1. Social Media
for Journalists
Rachel Mourao, M.A.
rachelmourao@gmail.com

2. What do you think of social media?
• …it does not matter

3. Twitter for journalists
Decisions before you start
a) Do you need a personal or a professional
account? Or both?
https://twitter.com/acarvin

4. More decisions
Does your paper need its own account?
If no, do you want your staff to link their personal accounts to the publication?
If yes, brand accounts need personality.
https://twitter.com/thedailytexan
Do not forget to give credit to your staff members by mentioning them.

5. Resources for journalists
Storify and Storyful
https://storify.com/
Tweetdeck
https://web.tweetdeck.com/

6. Tips
Use hashtags and crowdsourcing (with caution):
sending pictures, using hashtags, interacting with
followers, asking for their instagram pictures, drive
the conversation.
Try to include links
When promoting a story, you can link to it several
times as long as you change the wording.
Marcus was wrong: the default egg avatar is
sadder than an abandoned blog

7. Other online resources
Tips for Journalists: http://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/updated-and-
expanded-twitter-tips-for-journalists/
Building engagement
http://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/advice-for-building-engagement-
through-newsroom-twitter-accounts/
Twitter for Newsrooms: https://dev.twitter.com/media/newsrooms
A Journalist’s Guide to Twitter: http://mashable.com/2009/05/14/twitter-journalism/
Wiki that compiles people and organizations in media that use Twitter:
http://twitteringjournalists.pbworks.com/
YouTube video tutorials: http://mashable.com/2009/05/31/twitter-tutorials-youtube/

8. Facebook for Journalists
Facebook + Journalists:
https://www.facebook.com/journalists
This Page, run by Facebook, provides resources for
using Facebook as a journalist and is also a
community for journalists on the platform.
Facebook + Media:
https://www.facebook.com/fbmedia
Created by Facebook, this page has tips on best
practices and tools to help you drive referral
traffic, increase engagement, etc.

9. Follow and Pages
Pages
Pages are designed to facilitate multiple administrators.
Aggregating fans to a single Page helps cross-promote the
work of all of a news outlet’s reporters and build a fan
community.
Follow
Different than your personal account (where you add
friends), Facebook allows you to “follow” people.
https://www.facebook.com/floridaalligator
https://www.facebook.com/dailytexan

10. Now, let’s create a page…
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

11. Your turn

12. Other online resources
Sources and other links:
The Facebook Guide for Journalists:
http://mashable.com/2009/08/03/facebook-journalism/
Facebook for Journalists: More Work Than Twitter, but
With a Bigger Payout:
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/04/10/facebook-
for-journalists-twitter/
Getting started with “Facebook for Journalists” guide:
http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/face
book-journalists/