My presentation to the CAJ Innovate conference in Toronto

1. One of many:
Social media
principles and
practice
Alfred Hermida
UBC Graduate School of
Journalism
CAJ Innovate | 30:01:10

2. Trafigura Twitterstorm

3. Trafigura Twitterstorm

4. Trafigura Twitterstorm

5. Trafigura Twitterstorm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2010/jan/25/alan-rusbridger-hugh-cudlipp

6. Trafigura Twitterstorm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2010/jan/25/alan-rusbridger-hugh-cudlipp

7. One of many

11. Web 2.0 = Social media

12. Web 2.0 = Social media
Participatory culture “contrasts with
older notions of passive media
spectatorship. Rather than talking
about media producers and
consumers occupying separate roles,
we might now see them as
participants who interact with each
other according to a new set of rules
that none of us fully understands.”
Jenkins (2006), Convergence Culture

13. What makes it social media

14. What makes it social media
Content

15. What makes it social media
Content
Convergence

16. What makes it social media
Content
Convergence
Collaboration

17. What makes it social media
Content
Convergence
Collaboration
Community

18. What makes it social media
Content
Convergence
Collaboration
Community
Conversation

19. Joining the conversation
A good newspaper, I
supposed, is a nation talking
to itself
Arthur Miller, London Observer,
November 26, 1961

20. Shift in journalism
Deuze (2003), The web and its journalisms. New Media and Society, (5/2003)

21. Shift in journalism
Photo: Christopher Woo:http://www.flickr.com/photos/deks/ Photo: Matt Hamm: http://flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

22. Three principles
Photo: Matt Hamm: http://flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

23. Three principles
Photo: Matt Hamm: http://flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

24. Three principles
Be human
Photo: Matt Hamm: http://flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

25. Three principles
Be human
Be honest
Photo: Matt Hamm: http://flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

26. Three principles
Be human
Be honest
Be involved
Photo: Matt Hamm: http://flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

27. Rory’s experience

29. Rory’s experience

30. Rory’s experience
“I still think that experimenting with everything
from social networks to YouTube to blogs is a
useful way for broadcasters to get into
conversation with the audience. But better keep
the dog out of it.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/11/close_to_you.html

31. Twitter time

32. Twitter time

33. UK National newspapers
- 131 Twitter accounts
- 1.47 million followers
Twitter correspondent
- Ruth Barnett, Sky News
MuckRuck.com
- Aggregator of journalists’
tweets

34. “A toy for bored celebrities
and high-school girls”
Maureen Dowd, 2009
“It’s like searching for medical
advice in an online world of
quacks and cures”
Ellen Goodman, 2009
“Twitter? I won’t touch it.
It’s all garbage.”
Journalist quoted in New York
Times

35. Multi-faceted and
fragmented

36. The whole
picture

37. TwitterTim.es

38. Twitter in journalism
Content distribution
Beat reporting
Crowdsourcing

39. Content distribution
Drive traffic
Keep it on topic
Content, content, content
Don’t automate, be a filter

40. Beat reporting
Early warning
Identify trends
Finding sources

41. Beat reporting
Early warning
Identify trends
Finding sources

42. Beat reporting
Early warning
Identify trends
Finding sources

43. Beat reporting
Early warning
Identify trends
Finding sources

44. Crowdsourcing
Works best if you build a large
audience/following
Think about the audience you
are asking
Questions open to opinion,
ideas tend to work best
Connect with community

45. Crowdsourcing
Works best if you build a large
audience/following
Think about the audience you
are asking
Questions open to opinion,
ideas tend to work best
Connect with community

46. Three principles
Photo: Matt Hamm: http://flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

47. Three principles
Be human
Be honest
Be involved
Photo: Matt Hamm: http://flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

48. Further reading:
Columbia Graduate School of
Journalism social media course
http://bit.ly/socmediaskills

49. Thank you
@hermida
alfred.hermida@ubc.ca
http://reportr.net