LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook journalism guides help demystify social networks

A few weeks ago, I found the bio of a Tier One auto supplier CEO on LinkedIn and used the background information there to beef up a Google search; much to my glee, the augmented search led me right to a phone number, and the CEO himself answered the call.

LinkedIn's Krista Canfield helps walk journalists through using the site as a research tool.

I think he was almost as surprised as I was to find a reporter on the other end of his private office line, but it cut to the chase, and I got the necessary interview without a lot of red tape.

It doesn’t always work out so smoothly, but the lesson is: If you haven’t explored the possibilities of social media for sourcing and other journalistic tasks, there’s no time like the present.

Krista Canfield, LinkedIn’s senior manager of corporate communications, has shared some very helpful tips and resources for reporters.  In addition to simple executive searches, for example, she suggests the following techniques and tactics:

• Find former employees (who might feel talkative) of companies on your beat through an advanced people search using the term “past” from the drop-down menu or through reference searches.
• Join groups related to the fields you cover, from industry groups to journalism-specific special-interest groups.  For example, a reporter named Paul Dixon has started the Media Diplomat group on LinkedIn, aimed at helping reporters connect with international sources.
• Build your own brand and promote your work.
• Find fresh angles by doing keyword searches or uncover trend stories by taking note of growing or declining skill sets mentioned in LinkedIn profiles.

That’s just a sampling of the helpful and savvy “How journalists use LinkedIn” tips available on LinkedIn’s website; I urge you to bookmark and check them out ASAP.

Meanwhile, here’s a link to the LinkedIn for Journalists group.  And Canfield has an offer that busy journalists can hardly refuse:  A free one-year upgrade to LinkedIn Pro membership for those who take her 20-minute tutorial.  She holds one or two sessions a month (hint: There’s one on Thursday, June 30) and you can register by joining the discussion on the LinkedIn for Journalists group and adding a “Count me in!”   You’ll be notified of the call-in number, and you simply phone in, log in to your own LinkedIn account and follow along; a question-and-answer session follows.

“The tutorial and a free, one-year upgrade to LinkedIn Pro are available to all professional journalists, and it’s an offer we extend across the board to all members of the media. The only way you can test drive the LinkedIn Pro account is to join either this tutorial or a future session. We want to make sure you understand all the tools that become accessible to you before upgrading your account and letting you fly solo,” writes Canfield.  What a great deal!

There’s also a Facebook + Journalists site and a new Twitter for Newsrooms guide; I haven’t explored them yet but it’s high on the to-do list.

For more tips on sourcing and trend-spotting on LinkedIn, check out the Reynolds Center’s self-guided training with Sean Campbell, a competitive-intelligence expert with Cascade Insights: Beyond Google – Mining the Web for Company Intelligence. It includes this quick video demo on finding sources on LinkedIn, Twitter and Quora.

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