Social Media Rules for Journalists

            Social media is drastically changing the landscape of journalism. For the past decade many journalists have only acknowledged the negatives of social media such as speed versus reliability, and citizen journalists versus polished professionals. But negatives aside, over the past several years many journalists have accepted the notion that social media can be an effective tool. However, another problem has risen for journalists who are new to the social media community. Many journalists know how to use it but are unsure when to use and exactly for what purpose.

            The International Journalists’ Network came up with a list of 4 Social Media Rules Journalists Should Break. Some of these make sense and I would arguably agree with the writers on a few. They suggest avoid returning “friending” or “following” requests from every person who is a follower on Twitter or Facebook. It’s important to be mindful of whom to follow and friend. There are a high number of users on Twitter and Facebook who are considered “chronic posters” and have nothing intelligent to offer. It can create clutter in the Twitter feed and can be irritating to try and sift through the garbage. The authors also suggest creating groups and creating lists within Twitter to keep everything organized.

But I feel that a few of the authors suggestions are a little off base. The author suggests scheduling media posts which will allow journalists time to create actual journalism. The authors argue that social media is immediate and requires journalists to “be there as it happens,” impeding the time necessary to create quality content. But I disagree with this perspective for a couple of reasons. First, creating a social media post on Facebook and/or Twitter takes only a matter of seconds and is easily accessible with the advent of the smartphone. I would be willing to bet that nearly every journalist working in the industry is carrying a smartphone and if not they should. Also, not all people want to read tweets that appear to be generated for mass consumption; they want to know the tweets they observe were created by a human. Part of the splendor and intrigue of Twitter, Facebook, and all the other social media sites is they’re immediacy. There are people who turn to Twitter for breaking news because they follow news organizations like the New York Times, AP, Washington Post, etc. People following these organizations want immediate news. Tweeting when it happens may be the best way to maintain a strong following.

However, I can see why scheduling posts can benefit journalists who have a following across different time zones and in that case I would argue scheduling posts can be truly beneficial for both the journalist and their followers. I also believe it is important to find the times when most people are online using their social media sites and to be sure to post during those times. Posting during peak times will increase strong website traffic and could build loyal readership.

But what it truly boils down to is circumstances. I don’t think there are one set of rules, as the authors alluded to, that are acceptable for every journalist to follow. One journalist may have a following that doesn’t mind a preponderance of tweets whereas another might have a following that doesn’t enjoy being bombarded constantly by the same tweeter even if that person is a journalist. It depends on the situation and what the journalist feels comfortable doing. But that doesn’t mean if a journalist doesn’t feel comfortable using social media he or she should avoid it all together. All journalists will need to find a comfort level with social media if they want to survive in a rapidly changing industry.