Twitter and Journalism

As much as I’d like to pretend, 26 twitter followers doesn’t make me internet famous. And while my mom may beg to differ, those 26 people aren’t exactly hanging on the edge of their seats, waiting to see the next thing I’ll tweet (which usually isn’t that profound, if I’m being honest).

Still, for an established journalist or a person who has made themselves known in their field, Twitter is a wonderful resource for gathering information and quotes that are conveniently packaged in under 140 characters.

Finally, word vomit has been somewhat conquered.

The most important feature Twitter has to journalists, in my opinion, is not its ability to gather information, but the way it allows writers to stay connected to their readers.

Like Steve Buttry, author of “10 ways Twitter is valuable to journalists” wrote, Twitter allows journalists to “crowdsource [sic],” or, have conversations with their followers.

Every story that’s published and linked to on Twitter has the capacity to start a conversation, which may lead to a follow-up story or even an entirely different angle on the issue written about.

While this is all useful, it’s only helpful, in my opinion, if the Tweeter has an established online presence. Which, with my haphazard tweets about all-nighters and wonderful Late Night food, won’t happen for awhile.

For a person who doesn’t have an established presence, browsing through the tags and tweeting at the people that made those comments can be just as helpful. Buttry mentioned this in his article as a way to “search for sources,” which is incredibly useful.

Twitter, which, I’ll be honest, I thought was really unnecessary when it first came out, has become an important tool for sharing news and staying connected with readers.

Now if I could only find someone willing to discuss with me the sorry state of Late Night’s bacon, I’ll be golden.