When journalism meets social media

By Stephany Reihing

Social media has overtaken the world so it's no surprise that journalists are joining websites like Twitter and Facebook to promote their stories and gather information. If done right, it means more clicks on a story and a wider audience who is viewing it. Not all journalists are using social media and it takes a certain level of dedication to grow your Twitter followers by responding to replies, promoting your stories, and maintaining a personal touch to your profile. 

I talked with Kara Chow, a journalist living in Canada. She is a new college graduate who was given her college diploma in June 2009 and has seen success in the journalism field thus far. I asked her about her social media experience and how she uses it with her work.

How long have you been in journalism?

I graduated in June 2009 with a Bachelor of Journalism degree. I got a job right after school as the editor at a small weekly community newspaper and I worked there for a year before leaving for another job at a larger daily, city-wide newspaper. It's an entry-level position in the classified department, but hey, you've got to start somewhere, right? I've managed to spread the word through the office that I have a journalism background and I even picked up some freelance work because of it.

What social media platforms do you use?

I mainly use Facebook and Twitter.

When, how, and why did you start?

I started using Facebook just out of curiosity. I was in a giant lecture theater for one of my university courses and was surfing the Internet, so I thought I'd check it out just to see what the fuss was about and I've been hooked ever since.

With Twitter, it took me a while to jump on that bandwagon. I never really quite understood it and thought of it being like Facebook, but only with constant "status" updates. I signed up because a friend of mine was bugging me to, and now I find it quite useful, as far as learning about breaking news.

About how much time a week do you spend using social media for work?

Nowadays, I very rarely use it for work. I'm a freelance writer now, but I don't really promote myself that way. When I was the editor at the weekly paper, I maintained the company's Twitter and Facebook pages, but that was maybe only once or twice a week, depending on what my boss wanted to promote.

Why do you use social media?

I mainly use it to keep in touch with people, and to see what other businesses are up to. As a journalist, I think it's a good idea to keep tabs on what other journalists are writing about and what kind of information and stories are making waves. I feel, and I think that I could speak for a lot of people, that it keeps me in the loop.

Does your employer require you to use social media?

Not in my current position, but I would imagine that if I were ever to move into a staff reporter position, that I would have to. My newspaper has just recently branched out into social media.

Does your employer have a policy about how its journalist use social media? If so, can you describe the policy or share it?

I honestly don't know, but I have my own set of rules as to how I use it. For instance, I keep my  profiles on both my Facebook and my Twitter accounts locked so only people I approve of can see them. And I don't Tweet anything that could possibly be passed down the grapevine as hurtful to a person.