carrie brown-smith university of memphis @brizzyc #memstorm: twitter as a community-driven breaking...
TRANSCRIPT
Carrie Brown-Smith
University of Memphis
@brizzyc
#MEMSTORM: TWITTER AS A COMMUNITY-DRIVEN BREAKING
NEWS REPORTING TOOL
APRIL 2011
HEIGHT OF THE STORM• #memstorm impressions reached 1.4 million
• Over 200,000 Twitter accounts were reached
• 0.01 percent of all tweets on Twitter were tagged with #memstorm
• **Source: Aaron Prather, local technology entrepreneur and CEO of startup StiQRd
RESEARCH QUESTIONS• How did the hashtag come into use in Memphis as a way of reporting on the storm?
• What are some of the uses & gratifications of Twitter use during a breaking news situation such as #memstorm? What motivates the public to participate?
• How is this new system of “ambient journalism” affecting local journalism? What kinds of ongoing role can journalists play in this increasingly participatory, always-on news environment?
AMBIENT JOURNALISM/PARTICIPATORY JOURNALISM
• News today is all around us, all the time, often held in our hands in the form of a mobile device, but we are also not simply receivers of this news but also contributors to it as we go about our day and share observations and information with the world. - Alfred Hermida
METHODS• Content analysis of 1639 tweets tagged with the #memstorm hashtag during April 2011
storms
• Interviews with prolific hashtag users and local journalists
• Survey
• Participant observation
R1: How did the hashtag come into use in Memphis as a way of reporting on the storm?
LOCAL TECH ENTREPRENEUR AARON PRATHER PRESENTS AT IGNITE MEMPHIS
PRATHER:
FOXSTORM VS. #MEMSTORM
THE BACKLASH
BE NICE, SOME SAY
R2: What are some of the uses & gratifications of Twitter use during a breaking news situation such as #memstorm? What motivates the public to participate?
KEY FINDINGS• Sharing news and information is, not surprisingly, a key motivation for using Twitter/the
hashtag.
• Direct observations/eyewitness accounts is most popular, followed by more general information e.g. watches and warnings.
NEWS AND INFORMATION
Tweet Was… Number in sample
Witnessing/Direct Observations 239
Sharing general news/info 46
Includes link 10
From newspaper 4
From television 9
From undetermined source/other 22
From NWS or independent 1
Retweet was… Number
Witnessing 45
News/Information 317
Includes link 23
From newspaper 21
From television 180
From undetermined/other 18
From independent/NWS 75
#MEMFLOOD LATER THAT YEAR
KEY FINDINGS CONTINUED• Connecting with others/building community is another key motivation for using the
hashtag.
• Related: Sharing feelings, expressing fears, etc.
• Joking around
• Asking questions/seeking help
• Talking about Twitter/the hashtag/Foxstorm vs. Memstorm
• Praising journalists for their storm coverage
CONNECTING WITH OTHERS/BUILDING COMMUNITY• “I feel like I have company, a community, and we are all going through something
together.”
• “It gives a sense of comfort to be able to talk to other people, because I am so afraid of tornados.”
• “Twitter has a huge advantage over traditional sources because it creates more of a community. Everyone is looking out for everyone else during these severe weather events.”
JOKING AROUND
ASKING QUESTIONS• “Wondering what #memstorm and #memtraffic is like in midtown since I have to go to
work.”
• “We have people [in our restaurant] concerned about Hernando. Anyone know is Hernando is going to be in any trouble at all? #memstorm”
• “Sirens at work. Can anyone give me an update on the Germantown/Collierville area? #memstorm”
How is this new system of “ambient journalism” affecting local journalism? What kinds of ongoing role can journalists play in this increasingly participatory, always-on news environment?
ROLE OF JOURNALISTS, IN BRIEF (SURVEYS/INTERVIEWS)• VERIFY
• AMPLIFY/CURATE
• SHARE INFORMATION USING NEW DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
• ENGAGE WITH AUDIENCE
• PROVIDE LOCATION-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
IN APRIL 2011, STILL MOSTLY ONE-WAY, BROADCAST MODEL
Tweets Number
News/information 280
Total replys 5
Total retweets 38
Of other journalists 31
80/20 BROADCAST/ENGAGEMENT DURING STORMS; 60/40 NORMAL DAY
RETWEETING WITNESS PHOTOS
WHEN NON-JOURNALISTS WERE ASKED THEIR VIEWS ON ROLE OF JOURNALSIM:• “Journalists can participate by interacting. If they aren’t interacting and just dishing out
140-character bites of news, the advantage is gone and the viewer might as well be reading a news app or watching the weatherman flip his wig. The talkback factor is invaluable.”
• “The TV stations in New York are now saying, Tweet us a question, and we will ask it on air. I’ve been telling media here, you know, just use Twitter to ask questions and use Twitter to get information you need. Clearly [journalists] are needed. Clearly their jobs are not going away. Clearly they have the responsibility to report non-biased, factual, checked-out, verified information, but that doesn’t mean they have to break [news] all the time. Their job has to be, we may not be first all the time, but we have to be right. Somebody make break that Whitney Houston died, unconfirmed, because they may know it somehow, but that’s okay, the media has to be okay with that, they have to be, we are trying to verify.” – head of a local marketing firm
VERIFY (NOT A TORNADO)
NEW IN MARCH 2012
CONTACT:
Carrie Brown-Smith
University of Memphis
@brizzyc