Kiplinger Program / Ohio State University

Training and tools for digital storytelling. We run a weeklong fellowship program, as well as workshops and newsroom training across the United States.

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Scenes from the Social Media Summit at Ohio State University

Enjoy these photos from the 2012 Social Media Summit at The Ohio State University. Speakers tackled topics including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, social media metrics, audience engagement, validation/accuracy and building your personal brand online.

Photos by Beth Gianforcaro of the SPJ Central Ohio Pro Chapter.

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Scenes from the Social Media Summit at Ohio State University

Enjoy these photos from the 2012 Social Media Summit at The Ohio State University. Speakers tackled topics including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, social media metrics, audience engagement, validation/accuracy and building your personal brand online.

Photos by Beth Gianforcaro of the SPJ Central Ohio Pro Chapter.

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Visuals, context and mobile emerge as top social media trends

By Matthew Lovett | @matthewklovett

The Ohio State University

A question often asked of those involved in the social media realm is, “What’s the next big thing?”

In the final presentation of the Social Media Summit, Adam Schweigert of the Investigative News Network pointed out the greater social media trends online and the best application of those social media tools. He's posted a summary online of his seven trends to watch.

The presentation was kicked off with context to newer social media websites Pinterest and Instagram. Both are largely image-based social networks.

Schweigert described trends in social networks; the first one being the manner in which certain tools are becoming multimedia venues of information. A series of social networks, such as the blogging site Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram allow users to infuse text and visual.

Another trend was how conversations are serving as content. For this point, Schweigert cited Reddit, which supplies a series of message boards to which users can contribute and form.

Schweigert then noted a migration from Facebook as a user’s sole social media tool to smaller applications. This would consist of making a switch from Facebook to having separate applications for photos and messaging.

Smart phones and tablets are skyrocketing in use, with 60 percent of Facebook users accessing the service on their mobile devices.

The last trend Schweigert described was the integration of technology in the home, such as a smart thermostat that automatically adjusts as well as smart cars that would be able to sense pedestrians and red lights.

Despite discussing a variety of social media tools in his presentation, Schweigert made it a point to explain that it was not important for everyone to download and utilize every single new application. According to Schweigert, it is important to know what will benefit your business the most before choosing what applications to use; be sure to ask yourself “why?” several times before becoming too involved in any particular social network.

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Avoid errors using social media in breaking news

By Lauren Boyd | @lcboyd

and Breanna Soroka | @breannaLsoroka

The Ohio State University

As the virtual world becomes ever more fast-paced -- thanks in large part to media-sharing sites such as Twitter and Instagram -- accuracy is key to maintaining credibility, according to Steve Myers, deputy managing editor for The Lens, a nonprofit investigative news center in New Orleans. He previously worked as managing editor ofPoynter.org.

Introduced as a “pre-Twitter” force in online news, Myers outlined his strategy for determining accuracy with three steps: discovery, validation, and publication.

  Discovery

Myers likened Twitter to a cocktail party, but said that during a news event it becomes more like a police scanner. You can't immediately publish everything you see, since many things may not pan out.

In order to make these discoveries, Myers listed several tools of the trade that came in the form of various search engines. Topsy, Storify, and Geofeedia were at the top of this list.

Although YouTube will always have an information delay, it can also be used to find specific information; videos on Facebook walls of television news sources act in the same way.

Validation

Because social networks aren't designed to check facts, it's up to the users to do this.

Begin by contacting the source and checking the background of the media being questioned.

Next, seek corroborating information -- this can come in the form of social media, interviews, photos, or other news stories that cite their sources.

Publication

Always attribute sources. This creates accountability for your actions.

In terms of retweeting, this practice creates a "chain of custody." You should always be led back to the source.

Myers used Hurricane Sandy and its chain of social media traffic for many of his examples. Ten photos were posted per second as the storm approached, and 800,000+ photos were posted (plus the 3 million tweets). With numbers this large, people want us to filter the noise.

People think that you need a photo or piece of information ASAP, and because of that assumption, the information is not always "real." However, according to Myers, there is a process. The pros don't rush it. It never hurts to wait a beat, and being cautious can work in your favor.

Pictures posted online that were thought to be less than truthful were shown, and Myers told of the stories behind them and how the truth was eventually brought to light. A picture of a carousel completely surrounded by water was the frontrunner of these pictures, and the original photographer had to be tracked down to verify that the event was accurate. Once it was discovered that it was -- and a second photograph popped up showcasing the same scene -- it was determined that this photograph was real.

Within the first five minutes of breaking news, start quickly, before the hoaxsters and SEO spammers. Lock in and follow sources early. Most social media platforms (specifically Twitter) are not interested in fact-checking, so it's up to us to pick up that work. Contact the source and check the background. Can you get in touch with the source?

DISCOVERY TOOLS

Advanced Twitter search (but there's noise)

Topsy: Powerful customizable seach

YouTube: 15-minute delay

Storify: Includes Instagram photos

TV station Facebook walls: Users' photos/videos

Geofeedia: Location-based search of Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, YouTube and Instagram

Reverse image search (Tineye, Google Image): Can take a photo on Twitter, give the the URL, and Tineye will tell you if that image has been uploaded before. Google Chrome allows for a right-click with Google Image.

Photoshop forensics: Don't try to be a photoshop detective. Ask a photographer how a particular image might have been altered and edited.

Why are people so eager to spread fake photos and information? "Our standards for truth-telling are not shared universally," Myers said. "People don't always share images for a representation of truth."

So, it's up to us to determine what is real and what is fake.

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Master these apps for breaking news

By Lauren Boyd | @lcboyd

The Ohio State University

Sona Patel, social media producer at The New York Times, has great examples of crisis situations in which real-time reporting was key to getting quality and timely information to her audience. When is the best time for journalists to do real-time reporting? Her answer: Right now; all the time!

Patel gave a few examples that she worked through at The Seattle Times and now at The New York Times. Throughout all of her examples (Lakewood police shooting, May Day protests), some of the same key messages resonated.

Reporters were equipped with iPads and smartphones to take videos and photos in the field. Don’t wait for breaking news to familiarize yourself with your equipment. Do lunch-and-learns with your team or seek out online tutorials.

At The Seattle Times, journalists were sent out into different areas during breaking news and tweeted updates, photos and videos throughout the day. For the newspaper, it's important to hold reporters accountable for information and to have information filtering in from different reporters in different places. As a reporter in the field, although there’s a lot to do (interview, write, take live video, take photos, Tweet, Facebook, create a Storify), so don’t try to do everything. What are the things that are going to be the most useful? What do you think your audience wants to see?

Patel described her favorite apps for reporting in the field:

VIDEO AND PHOTO

Camera+: Photo taking and editing all in one. Instantly share photos.

YouTube: Shoot video. Upload directly onto channel. Embeddable. Searchable.

Photosynth: Take panoramas at the scene of breaking news. Free and easy to use.

COMMUNICATION

5-0 radio police scanner lite: Largest collection of police, firefighter, etc. radios. Listen to dispatches while you’re on the go.

Glympse: Share your location with anyone for a specific period of time. Helpful for coordinating teams in the field covering a big story.

GroupMe: Group messaging service. Communicate with your team during breaking news.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Advanced Twitter Search: Keep a running search of a specific hashtag or search term. Lots of ways to customize and filter searches, including the ability to look for tweets in a specific city or location.

Instagram: Show a different perspective with this photo-sharing service.

Foursquare: Find a source on the scene – fast.

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Tap into the true power of LinkedIn

By Lauren Boyd | @lcboyd

The Ohio State University

Krista Canfield tweeted, “I hope everyone is sufficiently caffeinated for my LinkedIn presentation this morning.” No need for excessive caffeine when Canfield, senior manager for corporate communications at LinkedIn, shows Kip Campers a whole new world of LinkedIn.

1. LinkedIn Skills. While it’s still in beta testing, this feature will help you find experts and make yourself an expert as well. It will let you know when a skill is growing. For example, are people including (insert skill) more or less than they did last year? When filling out your own profile, you’ll want to keep in mind, “What skills do I want to be searched and known for?"

2. LinkedIn Today. Canfield refers to this as the office “water cooler” area of LinkedIn. What is the news that people are talking about today? Follow sources and get up-to-date information right on your LinkedIn homepage.

3. Company Pages. Get scoops on acquisitions – find out who joined the company and where they came from. Along with this, you can receive updates on when the company posts jobs and use the career tab to find jobs.

4. Search. With about 187 million LinkedIn users, you can search for users by title, relevance, relationship, etc. If you’re a free user and want to get in touch with a person, work through your network and ask for an introduction. Send an InMail message if you have a premium account.

5. All Updates. See what everyone in your organization is talking about. Sort profile updates.

6. Groups. Ask questions, encounter people and expand your network.

7. Settings. Change how you appear when you view someone’s profile. Opt out of email updates for groups.

Two more pro tips from Canfield:

1. The people you are connected to on LinkedIn are reflections of you. Your network should be about quality -- not quantity.

2. Nurture your network before you need it. Don’t wait to connect with people until you need them for something.

And Canfield's quote of the day? “LinkedIn works as six degrees of Kevin Bacon, except it's three degrees of LinkedIn.”

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8 Rules of Branding

By Dan Hope | @Dan_Hope   The Ohio State University   With social media being more prevalent than ever before, it is important for modern journalists to use social media as a tool to build a personal brand for themselves. Robin J. Phillips, digital director of the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University, taught attendees at the Social Media Summit how to do so.   Phillips defined a personal brand as “a collection of perceptions someone else has describing the experience of having a relationship with you.” With much of that brand now defined by your online presence, you can control your brand by using social media, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs — a simple WordPress blog is fine — effectively.

“If you are not branding yourself," she said, "you can be sure others are doing it for you.”

Phillips said the first step of branding is knowing your talents, skills and goals. Once you can answer for yourself who you are, you can define your brand to answer that question for others.

Since your friends and colleagues may have a more honest opinion than you have of yourself, Phillips recommended asking them to help define who you are.

Phillips said branding yourself can be as simple as “you being you,” but that you should use social media tools to “stand up and say who you are.” She said it is important to create a brand promise, which describes what another party will get out of hiring you, reading your story or following you on Twitter.

Finally, Phillips gave the audience eight rules of branding:

Be diligent.

Be consistent.

Be relevant.

Be interesting.

Be yourself.

Be simple.

Be unique.

Be focused.

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Harness the crowd and engage your audience

By Beth Gianforcaro

Central Ohio SPJ Pro Chapter

Putting “social” in the social media plan of a news organization means engaging the audience beyond churning out links and monitoring page views. That advice comes from Mandy Jenkins, digital page editor for Digital First Media.

Speaking via a Google Hangout on Air to a standing-room-only audience, Jenkins encouraged journalists and communicators to consider the types of social media uses for readers, rules that apply to all social media uses, and to think about meaningful and unique ways to engage readers.

According to Jenkins, there are three key ways to connect with readers:

1) Conversation – know what issues people in your community are talking about and cover those issues;

2) Collaboration  -- look or ways to cover news in the community by working with readers;

3) Outreach -- reach out to readers by keeping relevant customer service in mind.

When working with social media, Jenkins encourages users to consider these key rules/guidelines of engagement: 

·  Respond to readers – Jenkins considers this the most important rule of social media. Respond to people when they respond to you. If people take the time and care enough about responding to you, be sure you get back to them. Pick the feedback you want to re-tweet. Further, Jenkins says readers like to learn about how news stories are developed. “They like to see behind the curtain and how the sausage is made.”

·  Ask for help -- Readers want to participate in our news gathering process and story development, so ask for help! Be thankful when they help you. Consider putting a note of how they contributed at the bottom of your story.

·  Correct mistakes -- If you make a mistake, make corrections quickly and publicly.  Do not try to cover it up – “remember, the cover up is way worst than the crime,” Jenkins said.

·  Do not fight online -- When you get criticism, don’t get into a fight about it.  “There is nothing worse than a fight with a reader, “said Jenkins.  She recommends that once an exchange it gets beyond a second back-and-forth message, take if offline.  Address such concerns one-on-one and do not engage it on social media.

·  Be consistent -- Readers like to know what to expect from journalists and news organization on social media so maintain consistency (i.e. consider Tweeting at the same time of day).

·  Give useful information – Be sure to share information that is useful to your audience – social media is not just about your headlines and links. Be human and offer more to the audience that is more than the regular news story. 

When considering methods to further engage audiences, Jenkins offered the following recommendations:

·  Online chats – People love online chats. They can provide effective discussions among readers, journalists and community leaders such as public officials, coaches and other experts.  For news organizations, these online chats can provide feedback about what readers want to see in news coverage. When using online chats, Jenkins recommends that reporters encourage the audience to leave questions on an online message board in advance of the chat. This allows an opportunity to research responses and promote the online topic in advance. This type of engagement and interaction does not require advanced software and can be effective. Suggested tools: CoverItLive and ScribbleLive. 

·  Video chats – Combine online and video chats to maximize engagement with the audience. The New York Times uses this combination often and promotes chats a week in advance. And, we even used it at #kipcamp! Suggested tool: Google Hangouts. 

·  Collaboration – Also known as “crowdsourcing,” this concept involves asking readers to participate in news-gathering projects. They “opt in” for participation by providing feedback on a wide variety of news – including breaking news and long-term projects. Generally speaking, we are asking the audience, "What can you tell us about this story?"

Jenkins also highlighted the following crowdsourcing tools:

·  MapAList – allows a connection between a Google Form to a map.  For example, a community in California uses this form for a neighborhood crime watch program.  This is also a good tool if reporters want readers to contribute data to a map (i.e. best Christmas lights or Fish Frys in town!).

·  SoundCloud – allows crowdsourcing online using audio. 

·  All Our Ideas.org – responses built around one question but allows people to contribute a variety of responses. Used recently for election coverage voter feedback.

·  Storify – Enables bringing pieces and parts (photos, documents, maps, quotes) from different sources to build your story. These resources are embeddable and can be created over time. Good for adding community feedback to a developing story – a contemporary “letter to the editor.”  You can pull in You Tube videos and publish on your site.

Finally, Jenkins reminded journalists: “There is still real life to consider – you can still talk to your audience one-on-one!" Get out of the office and talk with people in person. Meet with them at coffee shops, town meetings, mobile newsrooms and events. She suggests that some papers have used happy hours and inviting the community to use newsroom resources for their research as a way to meet people in person. Tools such as Eventbrite and Facebook event scheduling can assist with planning.

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Harness the crowd and engage your audience

By Beth Gianforcaro

Central Ohio SPJ Pro Chapter

Putting “social” in the social media plan of a news organization means engaging the audience beyond churning out links and monitoring page views. That advice comes from Mandy Jenkins, digital page editor for Digital First Media.

Speaking via a Google Hangout on Air to a standing-room-only audience, Jenkins encouraged journalists and communicators to consider the types of social media uses for readers, rules that apply to all social media uses, and to think about meaningful and unique ways to engage readers.

According to Jenkins, there are three key ways to connect with readers:

1) Conversation – know what issues people in your community are talking about and cover those issues;

2) Collaboration  -- look or ways to cover news in the community by working with readers;

3) Outreach -- reach out to readers by keeping relevant customer service in mind.

When working with social media, Jenkins encourages users to consider these key rules/guidelines of engagement: 

·  Respond to readers – Jenkins considers this the most important rule of social media. Respond to people when they respond to you. If people take the time and care enough about responding to you, be sure you get back to them. Pick the feedback you want to re-tweet. Further, Jenkins says readers like to learn about how news stories are developed. “They like to see behind the curtain and how the sausage is made.”

·  Ask for help -- Readers want to participate in our news gathering process and story development, so ask for help! Be thankful when they help you. Consider putting a note of how they contributed at the bottom of your story.

·  Correct mistakes -- If you make a mistake, make corrections quickly and publicly.  Do not try to cover it up – “remember, the cover up is way worst than the crime,” Jenkins said.

·  Do not fight online -- When you get criticism, don’t get into a fight about it.  “There is nothing worse than a fight with a reader, “said Jenkins.  She recommends that once an exchange it gets beyond a second back-and-forth message, take if offline.  Address such concerns one-on-one and do not engage it on social media.

·  Be consistent -- Readers like to know what to expect from journalists and news organization on social media so maintain consistency (i.e. consider Tweeting at the same time of day).

·  Give useful information – Be sure to share information that is useful to your audience – social media is not just about your headlines and links. Be human and offer more to the audience that is more than the regular news story. 

When considering methods to further engage audiences, Jenkins offered the following recommendations:

·  Online chats – People love online chats. They can provide effective discussions among readers, journalists and community leaders such as public officials, coaches and other experts.  For news organizations, these online chats can provide feedback about what readers want to see in news coverage. When using online chats, Jenkins recommends that reporters encourage the audience to leave questions on an online message board in advance of the chat. This allows an opportunity to research responses and promote the online topic in advance. This type of engagement and interaction does not require advanced software and can be effective. Suggested tools: CoverItLive and ScribbleLive. 

·  Video chats – Combine online and video chats to maximize engagement with the audience. The New York Times uses this combination often and promotes chats a week in advance. And, we even used it at #kipcamp! Suggested tool: Google Hangouts. 

·  Collaboration – Also known as “crowdsourcing,” this concept involves asking readers to participate in news-gathering projects. They “opt in” for participation by providing feedback on a wide variety of news – including breaking news and long-term projects. Generally speaking, we are asking the audience, "What can you tell us about this story?"

Jenkins also highlighted the following crowdsourcing tools:

·  MapAList – allows a connection between a Google Form to a map.  For example, a community in California uses this form for a neighborhood crime watch program.  This is also a good tool if reporters want readers to contribute data to a map (i.e. best Christmas lights or Fish Frys in town!).

·  SoundCloud – allows crowdsourcing online using audio. 

·  All Our Ideas.org – responses built around one question but allows people to contribute a variety of responses. Used recently for election coverage voter feedback.

·  Storify – Enables bringing pieces and parts (photos, documents, maps, quotes) from different sources to build your story. These resources are embeddable and can be created over time. Good for adding community feedback to a developing story – a contemporary “letter to the editor.”  You can pull in You Tube videos and publish on your site.

Finally, Jenkins reminded journalists: “There is still real life to consider – you can still talk to your audience one-on-one!" Get out of the office and talk with people in person. Meet with them at coffee shops, town meetings, mobile newsrooms and events. She suggests that some papers have used happy hours and inviting the community to use newsroom resources for their research as a way to meet people in person. Tools such as Eventbrite and Facebook event scheduling can assist with planning.

[kipprogram-blog]

Tackle social media metrics to improve your coverage

By Lauren Boyd | @lcboyd

The Ohio State University

It’s all about the likes. Said no one ever, according to Jodi Gersh.

She offers up questions to ponder: Do you have a social media strategy? What are you trying to accomplish? What really counts? Can you benchmark and measure it?

It’s important to realize, and may be news to many, that getting more fans on Facebook is not a goal; it is a success criterion. There isn’t a “one fits all” method to the madness of social media metrics. Every market is going to have different goals; every market has to figure out a strategy of its own. But, she said it's important to set goals, implement tactics and be able to provide measures.

  Gersh shared some of Gannett’s social media goals: promote their journalism, enhance their reporting, increase engagement, elevate profiles and social influence of journalists, support customer concerns, and align with marketing and sales.

What do we want to measure? Total reach, activity and engagement. Although engagement is hard to define, we can say it is measured by takeaway value, sentiment or feelings, and resulting actions following the exchange.

One example of why engagement is so important is the new Edgerank – Facebook’s algorithm to determine which news to show on your newsfeed. The higher the rank, the more likely are people to see your post based on “engagement.” Getting more people to like your page is not always the way to go. The percentage of engaged fans to total fans can go down, and Facebook will think you are a less-engaged brand. Quick tip from Gersh: Photos get a ton more engagement. Post a photo with a link, and not just a link.

Free tools for social media metrics:

Facebook: Facebook Insights, Edgerank checker

Twitter: Web analytics, Twitter Counter, Tweetreach, Bit.ly

All: Add this 

Premium tools for social media metrics:

Facebook: Pagelever, Edgerank checker

Twitter: Radian6

All: Simply Measured, Spredfast, Argyle

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Become a Twitter rock star with 10 tips

By Nicole Kraft l @nicole_kraft

Assistant Professor-Clinical (Journalism) The Ohio State University

KipCamp appropriately welcomed social media rock star Mark S. Luckie from Twitter to end the morning session talking about “10 Awesome Ways to Become a Rock Star Journalist on Twitter Without Trying Too Hard or Annoying Your Friends.”

Luckie, formerly of the Washington Post and developer of the must-read blog 10,000 Words, told the gathered Kip Campers that many journalists fall at either end of a spectrum: shy lurkers or those who share breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between.

Success depends on figure out what works for you—and your followers.

Tip No. 1: Don’t be an egg. Put up a photo, fill in your bio and use your name in your handle.

Tip No. 2: Tweet Your Beat: Live tweet an event. Connect with other people. Growth, he said, can be 50 percent more if you live tweet, citing the example of @SGanim, who spiked her followers when she live tweeted the Jerry Sandusky trial.

Tip No. 3: Use Twitter handles in your tweets. Sharing your articles gives you baseline traffic, but mentions and tweets--not just links--grow more over time. @Cite your source!

Tip No. 4: Use hash tags well to thread conversations. You can increase engagement almost 10 percent for journalists and 50 percent for news organizations. But that doesn’t mean putting hash tags in front of every word. Define your keyword or subject.

Tip No. 5: Use lists to create a customized timeline. Find them on the left side of every public profile. Search other people’s lists to find people to follow.

Tip No. 6: Be a power searcher using www.twitter.com/search. Search people, images, videos, verified users, lists, links, near specific location.

Tip No. 7: Be a Tweet Deck ninja (www.tweetdeck.com).

Tip No. 8: Tweet photos and videos--you can get 75 percent more engagement. Tweet out graphics and charts.

Tip No. 9: Use the Discover tab on top of twitter.com. Use it as the front page for people in your circle. Caveat: Make sure you first follow the right people.

Tip No. 10: Don’t just listen—participate! You will grow as a reporter using mentions and hash tags.

Mark said to be sure and check out additional resources at bit.ly/TwitterForNews and @TwitterForNews.

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Dig deeper with social tools for sourcing and backgrounding

By Lauren Boyd | @lcboyd

The Ohio State University

Before a sold-out crowd, Kiplinger Program director Doug Haddix shared tools to dig deeper with social media for reporting on individuals and companies. He kicked off the two-day Social Media Summit at Ohio State University by demonstrating how social media tools give journalists more power to root out sources and find information.

Here are examples he cited:

Knowem.com: Check username and domain name availability. See where someone lives in the virtual world.

Listorious: Use to search for people and experts on Twitter.

Foller me: See who’s following whom. Shows issues and key hashtags. Good for social backgrounding.

Social mention: Cross-search of several social media platforms. Good for breaking news.

Topsy: Search topics, languages, time frames. Haddix described this as a “pretty powerful tool.”

Mention: Shows key searches and will get you real time searches. Free tool, with a premium service available.

Twazzup: What are you missing out on? Real time. Shows who is most actively tweeting about a topic, who is most influential on topic. Good for background news.

Monitter: Good for people who aren’t on Twitter. Monitor in real time and set up geographical search location. Election 2012 is a great example. Track where messages originate.

Ban.jo: Tweets, YouTube posts, Flickr photos. App for your phone. Real time so you can stay ahead of the competition. Be careful, though – you have to validate information.

Geofeedia: Geographical search, and puts it in a more visual wrap-around. Collage button: skim everything at that location. Starting point – connect with those people and get permission to use.

Mappeo: YouTube geo search. Focuses only on video. Search “Sandy near New Jersey” and pulls up videos from NJ coast during hurricane. Helping to check accuracy --- are there two or three videos from the same location?

LINKEDIN

LinkedIn for Journalists: Join the group. Krista Canfield and team will send out update on how to stay ahead of the game.

Premium service: Free for journalists who do a 35-minute webinar. Keep your profile current and robust so sources can find you.

Finding sources: One of the most under-used tools out there. Search on a key word and see who comes up. Refine your searches. Specify by location. Follow companies; they will show new hires and recently departed.

TWITTER

Lists: Subscribe to lists on your beat or key topics. These will help you filter what you need to know right now. Set up a private list.

Snap Bird: For example: What has Gov. John Kasich tweeted with the word “union” in it? How many tweets? How many did it search? How far back does that go?

All My Tweets: Compiles all of someone’s tweets on one page for easy download and analysis.

Tweet Archivist: Shows old tweets, name of tweeter, date, etc.

FACEBOOK

Facebook + Journalists: Examples of how journalists are using Facebook and showcasing that work.

Be aware of privacy settings. They change regularly, and more info is probably public than you think.

You can search by email address and send messages to non-friends. Check out the lefthand side search tools.

[kipprogram-blog]

Dig deeper with social tools for sourcing and backgrounding

By Lauren Boyd | @lcboyd

The Ohio State University

Before a sold-out crowd, Kiplinger Program director Doug Haddix shared tools to dig deeper with social media for reporting on individuals and companies. He kicked off the two-day Social Media Summit at Ohio State University by demonstrating how social media tools give journalists more power to root out sources and find information.

Here are examples he cited:

Knowem.com: Check username and domain name availability. See where someone lives in the virtual world.

Listorious: Use to search for people and experts on Twitter.

Foller me: See who’s following whom. Shows issues and key hashtags. Good for social backgrounding.

Social mention: Cross-search of several social media platforms. Good for breaking news.

Topsy: Search topics, languages, time frames. Haddix described this as a “pretty powerful tool.”

Mention: Shows key searches and will get you real time searches. Free tool, with a premium service available.

Twazzup: What are you missing out on? Real time. Shows who is most actively tweeting about a topic, who is most influential on topic. Good for background news.

Monitter: Good for people who aren’t on Twitter. Monitor in real time and set up geographical search location. Election 2012 is a great example. Track where messages originate.

Ban.jo: Tweets, YouTube posts, Flickr photos. App for your phone. Real time so you can stay ahead of the competition. Be careful, though – you have to validate information.

Geofeedia: Geographical search, and puts it in a more visual wrap-around. Collage button: skim everything at that location. Starting point – connect with those people and get permission to use.

Mappeo: YouTube geo search. Focuses only on video. Search “Sandy near New Jersey” and pulls up videos from NJ coast during hurricane. Helping to check accuracy --- are there two or three videos from the same location?

LINKEDIN

LinkedIn for Journalists: Join the group. Krista Canfield and team will send out update on how to stay ahead of the game.

Premium service: Free for journalists who do a 35-minute webinar. Keep your profile current and robust so sources can find you.

Finding sources: One of the most under-used tools out there. Search on a key word and see who comes up. Refine your searches. Specify by location. Follow companies; they will show new hires and recently departed.

TWITTER

Lists: Subscribe to lists on your beat or key topics. These will help you filter what you need to know right now. Set up a private list.

Snap Bird: For example: What has Gov. John Kasich tweeted with the word “union” in it? How many tweets? How many did it search? How far back does that go?

All My Tweets: Compiles all of someone’s tweets on one page for easy download and analysis.

Tweet Archivist: Shows old tweets, name of tweeter, date, etc.

FACEBOOK

Facebook + Journalists: Examples of how journalists are using Facebook and showcasing that work.

Be aware of privacy settings. They change regularly, and more info is probably public than you think.

You can search by email address and send messages to non-friends. Check out the lefthand side search tools.

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MEET THE GURUS | Steve Myers

>>> Follow this regular feature as we highlight the talented speakers heading to Columbus for the Social Media Summit at Ohio State University on Nov. 13-14.

  Flash back to 2006. What was STEVE MYERS doing? One of the things on his plate at the time: attending the Kiplinger Fellowship in Public Affairs Journalism. It’s safe to say that Steve is no stranger to the Kiplinger Program. In addition to being a Kip fellow himself, Myers, now the deputy managing editor and senior staff writer for The Lens, spoke to a group of our 25 journalists at the Kiplinger Fellowship in spring 2012.

Steve’s journalism career spans more than 15 years, including positions at 10 newspapers and five online publications. At The Lens, he covers environmental issues, assists in running the website and oversees technology needs.

During our Social Media Summit, Steve will be talking real-time news, along with fellow speakers Sona Patel and Andrew Springer. Steve will focus on keeping your “stream” accurate during breaking news. How do you tell what’s accurate and what’s not? Steve will be the guide to help you filter through what’s real.

>>> Check out the full Social Media Summit schedule and register online. In addition, follow our ongoing social media conversation on Twitter at #kipcamp.

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MEET THE GURUS | Sona Patel

>>> Follow this regular feature as we highlight the talented speakers heading to Columbus for the Social Media Summit at Ohio State University on Nov. 13-14.

A native Californian, SONA PATEL recently has taken her talents to the East Coast. Previously a social media producer at The Seattle Times, Sona joined The New York Times in October as a social media producer.

With previous experience as a reporter and Web producer, Sona will help reporters and editors at The New York Times use social media to enhance their reporting and find sources. In 2010, she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Reporting – the first time that online reporting was mentioned in the prestigious award.

Sona will open up our real-time news series by talking about using mobile devices and tablets while reporting. It will be a homecoming of sorts, as Sona was a 2011 Kiplinger Fellow at Ohio State.

>>> Check out the full Social Media Summit schedule and register online. In addition, follow our ongoing social media conversation on Twitter at #kipcamp.

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MEET THE GURUS | Robin J. Phillips

>>> Follow this regular feature as we highlight the talented speakers heading to Columbus for the Social Media Summit at Ohio State University on Nov. 13-14.

  As a co-founder of #wjchat (Web journalists chat) on Twitter, ROBIN J. PHILLIPS lives on the digital edge. The innovative weekly Twitter chat has this focus: "We talk about all things content, technology, ethics, & business of journalism on the Web."

Robin works as digital director at the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University. She spoke at our Kiplinger Fellowship this past spring, and we’re happy to have her (and her expertise) back.

As like many of our other speakers, Robin wears many hats, including teaching a course on the Business & Future of Journalism at the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State. Previously, she worked at The Arizona Republic, Newsday and BusinessWeek Online.

At our Social Media Summit, Robin will talk about building your brand, whether it's your individual or company brand. As a consultant, Robin often speaks to journalists on how to manage their brand.

>>> Check out the full Social Media Summit schedule and register online. In addition, follow our ongoing social media conversation on Twitter at #kipcamp.