6.9: Managing Social Media

Journalists in all newsrooms are now often expected to manage social media accounts. Sometimes, they manage general accounts named after the newsroom, and sometimes they manage their own professional accounts to create a presence on social media platforms and interact with their audience.

The digital era has made it possible for audiences to talk to journalists in a much more direct way by posting comments or replies on social media platforms. This is both an opportunity and a risk. It is an opportunity because it makes journalists accessible – our audience enjoy talking to us. Sometimes, they even provide ideas or information for stories. It is also a risk because journalists now have very public profiles where they represent their publications. Journalists must always behave professionally on social media and must make sure that they have separate professional and personal social media accounts. The audience do not necessarily see the difference, so if you have a personal account where you post about personal issues such as your relationships, partying lifestyle or your financial problems, the audience may not distinguish. They may see you as a partying journalist who cannot handle money and, therefore, they would more than likely not trust your stories.

It is best when you are a journalist to limit your personal social media accounts to friends and family only. Keep your private life private.

The most important characteristic of social media is, as the name suggests, it is social. It is where people interact with one another, it is about spreading messages, and it is about building networks. On journalistic social media platforms, you will be expected to build networks with your audience and to market your stories by posting links to the stories or teasers to attract readers and viewers. You will be expected to represent your publication by interacting with the audience, taking questions, and responding to messages. You will also be expected to help build a community of followers by posting regularly about things that will interest your audience and that show you have your ear on the ground and you know what is happening in your community.

The most popular social media platform used to be Facebook, but among young people, TikTok and Instagram are more popular. On all three these platforms, it is possible to publish short news stories, pictures, and videos. Twitter is popular for very short messages and is a type of “town square” where everyone talks about everything. Journalists use all social media platforms for spreading messages but also to monitor what is going on. It is sometimes possible to find story ideas on social media. Twitter in particular is very useful because it is often the first place where the news breaks. If there is a big news event somewhere, someone is bound to post about it on Twitter almost immediately. Social media are often also the places where trends emerge, where people start discussing things that are important to them. When this happens in a big way, the news media often pick up the story and write news articles or broadcast news about what people are talking about. As a journalist, it makes sense to follow people in your area. These people can be anyone, from the mayor to local politicians to schoolteachers to ordinary citizens. Of course, as we discussed in previous sections, you should not believe everything you see on social media. Always verify everything you see on social media before you write or compile a story.

Further Reading

Media Guide has an interesting section about social media and how it is used in journalism, with discussions about the pros and cons of social media, the various platforms, and how one can use social media as a journalist.