Twitter and the News Industry

• Newsrooms increasingly reliant on Twitter• Initially Twitter did not see itself as involved in

news delivery: was conceived as personal, then business to consumer

• Twitter still sees itself as a “platform” and not a media company

• The relationship between media companies and Twitter is engaged but wary

Twitter Changing the Industry

• News Cycle• Local goes national• Sports Journalism• Entertainment Journalism• Breaking news coverage• Interaction with audiences (#MuslimRage)• Sourcing/reporting stories• Gatekeeping• Reporters as personalities/brands

Using Twitter as a Journalist

Build A Community.

Tweeting an event, court case, etc, can substantially increase your followers, provided you use a hashtag.

Let people know you’re listening

Use the Twitter handle of persons you reference.

Join in a conversation.

Hashtags are used to contextualize and to indicate story content. They often distinguish

professional coverage.

Provide a public service.

This news outlet, without using a hashtag, won a Breaking News Pulitzer

Twitter Best Pratices

• Recognizable username• Attribute your retweets/Verify before rting• Don’t lock your account• Follow back those who interest you• “Tweet Your Beat” to establish an identity• Balance personal/professional, tweets/retweets• Use Lists to manage followers (ex doug

haddix/investigative reporting)

Social Search Tools

• Gramfeed• Topsy• Icerocket• Doesfollow• Trends24• Trendsmap• Twipho• Twitterfall• Bluenod• Tweet Archivist

Social Search Tools

• Tweet Archivist• Pixifly• Vine Viewer• Hash• Banjo

Verifying Social Sources

Bio on Twitter: Does the source provide a name, picture, bio and any links to their own blog, identity, professional occupation, etc., on their page? If there's a name, does searching for this name on Google provide any further clues to the person's identity? Perhaps a Facebook page, a professional email address, a LinkedIn profile?

Verifying Social Sources

Number/Content of Tweets: Is this a new Twitter handle with only a few tweets? If so, this makes authentication more difficult. Also, looking for signs of bias can also be done by taking inventory or the diversity of tweet history. Is this a one-issue tweeter? If so, this is likely an account created to further a particular information agenda.

Verifying Social Sources

Followers/Following: Does the source have a large following? If there are only a few, are any of the followers know and credible sources? Also, how many lists has this Twitter handle been added to? NOTE: Follower count can be gamed. How many Twitter users does the Twitter handle follow? Are these known and credible sources?

Verifying Social Sources

Location: Can the source's geographic location be ascertained? If so, are they nearby the unfolding events? One way to try and find out by proxy is to examine during which periods of the day/night the source tweets the most. This may provide an indication as to the person's time zone.

Verifying Social Sources

Engage the source: Tweet them back and ask them for further information. For example, you can tweet back and ask for the source of the report and for any available pictures, videos, etc. Place the burden of proof on the source.

Verifying Social Sources

• Triangulation: Are other sources on Twitter or elsewhere reporting on the event you are investigating?

• Language: tweets that sound too official, using official language like "breaking news", "urgent", "confirmed" etc. need to be scrutinized.

Verifying Social Sources

Pictures: If the twitter handle shares photographic "evidence", does the photo provide any clues about the location where it was taken based on buildings, signs, cars, etc., in the background? The BBC's UGC Hub checks weaponry against those know for the given country and also looks for shadows to determine the possible time of day that a picture was taken. In addition, they examine weather reports to "confirm that the conditions shown fit with the claimed date and time." These same tips can be applied to Tweets that share video footage.

What about Facebook?

Facebook For Journalists?

• News orgs use it to push content• Individual reporters use it to:– Reach out to sources individually– Ask crowdsource questions– Set up pages (fan or personal) for themselves– Look at public responses to an event/public pages

Building a network around reporting

Crowdsourcing

Personal relationships

Keeping Social Safe

• Twitter, Facebook subject to requests for disclosure

• Pending cases: Wikileaks, Occupy Wall Street, MANY others

• Thus, social media NOT a good place to have confidential conversations, even with privacy protections

Nipplegate: Facebook as Censor