Classroom Publication

Issue date: 11/23/09 Section: Social Media

Media Credit: Julian Narvaez [Click to enlarge]

Social networking is revolutionizing the way that news is spread to the masses. It is also helping journalists get wind of stories quicker than ever before. Through web sites like Twitter.com news is getting to more and more people and helping journalists do a more efficient job. Twitter has also begun to be used by celebrities as a marketing tool proving that social networking has many uses.

TWITTER AND JOURNALISM

Journalists have started to take advantage of what twitter can do for them. Humberto Martinez, a reporter for the Times Union, is one of these journalists. “Twitter is a great way to build a network,” said Mr. Martinez. “It is also a great way to get sources.” According to Mr. Martinez, Twitter has helped him with reporting because he is able to get local sources more easily.  By following locals he hears about potential news stories way before they might come to an editor’s attention. This helps him because he can break a story before competitors and at the same time gets a local perspective of what happened. This, he says is what is making social networking applications such as Twitter such a hit. It lets the population get involved in the news much like blogs. Mr. Martinez also likes Twitter because it helped him build a network. “When I moved from Houston up to Albany I lost my network of people that I had in Houston. Twitter helped me build a new network here,” said Mr. Martinez. For journalists Twitter has so far proven to be a good way to get news and since it is relatively new don’t be surprised if journalists keep on finding new ways to make it a useful tool.

USING TWITTER TO GET THE NEWS

It is no secret that newspapers have been on the . So how do people get their news now? The Internet. With many newspapers putting the news online for free more and more people have started to go to Internet instead of buying the paper. Now with Twitter it is easier than ever to get your news. “I didn’t really read any news until I decided to join Twitter,” said Nick Gallinelli, a senior. “It makes it so much easier since all I have to do is follow the New York Times and they send me links to their latest news stories.” This is a win-win for news organizations. Not only can they spread the news to more people but they also get more traffic to their websites because people click the links to read the articles. “Many people only go to the Times Union website by clicking on the links from their tweets,” said Mr. Martinez.

TWITTER USED FOR MARKETING

Some people have started to use Twitter as a marketing tool. People like recording artists, authors, and athletes use Twitter to inform people about new albums, books, and endorsements. “Twitter is a media/marketing vehicle disguised as a social network,” said Bill Simmons, a columnist for ESPN.com, in an interview for mediaite.com. Mr. Simmons also used Twitter to promote a book he wrote.

Recording artist Snoop Dogg is also using Twitter as a way to market himself. He is constantly tweeting about his new record.

Athletes are following suit, especially Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinnati Bengals. Mr. Ochocinco uses Twitter to give back to the fans and at the same time markets his image. He is always taking fans to movies, dinner, and even holds contests on Twitter in which the winners get tickets to his next game, sometimes even providing plane tickets.

Using Twitter as a marketing tool seems like a good idea so far.

IMPACT OF TWITTER

Although Twitter is relatively new it is already making an impact. By helping journalists break news early and have it reach a mass of people social networking is helping to revolutionize journalism.

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