Post on 19-Jul-2015
Agenda
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• When to use social media for sources
• Have a presence on social media already
• Facebook, Graph Search
• Google, Google+
• Your website
• Other websites
• What can I publish?
• Using Storify to curate
• Examples
• Questions? Comments?
When to use social media for sources
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• TAP INTO THE NETWORKS: Social media presents so
many opportunities to find knowledgeable, plugged-in,
trustworthy sources you didn’t even know existed.
• FIND NEW PEOPLE: When you don’t have a number
in your contact list or an idea of who to talk to, turn to
social media.
• FIND PEOPLE YOU CAN’T OTHERWISE REACH:
Sometimes you know who you’re looking for, but can’t
reach them by phone or email. Try social media.
Have a presence on social media already
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“You can’t expect people to respond to you if you haven’t already
been trying to engage with whatever community
you’re trying to find sources in.”
– David Riley,
former news bank editor for GHS New England
Have a presence on social media already
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• In addition to using Facebook/Twitter to post links to
stories, you should also monitor those stories for
content related to your beat.
• Use a product such as HootSuite to set up streams to
follow people, search terms or keywords.
Have a Presence: HootSuite stream
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• To add a stream in
HootSuite, click Add
Stream.
• Choose which social
media source to use.
• In this case, I used
Search and plugged
in vine.co.
• Add Stream
Have a Presence: HootSuite stream
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• To add a stream in
HootSuite, click Add
Stream.
• Choose which social
media source to use.
• In this case, I used
Search and plugged
in vine.co.
• Add Stream
Have a Presence: HootSuite stream
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• Now, in addition to showing your own feeds and interactions, HootSuite will show you any matches for your search, so you can keep an eye on this topic.
Have a Presence: HootSuite Stream
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“(I) have several search columns active that catch any mention of locations in our coverage area. I also have columns up to see people interacting with our Tweets and to see the Tweets of those I and our newspaper accounts follow. I often findnew bits of news to report or follow up on here.
I also use it to notice trends, what people might be Tweeting about.”
- Jon Root,
digital editor for The Herald News, (Fall River, Mass.) who uses TweetDeck,
a similar service
Have a Presence: Other tools
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• TWITTER LIST – Create a virtual Rolodex in Twitter of experts in certain
topics, all of your town officials, local politicians, etc. so you can quickly
find them if something comes up related to them or their topic. Monitor
what they say for story ideas and interact with them to develop a
relationship.
• YOUTUBE SUBSCRIPTION – Subscribe to YouTube channels you think
may be helpful.
• Youtube.com/user/citizentube
• Youtube.com/Trends
• Youtube.com/news
• Youtube.com/user/theifilestv
• Youtube.com/user/reporterscenter
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• Twitter has more than 645 million users; 115 million of
which are active monthly. (statisticbrain.com)
• Why not approach the community you’re connected to
there (and through re-tweets, well beyond) to find
people who can help you tell a story? Post a question =
crowdsourcing.
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• You’ll notice in these callouts, the reporter wants to
talk to the potential source offline.
• Tweet someone and ask them to email or call you so
you can determine if they are credible. (Direct
message people who follow you.) If possible,
interview them on the phone or in person – not on
social media.
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“You can’t keep it on social media. For one thing, you’re not
going to get enough information for what you need, but it’s
also the best way to start verifying who someone is and what
their connection to the story is if you’re actually talking to
them on the phone. Because, if someone isn’t necessarily
representing themselves very well, the first thing that’s going
to fall apart is their story, as soon as they’re actually talking to
you.”
- Mandy Jenkins,
managing editor of Digital First Media’s Project Thunderdome, and a proponent of social media sourcing
(in an interview with It’s All Journalism)
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• You can also search on Twitter using #hashtags to find the
topic you’re writing about, then read what people are
saying to see if anyone stands out as someone who really
knows someone.
• You can also try poking around Twitter with:
• Twitter Advanced Search
• “Search operators”
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Twitter Advanced
Search
Able to focus
your search,
including by
words, people
and place.
https://twitter.com/sear
ch-advanced
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• “Near this place”
may prove
especially useful
to help find locals.
You can also use
keywords and the
other filters on
this form. Then
reach out to any
matches you find.
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Search operators (also works on Google)
This is a way of searching using more techie language.
• Twitter search = twitter AND search
• “happy hour” = exact phrase
• Love OR hate = either, or, both
• Beer –root = beer but not root (so you won’t get hits
for rootbeer)
• @Digital_Nicole = referencing that person/username
• Near:NYC within:15mi = sent within 15 miles of NYC
• Find more by Googling “search operators”
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Facebook has 1.3 billion monthly active users. (statisticbrain.com)
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You can also use Facebook to crowdsource.
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When crowdsourcing, beware of how you frame your
question. If you ask for verification of a rumor and it turns out
to not be true, you’ve essentially helped in spreading the
rumor. If you simply must state the rumor, cite who you heard
it from.
GOOD: Does anyone know what’s happening on Main
Street? We’re on our way.
BAD: We heard someone got shot on Main Street. Do you
know anything?
MEH: WCVB reports a shooting on Main Street. Do you know
anything?
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Facebook Graph Search
This comprehensive search feature gives journalists another
great tool for finding people.
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• You’ll be able to take advantage of all of the information
people willingly share with Facebook: how old are they,
where they live, what music they listen to, where they’ve
traveled, the photos they’ve posted, etc.
• Search on Facebook for things such as:
• People under the age of 30 who like to bicycle
• People who live near Chicago who listen to Cheap
Trick
• Then you can reach out to the people you find on their wall
or by Facebook messaging them to see if they can help
with your story.
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• Looking for something? Google it, right?
• You may have better luck doing a search through Google
than you would directly on a website by using the
“advanced operator search.” This works for Facebook,
Foursquare, LinkedIn, Reddit and Twitter.
• E.g. site:twitter.com “#ebola” or “Ebola Outbreak”
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Google+
• If you don’t already have a
Google+ profile, it’s a good
idea to set one up, if only to
be sure you’re on there as
we figure out the best way
to use it. It’s
similar to Facebook in that people need a profile and
businesses need a page off of that profile.
I suspect this will be a good place to find techies.
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• In the Google+ search bar, plug in the person or topic
you’re looking for and hit return.
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• Under the Explore tab, you can find trending topics if this is
something you’re looking for.
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• Under the More tab, you can “Find People” who you’re
already connected to in some way. You can search:
• Your own address
• Classmates
• Coworkers
• “Local” allows you to search for local businesses.
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LinkedIn is where people go to network for business and to
find a new job.
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• This is a good place to look for people if you know:
• Their name
• A company name
• Alma mater
• Location
• This is especially good when a company is closing or
having a crisis. You can find current and past employees.
• Be wary of potentially disgruntled past employees.
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• Who are the experts in
the field you’re
interested in? Try to
connect to them before
the going gets tough,
that way you can reach
out to them when you
need them.
Your website
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Story Comments
• Sometimes the commenters actually have something
valuable to say! Look up their email address in Viafoura,
(hope it’s legit) and send an email explaining you saw their
post and want more info.
Your website
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Embed a Google Form
• Google Drive offers a feature called Form. You can embed
it in a story to surface a question that your readers can
answer. It can be multiple choice or Q&A.
• Use the form to crowdsource. “Do you know more about x?
Let us know below. Include your name and a way we can
reach you.”
• Embed the form in a related story or callout.
Your website
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Embed a Google Form
• This makes it easier for readers to contact you, rather than
having to start an email message on another tab.
• In Drive, click on CREATE, Form.
• Give it a name and pick a template for
how you want it to look.
Your website
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Embed a Google Form
• Fill out the form – question, type of response (usually
multiple choice or paragraph text), etc.
Your website
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Embed a Google Form
• Choose response destination: This lets you create a
spreadsheet in Drive that will collect all of the answers
when someone fills in the form.
Your website
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Embed a Google Form
• To embed the form, click on File > Embed. You may have to
adjust the width/height. Copy the code and paste into Saxo
(HTML button in EditUI).
Other websites
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You can use these sites to find or verify people:
• Muckrack.com – “where journalists and sources connect”
• Gohachi.com – searches all of your networks to ID the best person you know who can introduce you to someone you want to know
• Foller.me – analyzes a Twitter user to help verify if they are a legitimate source
• Topsy.com - Searches content published on Twitter and the web, sorted by relevance or date.
• Snapbird.com – Lets you look for old tweets, e.g. to see what a politician said about something long ago.
What can I publish?
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• Do not use pictures from social media unless you have authorization from the owner OR unless the site’s terms of use allows it. Check with legal if you have a question, and do not assume the terms will stay the same.
FACEBOOK TERMS OF USE
You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is
shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition: ….
… When you publish content or information using the Public setting, it means that you are
allowing everyone, including people off of Facebook, to access and use that information, and to
associate it with you (i.e., your name and profile picture).
What can I publish?
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TWITTER TERMS OF USE
You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By
submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide,
non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce,
process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all
media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).
Tip: This license is you authorizing us to make your Tweets available to the rest of
the world and to let others do the same….These rules exist to enable an open
ecosystem with your rights in mind. But what’s yours is yours – you own your
Content (and your photos are part of that Content).
Using Storify to curate
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• You can use Storify to both search for sources and create a “story” that you can post on social media and your website.
• In one spot, you can find tweets by locaiton; hits using a keyword search for Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, Google and URL embeds. You don’t have to go to all of those social media sites to find the conversation.
Examples of situations that yield results
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• Business closing: Use LinkedIn to find current and former employees.
• Power outage: Sometimes the only thing people have is their phone, and they’re on social media anyway looking for information.
• Live tweeting: Big events such as a trial, town meeting are a good time to “live tweet” – posting to Twitter as the event unfolds. People looking for information during this time often also HAVE information, so ask questions and look for help while you’re live tweeting.
Examples of situations that yield results
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• Someone died: Friends and family, especially of a young person, often create a
memorial page. You can
find out information
(that you should
independently verify)
and people to talk to
through the posts of the
page’s wall. When other
efforts fail, newspapers
often use a photo of the
person from Facebook.
Examples of situations that yield results
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• Upcoming project: For big projects, consider creating a Facebook page. You can use it to find sources and info before the project launches and to post links to the stories and encouraging commenting after it does launch. You could also create a microsite to do the same.
Five takeaways
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• Cultivate sources before you need them.
• Use social media as another way to find experts.
• Conduct your interviews out of social media.
• When looking for information, crowdsource.
• Use Storify to find sources and/or information and then post the Storify to your website.
Questions? Comments? Ideas?
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Q&A
For more info, contact:
Nicole Simmons
Regional digital editor, GH-New England
nsimmons@wickedlocal.com
508 626 3923
@Digital_Nicole
ghnewsroom.com/blogs/nicolesimmons