The International Journalists Network has a couple of tips on how journalists can use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter more effectively.
- Facebook Consider opening a fan page. It will keep readers and your Aunt Mabel separate, letting you post calls for comments or your latest story without interfering with your personal life. (By the way, here’s IJNet’s fan page).
- If you don’t want a fan page, remember you can always separate family and friends from work contacts with lists. That way, you can send status updates to specific lists – so your vacation photos don’t go out to sources.
- Twitter A great way to keep in touch with readers, find stories and promote your writing. Since you won’t be using it just to broadcast what you ate for breakfast, download a desktop client. (There’s a nice comparison of them here.)
- LinkedIn To multiply your sources, join groups for your industry or beat. You can join up to 50 and most people allow other group members to contact them directly – even if they are not connected otherwise.
- ProfNet Connect There are numerous ways to find sources online – here’s our rundown of five free services– but ProfNet Connect, launched in March 2011, is a social media platform from the folks at ProfNet.
Visit the International Journalists Network for more tips.
