Download - Blogging and Social Media
BLOGGING & JOURNALISM’S FUTURE
New Tools, Old Values
Compiled by Steve Fox, University of Massachusetts
December, 2010
Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr – Write short, long, add multimedia, photos, video
YouTube, Vimeo – Short, long videos
Flickr, Picasa – Photo feeds
Twitter – the microblog
Mobile delivery = capturing breaking news
Online Roundups Aggregation
Opinion Informed Analysis
Long text Microblogging
Outliers in PJs Mainstream
The 2010 edition of State of the Blogosphere finds blogs in transition—no longer an upstart community, now with influence on mainstream narratives firmly entrenched, with bloggers still searching for the next steps forward.
Bloggers’ use of and engagement with various social media tools is expanding, and the lines between blogs, micro-blogs, and social networks are disappearing.
Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere
The Megaphone is Alive
Connections matter, not platforms
Journalists need to be platform-agnostic
All platforms working together as one
Tips:• Blogging develops writing
• Inform yourself, research
• Lively, personalized style
• Active voice
• Scanning
• Bullets, lists
Blogs: New Tools for Journalists
#1 Linking: Providing a thoughtful, credible series of links will help create an audience that will come to your blog for your expertise and perspective and, most importantly, keep them coming back.
Providing a link to Lindsay Lohan’s fan page may not do much for credibility.
So, THINK BEFORE YOU LINK!
“Cover what you do best. Link to the rest,” Jeff Jarvis
One of the many misperceptions of bloggers is that they don’t report.
As a journalist, a blog is a tool.
You’re reading, researching and, in many cases, interviewing for your blog entries.
Don’t take shortcuts. Link out and attribute often.
Practice journalism, not plagiarism.
You’re fighting the image of the ranting blogger.
All the ‘old’ rules apply.
Don’t take shortcuts. Write, edit, revise.
Just because you can hit the publish button….
Take the time and respect your audience.
Typos and factual errors turn away readers and blogging doesn’t change that.
The old adage: “Write as long as it takes.”
Some bloggers write 1,500-word entries — and readers love it.
Ideally: 300-500 word range; shorter is better.
Consider a series of blog entries on a topic.
One way to get readers to come back while keeping entries short.
Old newspaper construct: Reporters write stories; editors write headlines.
Bloggers write headlines for audience & search engines.
SEO: Specifics in your headlines help search engines access content.
Make your headline work for you: Cover ground that draws the reader in.
Don’t just set up your blog and let it sit.
A successful blog, like a garden, needs tending.
Your audience is not going to just show up. Find time to blog and do it.
Incorporate pictures, video, audio, polls.
Read and comment on other blogs.
Respond to comments from your audience.
Not all the comments you get will be nice.
Warning: Thick skin needed.
Never respond to snark with snark.
Have a discussion, not a shouting match.
A Change of Direction
Journalism is no longer a lecture – more like an ongoing, developing conversation.
Blogs, message boards, online discussions have created a two-way information highway for journalists.
The “group formerly known as the audience” is creating information through wikis and user-generated content.
It’s far easier for people to communicate from places previously unimaginable. (ie: tsunami coverage.)
State of Journalism
In 2009 Twitter and other social media emerged as powerful tools for disseminating information and mobilizing citizens such as evading the censors in Iran and communicating from the earthquake disaster zone in Haiti.
The majority of Internet users (59%) now use some kind of social media, including Twitter, blogging and networking sites.
-- Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism
The ‘Future of News’
"This year for the first time I have come to believe that we will be able to tell you about certain subjects better on the Internet than we will be able to in print.”
-- Washington Post Chairman Don Graham, 2005
-- That was FIVE years ago!
Go Grab The Ball!