Information dissemination has taken a great shift as there is now a blurred line between official statements through mainstream media and scuttlebutt based on social media posts. The reason for this could be traced to the fact that more than 50 percent of the world’s population use social media as their source of information, either factual or not; they don’t care so far it is more accessible.
On the bright side, social media helps in reporting news as it happens in real-time. Skillfully making use of it to gain an audience, maintain traction, and redirect to the official website is encouraged.
Five Best Social Media Practices For Journalists
The following are the best five social media practices that journalists like Ali Velshi have recognized.
- Be Ethical And Professional
The temptation to use social media as a means of socializing only would leave the page or space to look unprofessional. Trying to get likes to follow through posting controversial takes will serve that purpose for the meantime, but as often said, the internet doesn’t forget. Responding to abuse in the same way it came will only make matters worse.
- Fact Check Before Every Retweet And Share
Popularity has become easier with social media, with a click of the button, news or rumors are sure to go viral. Fact-checking every report to post in mainstream media by journalists is essential. The rush to be the first to break it as it drops can blind a reporter’s sense of research and diminish such a person’s credibility.
- Make Use Of Social Media’s Special Features
Studying and getting acquainted with social media algorithms and how they will maximize the result gotten. Show previous works and official links and provide links to other social sites. Make extensive use of Twitter threads to avoid information clustering. Nick Gamache journalist in Canada, makes Twitter threads on his recent works and provides a link to a website as well.
- Content Is The King And Should Be Treated As Such
Dishing out content on social media platforms is the best way to gain followers. As seen on Twitter’s official boy site, posting visual and written content consistently will help push followers to such accounts. Came across relevant content that pertains to your niche or industry? Then don’t hesitate to share, but do so at intervals and with a short descriptive text above.
- Consistency Pays
While building a big social media following takes time. Expecting immediate results as a news journalist who wants to make use of social media for information gathering and dissemination is elusive. Be consistent on content creation and connection building. The audience often goes where they are sure to get back-to-back content and can project their visit to such pages or handles based on the user’s schedule.
Conclusion
Finally, the fact that social media has drawn information closer to the common person should be celebrated and used for good, especially in journalism. Following the best practices of social media platforms and doing so will yield rich results. Social media is playing a crucial role in all journalists like Nick Gamache CBC. This platform should be used wisely and in the right way. The integrity of all journalists is very important to earn the trust of the general public.