My weekend post on why reporters shouldn’t worry about tipping the competition when they use Twitter generated at least two lively discussions:
Dan Kennedy asked whether it’s better to livetweet or liveblog. That launched a lively discussion among Dan, Malcolm Coles, Maureen Boyle, Matt DeRienzo and other (that also got into some business issues):
@stevebuttry Do you find more people read live-tweeting via ScribbleLive on your papers’ sites than on Twitter?
— Dan Kennedy (@dankennedy_nu) January 5, 2014
Dan Storified that discussion.
In another discussion, Dan Gillmor cautioned that when we tweet news on Twitter, we help Twitter more than we help our own company. That led to a vigorous discussion among Dan, Raju Narisetti, Steffen Konrath, Jim Dalrymple II and others. (It was a little challenging to keep up with and participate in both conversations at the same time.)
.@stevebuttry of course, when you post first to Twitter, the biggest winner is … Twitter, a growing competitor on the biz side.
— Dan Gillmor (@dangillmor) January 4, 2014
Steffen Storified that discussion. Dan makes good points, but I think Twitter’s an absolutely essential tool for newsrooms today. That may change if it becomes a serious competitor for local advertising, but I think that will present some important opportunity for local news organizations to sell ads on Twitter. I don’t have anything to add today to the business-competition discussion, though I encourage you to read it.
.@dangillmor Not if you feed the tweets into your site, and Twitter's hardly a competitor for local ad $.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) January 4, 2014
My central point in the liveblogging-vs.-livetweeting discussion still stands, too:
@dankennedy_nu It’s not either/or. If you livetweet via ScribbleLive, you’re also on Twitter, reaching both Twitter & website audiences.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) January 5, 2014
But I’ll add one point that I didn’t make Saturday: You can liveblog in the ScribbleLive app (from a laptop or iPhone or Android). , though I can’t find an Android app) and tweet from the app when you want to
(I stand corrected. I couldn’t find the ScribbleLive app in Google’s Play Store, but they have one. I don’t know what I did wrong.)
@stevebuttry Great post, Steve. One thing: Scribble does have an Android app that works the same as iOS https://t.co/FwhtoHAvco
— Belinda Alzner (@belindaalzner) January 6, 2014
So if you have a longer comment that won’t fit into a tweet, you just post it in the liveblog. But tweet the shorter posts and you can reach the Twitter audience (and add Twitter followers, which nearly always happens when you liveblog).
@dankennedy_nu It’s not either/or. If you livetweet via ScribbleLive, you’re also on Twitter, reaching both Twitter & website audiences.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) January 5, 2014
Dan prefers the rhythm of a liveblog to the chaos of Twitter. Malcolm likes to make comments longer than 140 comments. But you don’t have to choose. Use ScribbleLive and tweet occasionally from the app or tweet almost all the time from the app, but you always have the option of a longer tweet.
You can also use this option for a multi-reporter liveblog. One reporter can work inside ScribbleLive and you feed the other reporter’s tweets in (if she’s on an Android phone).
ScribbleLive is an important tool for covering events and breaking news as well as for live chats. Journalists should get adept at using Scribble (or other liveblogging tools such as CoverItLive, Liveblogpro or Superdesk). But be sure to use it in tandem with Twitter. You don’t have to choose between them.
@StKonrath @stevebuttry Anyone who tried the open source Superdesk? https://t.co/Ly9QySw2IT
— Carlo F Dalla Pasqua (@CarloFelice) January 6, 2014
Earlier #twutorial posts
Advice and examples on how and what journalists should tweet
Denver Post staffers’ #theatershooting coverage demonstrates Twitter breaking news techniques
Don’t be selfish on Twitter; tweeting useful information is good business
10 ways Twitter is valuable for journalists
Should a journalist livetweet a funeral? If so, how?
Step one for using Twitter as a reporter: Master advanced search
Use lists, TweetDeck, HootSuite, saved searches, alerts to organize Twitter’s chaos
Hashtags help journalists find relevant tweets and reach more people
9 ways to find helpful people and organizations to follow on Twitter
To build Twitter followers: Join the conversation, tweet often, be yourself
Updated Twitter time management tips
What’s the best way to view Twitter’s users? 16 percent or 30 million
Twitter data shows journos’ ‘burstiness’ boosts followers
#Twutorial guest post from Deanna Utroske: Tips for twinterviewing
#Twutorial guest post by Menachem Wecker: How to use Twitter to find the best sources
#Twutorial guest post by Jaclyn Schiff: How using Storify can help you find great sources
Getting started on Twitter: #twutorial advice for a friend
Use Twitter for conversation about an event, not just promotion
How to verify information from tweets: check it out
With Twitter archives now available, how would you use old tweets?
Twitter search gets even better with twXplorer
If you hit Twitter’s (stupid) follower ceiling, use lists to follow people
That’s great idea about twit i have made a account on scribblelive but not able to find more and more options rest of Twitter…. you may add more and more updates regarding other social networking websites.
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Great post, Steve. I assume it’s possible to use the ScribbleLive to loveblog during sports coverage, for instance.
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Absolutely! I think (hope) most Digital First newsrooms are using ScribbleLive for sports coverage.
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[…] First Media’s Digital Transformation Editor Steve Buttry mentioned it in passing during a post about the pros and cons of live-tweeting versus live-blogging Monday, the topic of which several industry professionals passionately discussed via Twitter […]
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[…] as I noted in an earlier post, the post and related tweets launched lots of Twitter conversations (two of them were Storified), and those conversations doubtless drove more people to click the […]
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[…] Using ScribbleLive, you can livetweet except for the longer posts (2014) […]
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