Social media = conversation
In this week’s issue of Metroland is an article I wrote about the Social Media Breakfast – Tech Valley event series that has skyrocketed in popularity in only three events. The series has become so popular that the 4th event in the series, taking place on December 4th and focusing on blogging, had 90 reservations within 5 hours.
Attendees of these breakfasts come from a variety of different industries — many are media professionals looking to hone their skills, others are business professionals interested in finding out how social media can help them improve sales, increase their customer base, or develop their brand.
Social media can uniquely benefit student journalists as well. Most student journalists are already using at least one form of social media in their personal lives, but social media can be invaluable when applied to work in journalism. In addition to being another venue in which to post breaking news, social media can help student journalists and recent journalism graduates achieve the following:
- Gain Exposure — Chances are you won’t get a full-time reporting job right out of college. The economy sucks, the media industry is in turmoil, and you, along with many others, are vying for a dwindling number of positions. Chances are you will either work as a freelance writer or develop a very strong personal brand in order to set yourself apart. Using social media, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field. Be the first to answer the media-related questions of your followers on Twitter, share links on Facebook of interesting articles to show that you are knowledgeable in your industry, and use LinkedIn to brag about recent publications or a cool project you landed.
- Find Stories — Social media can be a goldmine when it comes for landing exclusive stories. For students, find the profiles or Twitter accounts of your classmates. Keep an eye out, that way when the girl in your history class updates her Facebook status complaining of poor service in Financial Aid or raving about the new electronics section in the campus bookstore, you can follow up on the potential leads. This is also an easy way to develop sources for beat reporters.
- Develop Skills — Using social media can help you develop skills or learn programs and platforms you wouldn’t have otherwise encountered. It helps you get acquainted with the layout and tools of different blogging platforms, exposes you to tools like RSS feeds, as well as programs like Google Docs (and the much-talked-about Google Wave).
- Stay in Practice — Maybe one of the most beneficial but most subtle benefit of social media is that it keeps in you in practice. It keeps you writing — even if it is only 140 characters at a time. As student journalists, it is essential to hone your communication, networking and writing skills as much as possible, and being a regular participant in online conversations through social media will help you stay sharp.
To put these ideas in to practice, check out Twitter 101 for Student Journalists by fellow student journalist Emily Ingram.
[...] while social media can definitely be a useful tool for a reporter, the implications of a social media presence for journalists and news organizations are still not [...]