live 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.

Live tweeting tipsCover 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.

Live tweeting tipsBe 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).You can drop articles for space.Strive to make each an understandable, self-contained message.

Live tweeting tipsUse good grammar.Punctuate for clarity.Dont over-abbreviate if message too long consider using a follow-up tweet to clarify

Live tweeting tipsBe 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)

Live tweeting tipsTry 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.

HashtagsAlso 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

Hashtags

Encourage the conversationBut be courteous when using others hashtags and dont flood them with tweets.They consider it spam when you over tweet 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

Hashtag confusion

Nuts and boltsCorrecting tweets: If notice a typo, delete and retweet.If a factual error, correct with new tweet and delete the original.Nuts and boltsIf 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.

Your ideas for live tweeting?

Your assignmentLive tweeting practice assignment due in your Dropbox folder by class time on Jan. 28. Once you have tweeted, you will need to Storify your tweets (from first to last order) and then print out the Storify and bring that print out to class. Please also copy and paste the Storify URL into a Word doc and put in Dropbox.

http://unlnnn.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/live-tweet-examples.pdf

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 forumStorify@BreakingNews

ResourcesMashables guide Twitter for Journalists20 Tips for Journalists10,000 WordsTwitter etiquette10 commandments Twitter for newsrooms#TfN