These fine reminders on “social media” for journalists come courtesy of Alfred Hermida at Reportr.net:
- Be human: Mass media was based on the notion of reaching millions of people with one message. As a result, that message often came across in an impersonal, corporate voice. Social media provides an opportunity to be more personal, informal and conversational.
- Be honest: Be transparent and open about what you are doing. Social media is about genuine relationships and anyone trying to fake it is likely to be found out very quickly.
- Be involved: Journalists should not approach social media by thinking, “how can I use this for a story”. Social media should be part of your job, not an add-on or something to be used for a story and then abandoned.
My advice to journalists is to be part of the social web, to live the social web.
Well put.
Hermida is leading a seminar today on social media best practices at a day-long event organized by CBC Vancouver. I’m looking forward to the follow-up. Meanwhile, check out the workshop blog.
-rp-