http://www.venturebeat.com/2010/04/12/twitter-ad-model/
Twitter: the leading service for microblogging
- Great way to share a link to the article you’ve written
- You get your content read quicker — very satisfying
- Can crowdsource or network with other journalists
Microblogging: one of the biggest changes in journalism
- Provides entry into new social network that allows journalists to connect more closely with other journalists and readers
- Means participating in the “live Web” — information published and consumed in real time and constantly updated — gives journalists best sense of what’s happenning right now online
- Fastest way for journalists or news organizations to report breaking news and promote other work
- Like an instant messaging journal
- Brief text messages — usually no more than 140 characters
- Links to other Web sites, photos or videos
- Messages can be submitted and consumed in a variety of ways
- Easy to subscribe to or follow an individual and that person’s updates
Why is microblogging so popular?
- Ease of publishing combined with ease of consuming
- When you find someone worth reading, you can easily follow that person
- The more updates people post for one another, the more connected they become
- “Ambient awareness” or “ambient intimacy” — ability to maintain a constant connection with others without a direct communication tool; allows for one-to-many communication; persistent but passive; more polite — updates available whenever someone has time and interest to read and comment
- Over time, the bits of information create a sophisticated portrait of friends’ and family members’ lives
Why is microblogging important?
- Twitter is useful tool for tracking conference happenings and organizing meetups with friends
- Many people find Twitter strangely addictive and useful
- FriendFeed, Twitter and Tumblr — signal the emergence of the “Real-Time Web”; unlock information that previously would not have been published
- With Twitter, witnesses start spreading the word of a breaking news event immediately and marketers can run a search to read what people are saying about their products (don’t have to wait for survey or brand study)
- Microblogging is “a community navigation tool, producing information that people want right now and helping people find what they’re looking for”
- Microblogging is going to play a role in the future of journalism
Emergence as an important tool:
- Austin, 2007: at South by Southwest, a festival of music, media and technology, Twitter won award for best mobile application; the next week, the number of Twitter users grew 55%
- San Diego, 2007: Twitter and Flickr used to provide real-time updates about evacuations, meeting points and places to gather supplies or bring animals during wildfires in the area
- Twitter “trains you to look for interesting things around you (and think how you can communicate that in 140 characters)”
- Makes it easy for people to participate in the live Web
- “Social media platforms such as Twitter enable budding reporters to be part of a more open journalistic culture”
- Journalists can be more open about their work, offering insights and connecting with audiences in a way that wasn’t possible a generation ago
Effective medium for breaking news:
- “It’s equally important to be on Twitter to receive information about breaking news as it is to send it.”
- Many news stories break first on Twitter and also develop first on Twitter
- Journalists still play an important role by varifying facts and publishing updates as more information becomes available
- Twitter is a way for news organizations to broadcast what they’re doing
- Twitter’s quick publishing format fits nicely into trial coverage
- “The more we can do to open the process to the public … the more legitimacy the public system will have in the eyes of the public.”
- Engaging in community conversation essential to getting the most out of the live Web
Crowdsourcing and building community:
- Microblogging platform is a social network disguised as a short-message publishing platform
- There’s power in finding new people to follow and extending your network
- Social capital earned by actively participating in that network
- Biggest benefit for journalists is learning about your audience — what they’re doing, thinking and reading
- Journalists invite audiences to work with them
- Twitter very effective at finding news leads — tips come faster and more often from people who are starting to think of themselves as more than just readers
- Culture of contribution has emerged on microblogging sites
- Community grows only if you post messages that offer some benefit to your followers
- Best postings on Twitter get “retweeted”
- Follow the 80-20 rule: use 80% of your posts to add something of value to the community; 20% can be self-promoting
Marketing and building your brand:
- Business model for journalsim is crumbling: innovation must include awareness of new business models and marketability
- Twitter and Facebook are social lubricants online, making old newspapers more approachable
- Journalists earn social capital by becoming the “trusted center” within a structure of relationships through digital communication
- Social capital can be developed and transformed into ecenomic gains
- Proficiency with new technology can help young journalists land their first job
- Social media gives journalists a platform to demonstrate talents and engage with others
Start using Twitter:
- Post a message, read other people’s messages, read reply messages other people direct to you, and send and receive direct messages, which are private
- Build your network: find people to follow; get people to follow you; post good content and promote those you follow; add your Twitter, FriendFeed or Tumblr URL to your e-mail and other electronic signatures
- Five different types of tweets:
– What are you reading? Find interesting links to post.
– What are you thinking?
– What are you doing later?
– What are you liking on Twitter? Retweet it.
– What can you ask or answer?
Tap the Power
NOTE: I’ve made my first couple of tweets. I feel like “Rockin’ Robin!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvIFBeRy8U0
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