Journalists have now been using social media for years to engage their audience, share their stories, develop sources and uncover amateur content. As this practice matures, is a consensus developing around a strong set of best practices? Or have we fallen into bad habits, using social media the way we do simply because “that’s the way it’s done”? Some of the leading social media editors in the news industry engage in a lively debate on whether it’s time to hit the reset button.
Very interesting tweets on #smpractices at #ONA12, especially on the future of social media (some bold comments imo).
— Clair Wyant (@ClairDogg) September 22, 2012
With just two minutes left in the session, there’s a line of about 10 people waiting to ask questions of this popular panel.
Crazy! MT @angelaishere Lots of folks lining up for the #smpractices panel. I can’t even see the panel anymore. #ona12 twitter.com/angelaishere/s…
— Chessa DeCain (@ChessaDeCain) September 22, 2012
There are several things on the horizon for social journalism.
Next year’s issues in “social journalism?” @niketa: audio storytelling. @antderosa: video meets social. @lheron: Reddit. #smpractices
— Rob Pegoraro (@robpegoraro) September 22, 2012
Can someone confirm this photo is genuine? +1 RT @jakeacarpenter: Packed house for #smpractices discussion at #ona12 twitter.com/jakeacarpenter…
— Matej Praprotnik (@praprotnix) September 22, 2012
Eric asks the million dollar question: Do newsrooms need social media editors?
“My is that this will become part of everyone’s toolkit,” Liz said.
Niketa disagrees — “There is still a need for social media leadership in newsrooms.”
Anthony says the job will evolve.
“We want the newsroom to do more of what we do.”
Do organizations need a social media editor? @lheron says maybe not, eventually, as acumen improves. #smpractices #ONA12
— Josh Awtry (@jawtry) September 22, 2012
Do news organizations need a social media policy? When Liz was at The New York Times, she said they talked about it and decided no. At The Wall Street Journal, however, the staff wants a set of guidelines as a “rules for the road.”
“It really depends on your news organizations and your journalists.”
Social media guidelines: @lheron says they can be outdated quickly. #smpractices #ONA12
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) September 22, 2012
Guys, WSJ doesn’t need staff photographers. They have those woodcut things #smpractices #ONA12
— Kelsey Proud (@KelseyProud) September 22, 2012
Authenticating images is INCREDIBLY important on social media, the entire panel agrees. But how?
Use Google Image search if you question the accuracy of attribution – @lheron #smpractices
— Rachel Wright (@rewrightme) September 22, 2012
A RT on twitter is fine, but embedding a twitter user photo on web site dicey? I’d it authentic? Credit where due? #smpractices #ONA12
— Allison Hanes (@AllisonHanes) September 22, 2012
“Attribution is a huge problem with photos,” Liz said. Fair use is another issue for journalists on social.
“[Fair use] doesn’t just mean you can use a picture because there’s news value.” -@ericcarvin #smpractices
— Brad Gerick (@BradGerick) September 22, 2012
The crowd digests the topic of journalists having opinion social media as they move on to the topic of images.
AGREE! RT @moneyries Of course a journalist should have an opinion on Twitter. Can’t believe we’re still debating this. #smpractices #ona12
— Adrienne LaFrance (@AdrienneLaF) September 22, 2012
The panel of social media rockstars:
.@ericcarvin discusses social media best practices with @lheron @niketa @antderosa. #ona12 #smpractices twitter.com/JMizgata/statu…
— Jen Mizgata (@JMizgata) September 22, 2012
One important point from the debate about being first before you’re sure you’re right has been tweeted a ton throughout the audience:
#ONA12 #smpractices Being right first matters more than just being first in reporting news on social media.
— Kathy English (@kathyenglish) September 22, 2012
Do you worry social media tips competition? Your concern should be getting it right first, not getting it first. @niketa #smpractices #ona12
— Kate McGinty (@kjmcginty) September 22, 2012
Most important to be right first, rather than simply beat the competition. Clapping. #ONA12 #smpractices
— Allison Hanes (@AllisonHanes) September 22, 2012
Eric is bringing up one of the big ones — why is it that some journalists seem more comfortable sharing opinion on social networks?
Niketa says the same could be said for bloggers, but social has evolved so much that she she now believes there should be opinions — within reason.
“We’re humans, too. We have opinions,” she said.
@niketa two years ago wld say journalists should not have opinions on Twitter but today, its ok #ONA12 #smpractices
— Ruth Marks Eglash (@reglash) September 22, 2012
Next topic: How to handle unverified information?
If you watch cable news all day, all they do is put out unconfirmed reports. Social needs to do better -@antderosa #ONA12 #smpractices
— Ethan Klapper (@ethanklapper) September 22, 2012
A lot of soc journalists are good at being transparent- taking unconfirmed reports from community and confirming them. -@niketa #smpractices
— Chessa DeCain (@ChessaDeCain) September 22, 2012
Eric got a huge round of laughter when he revealed the hashtag for this session: #smpractices. Avoid using the ampersand, he said.
Guess this room is now awake after recovering from last night’s Yahootinis!
Next: Eric Cavin asks about liking pages or following politicians and the implication that might have.
Liz, Niketa and Anthony all agree that it doesn’t imply an opinion, just consumption of necessary information.
“You should like as many people as you can,” Liz said.
“People are going to have perceptions no matter what,” Anthony said. “I don’t think you should get too hung up on perceptions, but also have some common sense.”
@nikita, @lheron – follow, follow, follow. competing journalists, beat sources of all stripes, etc. #ona12 #smpractices
— Tom Haines (@twhaines) September 22, 2012
A solution is to “like” the opposition too #politics #smpractices #ona12
— Rachel Wright (@rewrightme) September 22, 2012
Should you ever delete a tweet? Liz Herron says she’s changed her philosophy on that — if something is wrong and if there’s a bad link, deleting is best so the tweet doesn’t go as viral as it could. Anthony De Rose and Niketa Patel are concerned about transparency and the attempt to “sweep it under the rug” and how that will look to audiences.
Agree with @niketa: “Transparency is the only way to go” – along with what @ecarvin said – consistency. #smpractices #ona12
— Kelsey Proud (@KelseyProud) September 22, 2012
.@antderosa prefers to leave wrong tweet, own and correct the tweets. #smpractices #ONA12
— Brian Smith (@smithbm12) September 22, 2012
Within the first few minutes of the debate, the question about whether a retweet is an endorsement — Liz Heron says today, it’s a given that it isn’t.
First #ONA12 session of the day: social media best practices! #smpractices
— Elyse Russo (@elyserusso) September 22, 2012
Some last tips as this session comes to a close: