Social media: What is it good for?

November 4, 2013

Share this article:

I was always an early adopter. My first blog began in 1998, although I think the term is out of date for what are online columns. When social media came along, I signed right up.

My experiences have been uneven at best. I’d love to hear from other journalists in the comments field. Remember one of my precepts: I don’t have all the answers.

Twitter (@jontalton) is most useful to me as a journalist and writer. I use it to promote (“share”) my columns and posts at the Seattle Times, my work on Rogue Columnist and news about my novels. I often get retweeted, although not necessarily what, to me, are the best columns.

I “live tweet” certain compelling news events, from meetings and luncheon speakers to presidential debates. In the latter, for example, I kept a running commentary of falsehoods, context and questions.

Twitter is the closest thing in the digital world to the old AP or UPI tickers. It’s a great feed of breaking news, with an important caveat. That being: Is the news being reported by a reputable journalist or being corroborated by others? If not, hold fire. I hesitate to immediately retweet the sensational. It can often prove wrong.

I follow a coven of economists, Federal Reserve banks and think tanks. These can provide important heads up for useful news and research, great insights or fuel to my insecurities and small-minded jealousy of great talent.


“Twitter is the closest thing in the digital world to the old AP or UPI tickers.”

I also follow journalists I admire. Any journalist who follows me, gets a courtesy follow back. Who I don’t follow: People who tweet about walking their dogs, etc. Twitter is part of my work. I need it to be useful. I already follow too many to keep up with.

I am not a Twitter star, although Twitter has now officially validated my location. At the moment, I have 2,446 followers and each one has been hard earned. My advice is not to obsess over your followers: Some will come and go. Do your best work and readers will find you. I also don’t claim the expertise to know the best SEO. One prejudice: Don’t overuse hash-tags.

Retweeting is something I reserve for the best work I see, and even this I try to do with discipline. I don’t want to douse my followers. Here, I am being an editor, a (gasp!) gatekeeper in a good way. Sometimes I get in conversations, playing off another tweet. My goal is to add some value or call out an incomplete or false story. Always be civil.

Facebook is different. I post my columns and this usually gets a strong response (I have 1,139 “friends”). I also use it for updates on book news. But it is of limited utility for journalism, except as an entity to cover (like Twitter, too).  | You might find other models here at the Facebook + Journalists group page.

On a personal level, it has allowed me to reconnect with friends going back to elementary school. But most of my “friends” aren’t. As a public figure, I feel obliged to accept any friend request from someone who 1) has a real “about” bio, and, generally, 2) has some mutual “friends.” The large following helps me spread the word about my work.

My Space, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, Tagged — who has the time? Social networking can be a dangerous distraction from committing quality journalism: Talking to real people, thinking, planning, etc.

Has any journalist gotten a job from LinkedIn? Not me. But I do have 500-plus “connections,” and some are good sources.

None of these platforms has proven useful for “crowdsourcing” a story. Perhaps that’s just my beat. Twitter, especially, is probably better for breaking news.

What has your experience been?

Leave Jon a note below in comments of shoot him your thoughts on Twitter: @JonTalton. We like to use the hashtag #BizJ to show the conversation started here and make it easier to follow.

Author

  • For more than 25 years Jon has covered business and finance, specializing in urban economies, energy, real estate and economics and public policy. Jon has been a columnist for the Arizona Republic, Charlotte Observer and Rocky Mountain News, and his...

More Like This...

Two Minute Tips

Sign up now.
Get one Tuesday.

Every Tuesday we send out a quick-read email with tips for business journalism.

Subscribers also get access to the Tip archive.

Search

Get Two Minute Tips For Business Journalism Delivered To Your Email Every Tuesday

Two Minute Tips

Every Tuesday we send out a quick-read email with tips for business journalism. Sign up now and get one Tuesday.

Our free eBook has gotten a makeover!
It now has expanded topics and downloadable chapters.