Writing for social media

MED7007: Online & Mobile Newsgathering, Production & Distribution

Who says you can’t do anything with 140 characters?

Be professional. Wear a tuxedo to Burger King.

http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-new-l-a-times-redesign-would-like-to-write-that-tweet-for-you-thank-you-very-much/

“Reporters will be asked to write three pretweets with each

article”

What I’ll cover:

1. What makes users click on SM updates2. Thinking beyond text: multimedia and

‘links’3. The importance of testing and

measuring

What works?

..

“Photos give the biggest lift withquotes coming in a close second.

Tweets containing numbers, a video url and hashtags also lead to double-digit boost.”

https://media.twitter.com/best-practice/news-the-impact-of-tweeting-with-photos-videos-hashtags-and-links

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/scientific-guide-posting-tweets-facebook-posts-emails-blog-posts-best-time/82749/

http://blog.sumall.com/journal/posting-dead-zones.html

“Folks who schedule their tweets schedule at certain points. This is why you should never tweet at the :00, :15,

:30 or :45 of the hour.”

http://www.mediabistro.com/10000words/twitter-times_b9966

“Photos give the biggest lift withquotes coming in a close second.

Tweets containing numbers, a video url and hashtags also lead to double-digit boost.”

http://blog.bufferapp.com/10-new-twitter-stats-twitter-statistics-to-help-you-reach-your-followers

“Photos give the biggest lift withquotes coming in a close second.

Tweets containing numbers, a video url and hashtags also lead to double-digit boost.”

http://blog.bufferapp.com/a-scientific-guide-to-writing-great-headlines-on-twitter-facebook-and-your-blog

“A small amount of editorial effort was the difference between one of the best tweets of the year and a headline from print

that was less effective in the context of social media”

http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/01/if-a-tweet-worked-once-send-it-again-and-other-lessons-from-the-new-york-times-social-media-desk/

“We don’t always need to try so hard to write an unforgettable tweet, or one that tempts the reader too much. Clarity and straightforwardness around interesting subject matter are

ultimately rewarded by substantial reader interest.”

http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/01/if-a-tweet-worked-once-send-it-again-and-other-lessons-from-the-new-york-times-social-media-desk/

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/the-facebook-effect-on-the-news/283746/

Twitter

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/the-facebook-effect-on-the-news/283746/

Facebook

Case studies

..

●“If a tweet worked once, send it again [on weekend]”

●“Don’t bother calling it a “rerun” or apologizing to people who might have seen it before. Simply wait a few hours and change up the language.”

http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/01/if-a-tweet-worked-once-send-it-again-and-other-lessons-from-the-new-york-times-social-media-desk/http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/03/tweet-late-and-e-mail-early-using-data-to-develop-strategy/

“In the case of repeating a tweet four times in thirty-two hours, there was a big spike for the first tweet, but the next three still yielded very good results.”

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/how-to-drive-traffic-with-repeat-tweets-1/

“In the case of repeating a tweet four times in thirty-two hours, there was a big spike for the first tweet, but the next three still yielded very good results.”

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/160749/stats-show-how-to-increase-click-through-rates-on-your-tweets/

Beyond the link

Using Twitter as a journalist

"Letting our trusted reporters deliver some news first [on Twitter] helps

them connect directly with an interested audience, and delivers news in a timely manner without sacrificing

our commitment to accuracy."

http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/01/if-a-tweet-worked-once-send-it-again-and-other-lessons-from-the-new-york-times-social-media-desk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogcollegeofjournalism/posts/Perfect-Twitter-for-journalists-Take-a-masterclass-from-ITVLauraK-

“Journalists who tweet 20% fewer links — either links to their own stories or to

other online content — and 100% percent more mentions, including

handles and @replies … actually grow their following by more than 17% over

the long term.

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/05/mark-luckie-twitter-not-getting-into-news-business

"There is obviously a correlation between number of tweets and total

volume of traffic that goes to an article … just not a relationship between

stories that are most heavily consumed and stories that are most

heavily tweeted."

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/14/5411934/youre-not-going-to-read-this

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-measurement/new-research-finds-the-curation-vs-creation-sweet-spot/

“20% fewer clicks per post than Curators, but their conversion rate is 10X higher. I’ll take that trade any day.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsdvJI0AK5M

Key points recapped:

●Succinct, clear, engaging + verbs●Add value through multimedia and links

- including hashtags and @ names●Timing is key - but test what works

Knight & Cook: Social Media for JournalistsPinboard.in/u:paulbradshaw/t:twitterSee Moodle for links & reading

Further reading.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/01/upshot/twitter-quiz.html

http://blog.newswhip.com/index.php/2014/07/turn-twitter-facebook-traffic-subscriptions-part-one

Advanced!