This post was originally published on this site
Every journalist needs to be on social media, especially Facebook and Twitter. It takes time to attract followers but the payoff is worth it in story ideas and an expanded audience for your work. So how do you get there?
Chip Mahaney, emerging talent leader for E.W. Scripps, says the number one rule of social media is simple: Be social. Here are nine more of the tips he shared at a Texas Association of Broadcasters newsroom workshop:
Be pleasant. Build relationships and work at them. That means asking opinions of others and thanking them for comments. As your audience grows, look for loyalists and pay attention to those people. Be a journalist. Break news on social media. (I’d add that you need to remember you’re a professional and act that way.) Be a photographer of quality. “Your camera has a phone,“ Mahaney says, so use it. And take care with your product. Be a starmaker. “Paint it blue,” Mahaney advises. That means using links in your posts, particularly to anyone who’s already established on the platform. That will give your posts a wider audience. Be a real person. Connect the social world with the physical world. That can mean sharing some personal information or bringing your social audience together IRL. Be helpful. Solve problems. Connect people to others. Provide information people are looking for. Be engaging. Work the comments. Mahaney says not doing that is the number one failing he sees on social. A tip: Leave a paragraph off the