Twitter is trying to encourage journalists, with the company publishing guidelines designed to help journalists — traditional, new media, professional, citizen — to use the platform effectively, The Australian has reported.
Twitter for Newsrooms, which went live last week at media.twitter.com/newsrooms, is split into four main categories, starting with "Report", which shows how to use Twitter's advanced search functions and includes case studies on how reporters have used it to find and verify sources for stories.
The details: [Link]
As Twitter itself explains: "We want to make our tools easier to use so you can focus on your job: finding sources, verifying facts, publishing stories, promoting your work and yourself -- and doing all of it faster and faster all the time."
The "Engage" section points to the glossary of key terms and has examples of what it considers to be world-class US media Twitter users, including Stelter (@brianstelter), former CBS News anchor Katie Couric (@katiecouric) and The Washington Post's Melissa Bell (@melissabell), to demonstrate effective tweeting.
"Publish" explains how journalists and organisations can integrate Twitter feeds into their own websites and broadcasts and gives the company's guidelines on how content from the network should be displayed and credited. "Extra" includes links to Twitter's blogs, including in other languages, its support and safety help desks and other resources.
TfN also shows examples from overseas of "best practice" media Twitter use, including the new trend in the US for programs to use "persistent hashtags". This is when a suggested identifier for a show (for example, #comedyawards or #bones) is stamped on-screen throughout the broadcast so viewers know how to find each other on Twitter.
The guide has had mixed reviews. Journalism blog 10,000 Words described the site as "a comprehensive and helpful resource for journalists of all levels hoping to gain some insight into Twitter's potential for journalists".
