Social media tools to improve your storytelling

1. Social media tools to improve your storytelling Mallary Jean Tenore / Managing editor / @MallaryTenore

2. Social media’s evolution

3. Because that’s where our audience is. • Facebook: 1.1 billion users. • Twitter: 200+ million active users. • Pinterest: 25.3 million unique visitors. • Instagram: 90 million ppl access it monthly Why use social media? MallaryTenore, Managing editor

5. How can you make your social media efforts more effective? • Hint: Make it a shared responsibility.

6. How do you build an audience on these sites? • Make it easy for people to find you on these sites

7. Building followers, fans

8. Building followers, fans

9. Think of publishing as the start of a process of sharing. iStock photo

10. Twitter • Tweet links to stories (make it a habit so you can build it into your workflow) • Look at @ mentions • React and reward • Schedule tweets • Create lists, searches • Utilize HootSuite or TweetDeck

11. Twitter • Give people a behind-the-scenes look at the reporting process. “If I am watching an accident on our chopper feed and it’s hard to look at, I’ll tweet that. If I get starstruck by someone who is in our studio, I’ll let my followers know. … If I’m covering a story, then they’re going to get information on that story, but it’ll be through my eyes and emotions.” ~KIRO-TV traffic anchor Jenni Hogan

12. Twitter • Find and capture reaction.

13. Twitter • Illustrate a point, offer an example

14. Twitter • A good starting point for finding sources, information and ideas. iStock photo

15. Twitter • Find local sources by using Twitter’s search function: https://twitter.com/search Find local sources by using the advanced search function.

16. Twitter • Use Topsy.com to dig up the past.

17. Avoiding social media errors • “Gabby Giffords is dead.” –NPR, CNN, Fox, NY Times • “Joe Paterno has died.” –Onward State, CBS Sports, lots of other news orgs/journalists. • “Bombing suspect has been arrested.”

18. Twitter • Build your credibility. • If you haven’t verified information, tweet something along the lines of: “We’re aware of the reports circulating, but haven’t been able to confirm them yet.” Or send a couple of tweets saying: “We are working on this story and will tweet updates as soon as we have them. Here’s what we do know.” • Refer to social media strategies.

19. Facebook • Figure out which posts get the most attention: • Posts that include a question or call to action • Personal analysis • Post at night and on weekends • Photos/images “Photos received 50% more likes than non-photo posts, and journalists who shared links that included a thumbnail image in the link preview received 65% more likes and 50% more comments than posts that did not include images.” ~Facebook study IStock photo

20. Facebook • Ask for help with stories, find sources. “People who’ve liked us on Facebook have grown accustomed to us posting frequently, so it’s not unusual to see familiar names among those commenting on any given story.” ~Andy Carvin

21. Facebook • NPR’s Andy Carvin: Facebook lets us empower those who love us, listen to those who don’t. (NPR has 2.5 million fans) “We see our fans as a community of smart, funny, Internet-savvy people who love what we do and want to support us. For some people, this support translates into sharing our stories and introducing new people to our content. For others, it’s about helping us with our reporting, including finding sources.” ~Carvin

22. Pinterest • What works well: • Recipes • Fashion • Weddings • Crafts -- (And news!) “Pin” photos from your site and link the photo to your site’s content. Sync it to your Facebook or Twitter account.

23. Pinterest • Respond to what’s popular.

24. Pinterest • Post photos that highlight local attractions.

25. Pinterest • Showcase high school and college sports.

26. Pinterest • Highlight graphics, interactives.

27. Pinterest • Create contests, make it easy for people to understand

28. Pinterest

29. Pinterest • Highlight photos from contests. Every year, the York Daily Record in Pennsylvania has a Peeps diorama contest. It features the submissions on its Pinterest page.

30. Pinterest • Highlight images from local news events.

31. Pinterest • “As photos poured in and flooded social media sites, I tried to think of a way that we could gather and present them quickly and with a powerful visual impact. Slideshows, I think, lose some oomph by only displaying one image at a time … It’s got to be a subject I’m really interested in before I’ll click through a slideshow of, say, 40 or 50 photos. Pinterest seemed like a natural solution.” ~Bruce Tomaso, Dallas Morning News online editor

32. Pinterest

33. Pinterest • Highlight your work.

34. Pinterest • “After I signed up for Pinterest, people told me it was a site for cupcakes and wedding bouquets. I didn’t know that beforehand, and I don’t think that kind of reputation needs to stand. Social media is a tool, like many others in our trade; it can be as good and as useful as we force it to be.” ~New York Times reporter C.J. Chivers

35. Pinterest • “The feedback has been strong and positive, and it has reminded me of my deeper motivation. I don’t see the various sites I use as social media for social media’s sake. Used poorly, they’d be just as much as a time suck on work and on life as the rest of the Internet can be. I see the sites and pages I maintain, rather, as a means to bring more attention to issues that are important to me – arms and the arms trade, and the means by which the tools for organized violence move around the world.” ~C.J. Chivers

36. Instagram • Share and find photos using hashtags. During Hurricane #Sandy, Instagram users posted 10 pictures every second. Instagram/Beizmindi)

37. Instagram • NBC News used it to highlight photos from a tornado in Texas.

38. Instagram • Create your own hashtags, then cross-promote them to generate interest.

39. Instagram • Highlight local happenings. The Fayetteville Flyer in North Carolina frequently posts Instagram photos of people, places and things around town.

40. Instagram • Use Instagram to build a new audience, grow your existing one. From Anthony Quintano, NBC’s community manager

41. Storify • Create stories by pulling together social media elements, adding context.

42. Storify • The five types of stories that make for good Storifies: • Social movements • Breaking news • Internet humor, memes • Reaction stories, highlighting conversations • Weather

43. Storify • Mother Jones used it during the Occupy Wall Street protests.

44. Storify • Mother Jones also used it to capture tweets from the #OccupySesameStreet meme.

45. Storify • Use it to collect answers to questions.

46. Storify • Use it to show how news spreads.

47. Other social media tools • RebelMouse – a social media curator • Vine – Six-second videos • Reddit – breaking news curator • Tumblr – microblogging site • ScribbleLive & Cover it Live – live blogging sites • Google+ -- Great for video chats RebelMouse.com

48. How do you measure the impact of all these tools? • Track your number of fans and followers. • Track real-time analytics. • Track interaction/engagement on these sites. • Figure out which tool is best for a given task.

49. Next steps

50. Next steps • At least sign up for sites, lurk, then start posting • Set reasonable goals • Don’t be afraid to ask your staff for help, seek outside training. • Organize a training session. • Experiment, experiment!