Ways news outlets are using Pinterest. Note: This post appeared in the September/October issue of Quill. Pinterest might have a reputation as a social network for sharing recipes and fashion tips, but news organizations across the country are embracing Pinterest in innovating ways. In case you’re not acquainted, Pinterest is an image-based social network where users post links and photos onto different topic boards. The posts show up as a stream of images, like photos pinned to a bulletin board. Each user can create and pin to dozens of different topic boards, to share different types of content. Like with Twitter, you can follow other people – or individual boards – on Pinterest, to see what items they are pinning.
The simplicity and visual appeal give posters a different approach to attract interest for their content. Several newspapers are using Pinterest for fashion, food and other features items. But the visual power of the social network can extend well beyond fluff stories, as the following examples show. Some top tips for news branding on social media. The other day, I mentioned that I’ve been transitioning TBD’s social media channels to a new team and doing some basic training in how to communicate as a news brand. I got into how news brands need to have a planned persona and strategy in place to effectively manage a presence in social media. Today, I’ll pass on the tips I’ve been giving to the new brand managers for you to try out in your newsroom. These tips assume that you don’t want a stiff headline feed for your news accounts and you will be devoting some manpower – either a set staffer or a group sharing duties – to maintaining a personalized social media presence.
Tweeting as the News Brand 1. Think curation instead of broadcasting. 2. 2.5 If you do want/need to tweet a roundup post, highlighting an individual segment works well for Twitter interest.It’s way better than saying “Today’s news in X” or, god forbid, “link roundup on X”. 3. 3.5 Space non-breaking tweets out to avoid flooding people’s streams too much. 4. 5. 6. 7. Instagram for Business. Athens Twitters. How to create social-media guidelines. Social media use continues to increase within organizations, yet very few companies have policies giving employees guidance about what to do. Without such guidance, organizations run the risk that employees will make mistakes in trying to balance the personal and the professional, either by posting something unwise on a personal site or making a faux pas while posting on behalf of the company.
But such organizations are also missing out on rewards — their employees will be less likely to take advantage of opportunities to build both their own personal online brands and benefit their employers. There’s no magic bullet when it comes to creating a social media policy, nor is there a form to fill out that is guaranteed to work for your organization: look at the differences between Yahoo! ‘s “risk vs. reward” approach, Ford‘s reliance on common sense, and The Journal Register Company’s deliberately cheeky simplicity.
Limitations to consider Elements of a strong policy. Breaking news technique example (Denver Post) Journalists at the Denver Post demonstrated some excellent uses of Twitter in their coverage of the massacre at the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colo., Friday. I was planning to write about hashtags today in my #twutorial series on how journalists should use Twitter, but I’ve pushed that one back to next week. Breaking news is one of the most important ways journalists can use Twitter, and the coverage of the shooting illustrated several things individual journalists and news organizations should do in covering a breaking story.
Tweet the unfolding story This was perhaps the strongest aspect of the Post’s Twitter use during the shooting coverage. Twitter was the most efficient and fastest way to keep readers updated on both the atmosphere of several locations and new information streaming in. Reporter Kristen Painter elaborated: When I was sent out to cover the developments at the shooting suspect’s apartment Saturday morning, I live-tweeted the activities. Turn tweets into stories.