Letting the World Know
When Robert Hernandez came into our class to speak about social media and journalism, I was a little overwhelmed. Like most college students, I use Facebook pretty regularly, but I had yet to buy into the whole Twitter business until recently. I was told if I wanted to ‘promote’ my stories, I should send them out via Twitter. I tend to think ‘tweeting’ is for narcissists, but when he explained how it could help one with a story, I started to see the benefits of its use.
Facebook has been extremely helpful for day-of-air shifts when it comes to finding interviews. Even going back to my reporter days, just putting up a little message about what type of person you are trying to find can garner a ton of responses. Some of my best interviews have come from Facebook statuses.
Going back to last week’s show, Facebook and Twitter became an ample part of our show. When we scored the interview with the photographer of the sex photos, I wanted everyone to know. And I mean, everyone. With every major news truck at USC that day, I wanted to be able to show that we had something no else did. Not only did we tweet and Facebook it for ATVN, but I was proud to put it on my personal account as well. I knew it was something my social media friends would care about. After the show, I had many messages from friends all over the country that had been excited to watch the interview.
Twitter is definitely something I can do a better job promoting ATVN, and seeing the success of the promotion of the interview, I plan on using it more during Tuesdays.
