Microblog - a social media site to which a user makes short, frequent posts. There are a many microblogs on the internet, including the most popular websites, Twitter and Tumblr. This blog post, however, will focus on Twitter as a tool for journalists, as Tumblr is mainly aimed at a younger audience and is largely image based.
Microblogging seems to be taking over the web. From being a journalist, it is important to be the first to find, and then publish breaking news before anyone. In order to possibly find a different angle to a particular story, or to find sources or persons that were involved can be a difficult task. This article from 2013, shows in that year, three quarters of UK journalists find their stories through Twitter. Microblogging is a way of sharing news in a short format, possibly linking the public to certain news stories. It is a way of curating news; users are able to find, organise and share what they consider as best and more relevant content on a specific issue.
Twitter was first introduced to the internet in 2006. Once it was released to the public, it did not have the popularity in which the creators thought it might. Many people did not understand the concept of writing something in only 140 characters. The initial idea was for users to write a short description of what they were doing in their daily lives - an idea that many people were ignorant to at the time. In recent years, Twitter has become more and more popular as a social media platform. It has become increasingly popular amongst professionals and journalists alike, as they are able to explore various resources, organisations and people that they are interested in. In turn, they are able to interact with other users, link to relevant material and find sources that might not be available anywhere else.
There have been many occasions where the public have reported breaking news themselves before any major news organisations. This article on Mashable shows 9 stories that have been first reported on Twitter, by random members of the public. So many people tweeted about what they were experiencing before the news were able to report. This not only gives journalists a chance to research the event themselves, but also have key witnesses for their story. For example, in 2008, hundreds of people in China tweeted about an earthquake:
This leads to the next point, as Twitter is such an easy tool to search for topics by using the ‘#’ key. By typing anything into the Twitter search bar, thousands of results are found, and one is able to then define these results to what they need. Whatever information you need, Twitter will be able to help in some way. Be that finding a person, organisation, or a specific source for a story. Hashtagging is a way of grouping certain tweets together, creating trending topics.
slightly dizzy after being shaken around by the Chengdu earthquake for several hours now
— Casper (@casperodj) May 12, 2008
EARTH QUAKE in Beijing?? Yup... @keso I felt it too!!
— dtan (@dtan) May 12, 2008
This leads to the next point, as Twitter is such an easy tool to search for topics by using the ‘#’ key. By typing anything into the Twitter search bar, thousands of results are found, and one is able to then define these results to what they need. Whatever information you need, Twitter will be able to help in some way. Be that finding a person, organisation, or a specific source for a story. Hashtagging is a way of grouping certain tweets together, creating trending topics.
Distributing content is also something that works great on Twitter. Due to it also being an app on smartphones, it makes advertising one’s own articles so much easier, and quicker. People will be able to read it from wherever they are, whenever they want to. People will be able to retweet and favourite articles, which will then hopefully increase views and create acknowledgement. Consequently, acknowledgement from others will be able to build one’s career.
From my experience, I had only used Twitter to connect with my friends, and write a tweet every few days about what I was doing - or what I was looking forward to at the weekend. However, I decided to start a fresh, and create a new 'professional' account; and it has given me the opportunity as a novice journalist to promote my work and interact with others - not only successful journalists, but also various people and organisations that are interested in the same topics as me, and what I have written about. From my bio, people have been able to see basic information about who I am, and can see links to my blog.
Click here to see my latest Twitter posts.
However, starting out on Twitter is a long process. Being able to get noticed takes time, but with perseverance and the correct use of hashtags; it does get easier to build connections and rapport with others. By following well-known journalists and journalism houses, users can become aware of what is happening in the news as a live feed, as well as journalists themselves as individuals. There is even a post on '100 Twitter Accounts Every Journalism Student Should Follow'.
From this blog post, it is clear to say that journalism and microblogging go hand in hand. Microblogging gives journalists the ability to not only search, but enables them to create news from their fingertips.
Click here to see my latest Twitter posts.
However, starting out on Twitter is a long process. Being able to get noticed takes time, but with perseverance and the correct use of hashtags; it does get easier to build connections and rapport with others. By following well-known journalists and journalism houses, users can become aware of what is happening in the news as a live feed, as well as journalists themselves as individuals. There is even a post on '100 Twitter Accounts Every Journalism Student Should Follow'.
From this blog post, it is clear to say that journalism and microblogging go hand in hand. Microblogging gives journalists the ability to not only search, but enables them to create news from their fingertips.
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