Stories From Social Media: Promise and Pitfalls

1. Stories From Social Media: Promise and Pitfalls David F. Carr InformationWeek @davidfcarr david.carr@ubm.com #nypasoc

2. Introduction • Current gig: Editor, InformationWeek Education • Previous: Editor of The BrainYard, InformationWeek’s web publication on social media / social business • Past: newspaper reporter • Future: author “Social Collaboration for Dummies” #nypasbk

3. Find Sources Fast Courtesy of Mandy Jenkins @mjenkins #nypasoc

4. Backlash: ABC • Researcher seeking sources on Sandy Hook story • Sourcing failed • Reporter, network embarrassed #nypasoc

5. Backlash: New York Times #nypasoc

6. Beware B.S. on Social Media Courtesy of Mandy Jenkins @mjenkins

7. Courtesy of Mandy Jenkins @mjenkins

8. B.S. Images Courtesy of Mandy Jenkins @mjenkins

9. Strategies for Verification • Internal evidence • History (established vs. brand new) • Connections to other credible sources • Cross-referencing with other sources • Check images vs Map/satellite/Google street view • Compare to other news sources • Check image EXIM metadata • May show different date/location than claimed • Connect on the phone, other channels

10. Social Promotion • Viral hits drive traffic • Take enough swings and you’ll get hits • Social increasingly influences search rankings, Google News • Story link sharing a big part of Twitter • Google+ participation mandatory for writers/editors because of tie to Google #nypasoc

11. Beyond Headlines: Conversations From Mandy’s blog zombiejournalism.com #nypasoc

12. Catching Hell on Twitter #nypasoc

13. Engaging with Critics #nypasoc

14. Google+ Pitfalls • Make sure you share with “Public” #nypasoc

15. Google+ Notification Settings #nypasoc

16. Editor’s Picks RSS Feed <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><channel> <link>http://www.link_to_channel.com</link> <description>Description of the channel (e.g. News Site’s best articles of the day)</description> <title>News Site’s editor’s picks</title> <image> <url>http://www.link_to_logo_image.png</url> <title>text to use as alternative for the image</title> <link>http://www.link_pointed_to_by_the_image.com</link> </image> <item> <title>Headline for first article</title> <link>http://www.newssite.com/long-island/first-article-1.2654166</link> <description>Some details</description> <dc:creator>Author name</dc:creator> </item> #nypasoc

17. Boiled Down to 2 Bullet Points • Gotta be there • Gotta be careful #nypasoc

18. Credits/Further Reading • Mandy Jenkins @mjenkins • zombiejournalism.com • slideshare.net/mandyjenkins • “Best Practices for Social Media Verification” by Craig Silverman, Columbia Journalism Review • www.cjr.org/the_news_frontier/best_practices_for_social_medi.php • My slides www.carrcommunications.com/2013/04/nypa/ #nypasbk

19. Stories From Social Media: Promise and Pitfalls David F. Carr InformationWeek @davidfcarr david.carr@ubm.com #nypasoc