How reliant are you on social media to keep up on the latest & greatest news? How has this changed for you in the past years? The way news is gathered and consumed continues to evolve. News stories around the world are breaking first on platforms like Twitter (for example the US Airways Hudson plane crash in 2009 & more recently, the death of Prince).
Anyone with a cell phone can be a videographer, and anyone on social media can be a ‘news editor’ nowadays. Journalists are adapting, leveraging new media tools to gather, distribute, and reinvent the news cycle. They are using social media in breaking news situations to discover new stories and uncover sources. People have an instant and constant need for news. In some cases journalists even feel like they’re competing with the average citizen for breaking news as social media sites are increasingly being used as a source of news and a way to spread news by, mostly, the younger generations.
The Numbers
- 72% of journalists consider social media to be important to the performance of their daily work
- 57% of journalists say social media has improved their productivity
- Two-thirds of journalists log in daily to use social media
Verify & Confirm
Journalists still need to check, verify, and evaluate news claims found on social media before they report on them. But on the flip side they tend to do this less often today. The motto seems to be: “publish first, adjust later”. In a way fact-checking has become less thorough.
Breaking News on Social
Breaking news more frequently comes through on social. With an article now having a lifespan of 2.6 days, you need to leverage social to promote the article back into the social space. By doing this you can extend the lifespan of your article up to 3.2 days! In this infographic, we explain this in more detail.
Incorporate social media into your publication & get the best, most relevant ánd safe results delivered to you. Schedule an appointment with us to discuss our social media curation platform and what we can do for you. We’re happy to chat!