Section I: Twitter
My Twitter handle is Insert Twitter Handle. I joined twitter in June 2009. Currently, I have 326 followers, and I am Following 295 twitter users. Initially, I was skeptical about the idea that there was nothing r anything useful that could be conveyed using the 140 character limit that Twitter offers as a journalist. Currently, all of the world’s most influential journalists and news organizations use twitter in various ways with their followers. People are able to be in communication with readers, peers and viewers in a manner that could not be possible during the newspaper times.
There are various strategies that I plan to utilize so as to enable me to reach out to many people. Through my comprehension as a journalist, I now know the power that Twitter as a social media platform can have. One of my main strategy that I would use in the future is to ensure that I Tweet regularly. I believe this is the first strategy that will be employed from now on since the best way to increase twitter engagement is through a consistent and regular tweeting. Furthermore, I believe that posting updates on a regular interval would increase my chances of getting more followers. Through this strategy, I plan on tweeting after every two hours especially on entertainment news and other issues that are related to health ("How To Set Up Facebook, Twitter And Every Other Major Social Media Profile").
The third strategy that I would implement is the use of hashtags in the context of what I will be reporting about. In this instance, the tweets that I would send out to my followers would begin with the # symbol then followed by keywords that are related to the story that I am covering. According to Lon (12), news publishers and journalists use hashtags to ensure that their conversations are organized, gather feedback and in some instances identify and engage with other twitter users to discuss a particular topic ("The Npr Social Media Desk").
Strategically, one has to ensure that the information that they give to the public is reliable and valid. This brings me to my fourth strategy of ensuring that all the information that I will gather from different sources is gathered. When tweeting about a particular celebrity or a brand name that has a twitter handle, it would be important for me to ensure that I include their twitter handle in my tweets. A good example is Inside Breaking News (@breaking). This twitter handle normally includes the source of the photos, links to some specific articles or news ("How To Choose A Hashtag | Twitter Blogs"). I believe that through the use of twitter handles of credible sources, I would be able to increase my twitter followers through engagement and growth.
The fifth strategy that I would implement would be through making use of the retweet button. I believe that a retweet button is a vital tool in ensuring that I curate content for my followers ("RTDNA - Radio Television Digital News Association"). Apart from retweeting the tweets that I read, I believe also that there is a need to start a conversation as people do not want to have the notion that my twitter account is managed by a machine ("Need-To-Know Twitter Tips For Journalists"). People need to hear the voice of the person who is behind a specific twitter handle. A good instance is giving the audience a behind the scene of how you gather information ("Social Media").
There are various codes of conduct that have to be followed when maintaining a specific twitter account. One should not just spread the information that they get. There is a need to be specific to detail and skeptical. I would be transparent, honest and of high integrity ("How To Use Hashtags: The Do's And Don'ts Of Hashtags").
Section II: YouTube
My YouTube account is connected with my Gmail account. I use the same login information for both my Gmail and YouTube accounts. Currently, I do not have any subscriptions or followers in my YouTube account as I have not yet uploaded any videos. I am planning of how I will effectively use my YouTube account to report a various issue regarding entertainment or health and fitness ("Youtube Guide - Why Youtube Works For Journalists").
There are various strategies that I intend to use while reporting my news articles about health, fitness and entertainment. Although YouTube is still considered as a video publishing platform, when carefully analyzed, YouTube is a social network. YouTube can create their own content based on what they like or what they believe other people like and converse naturally through videos. The only way to ensure that my YouTube account is viewed by people is to ensure that I create a personality that people can be able to relate with. This would ensure that I create a medium that we believable that is not just viewed as transplanting television tropes to an online video sharing platform
My second strategy is to ensure that I target the existing ad even new YouTube users. Once is write up content about some entertainment news, I would offer a link to my YouTube account whereby viewers can be able to view the videos online. The third strategy that I would use so as to make my YouTube account professional is to provide the context of my news. I would always seek to offer or put stories that are in the context of my followers. There are innumerable ways in which I can offer viewers a chance to see my videos in that I would use other platforms such as blogs to lure my followers into watching the videos ("YouTube Guide - Why YouTube Works For Journalists").
. Once the users have accessed my YouTube account, I would ensure that I encourage them to view other videos that I have uploaded through the use of popup windows, suggestions to other videos and pointing out other suggestions to the viewers
The videos would be accessible from the beginning. This catches the attention of the users and maintains their interests to the subject that I would be conveying. Additionally, YouTube offers a large amount of storage space for videos that can support many channels at once. The channels offer the viewers options of being able to dislike or like the content that is being offered (Schiavenza). Furthermore, there are some inbuilt features in YouTube that enable that show the age of the views, the language, the location of the viewer and how long the viewers view the content that is provided and the time that the viewers leave.
The third strategy that I would use is to ensure that I react quickly to the current news events that are being undertaken. Currently, there is a possibility that one can stream live current events on YouTube. As a journalist, I would be able to upload the videos of the current events as they happen. This would give me a cutting edge over other channels and ensure that people would get the information as quickly as possible
The fourth strategy that I would implement would be collaborating and cross promoting my YouTube channel. Various brands have succeeded in collaboration and thus, would enable me to reactivate broadcast or in some way archive content. Through this strategy, I would be able to generate new value and assist in reaching new target audiences. I understand that if the content that I curate is the real deal, I will become the go to guy in regards to the following of certain news such as entertainment and health issues. Before I post anything, it is vital that I make all the necessary verifications so that my YouTube channel is reliable and trusted. Having a channel that is trustworthy is vital for broadcasting news in that I give people the real information about what they really require (Schiavenza). Additionally, I would be able to give people the information that they need in the right context. The naming of the videos would be retaliated to what the audience would probably search on the internet. After the audience search for these videos, then they would be able to be guided to the several videos that I have uploaded so that they may make subscriptions and likes to the videos.
Finally, it is very vital to ensure that the videos that I post online are if high quality and professional. There would be no videos posted on my channel that does not deal with health, fitness and entertainment issues.
Section III “using social media in your own reporting”:
The use of social media has altered the manner in which the hundreds of millions of individuals all over the world consume news and how the journalists present the news. This has forced the different brands of news and how the journalist presents the news to adapt abruptly. According to Owen, almost 75% of all journalists feel pressured to deliver the news in a manner that ensures that their story is shared around the world (Holloman et al., 23). These social media strategies include the various targets, tactics and the way an individual plans to measure the success of that particular media platform. It is also important to note that there are various prospective risks and as a consequence, having a clear and concise strategy is vital.
Before choosing the type of media platform to be used it is also imperative that have a plan on what should be done. For instance the content to be shared on the platform, the available platforms to be considered for use, and also the individuals who will be given the access on managing the content. After all that has been done, the most appropriate platform to be used is chosen considering the target audience and how one intends to pass the information at hand. When the content is available and the platform to be chosen has been identified, then ways on how to make the content being passed to work each day are formulated (Social Media n.p).
So as to reduce this kind of pressure, I would be able to leverage five ingredients in my social media strategy so that my stories would be able to be shared. These ingredients would include the use of imagery whereby I would ensure that all my news reporting would have images on my social media platforms, talk about the current trending topics on my news items, brevity in my news reporting and localization. It is evident that the more mobile friendly content, more original content and faster turnaround times in regards to news reporting are attracting more news viewers and other newsroom staff producers to the use of social media.
Some of the strategies that I would have to implement would include the use of my different social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to ensure that I post my news feeds. If in any chance I have my followers, I would ensure that I post any new stories in intervals of two hours and connect with my audience, this would be done by responding to the questions that are asked by the audience and offering the links to the different stories that would be run by the company that I work for. Through the use of YouTube, I would be able to keep my clients informed by ensuring that I post the most relevant videos that are in demand with my followers. The links offered would give m additional information since some social media platforms such as twitter do not allow the use of more than 140 characters and it is necessary to provide additional information (Walter Cronkite School Of Journalism And Mass Communication").
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Works cited
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Holloman, Christer, and Eb Adeyeri. The Social Media Mba: Your Competitive Edge in Social Media Strategy Development & Delivery. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K: Wiley, 2012. Internet resource.
Owen, Laura. "Facebook Woos Journalists With Signal, A Dashboard To Gather News Across Facebook And Instagram". Nieman Lab. N.P., 2016. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.
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