About halfway into my #twutorial series, I realized I needed a better table of contents.
The point of the series is to help journalists use Twitter effectively to do better journalism, and how I steered people from one post to others was with a growing list of previous posts at the end of each post, mostly in reverse chronological order. For a while, I’ve been meaning to organize the links by topic, to be more helpful for journalists seeking help with using Twitter.
Thanks to Suzi Steffen for giving me the nudge in this recent exchange of tweets:
@kmarrone1 oh … SO MUCH ADVICE but 1st thing is go to @stevebuttry‘s WP blog & read all of the entries tagged w/Twitter.
— Suzi Steffen (@SOJCSuzi) February 22, 2014
@SOJCSuzi @kmarrone1 Well, that would be over 140 posts. I’d narrow first to my #twutorial posts: http://t.co/aa2D5ZiL1i
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) February 22, 2014
@SOJCSuzi @kmarrone1 Start w/ this one: http://t.co/j2vXXdoGqo And this one: http://t.co/XHGB7Ezpqf
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) February 22, 2014
@stevebuttry 1. YES PLEASE 2. Um, are you on my coast tonight? It’s kind of … late … in DC.
— Suzi Steffen (@SOJCSuzi) February 22, 2014
So here’s an index to my #twutorial posts, organized by topics (with some appearing more than once if I think they would fit multiple places; the one on search will show up several places). I’ll update periodically with posts from other journalists that I think are similarly helpful as well as with my own posts. I am the author of all posts listed here, unless I mention another author.
While my own pace of #twutorial posts has slowed, I welcome guest posts. If you would like to post about a Twitter tool or technique you use or a case study of Twitter use on a particular story, please contact me — stephenbuttry (at) gmail (dot) com — with your proposal.
The year in parentheses after a link is the year it was published (or last updated). The age of a post might relate directly to how useful it is. For instance, my 2009 Twitter tips are probably not very helpful today, so I haven’t even posted them here. My 2011 update of them may not be much more helpful, but it’s my latest post rounding up general Twitter helps. Most of the #twutorial posts were written in 2012 and are more useful (though probably starting to show some age). Please feel welcome to suggest posts to add to this list, especially fresh ones:
General posts on Twitter and journalism
10 ways Twitter is valuable for journalists (2012)
You don’t tip competitors on Twitter; you beat them (2014)
Updated and expanded Twitter tips for journalists (2011)
Help for the Twitter beginner
Getting started on Twitter: #twutorial advice for a friend (2012)
Advice and examples on how and what journalists should tweet (2012)
Step one for using Twitter as a reporter: Master advanced search (2012)
Use lists, TweetDeck, HootSuite, saved searches, alerts to organize Twitter’s chaos (2012)
Hashtags help journalists find relevant tweets and reach more people (2012)
9 ways to find helpful people and organizations to follow on Twitter (2012)
Breaking news
If a tweet looks too good to be true, grab a screenshot NOW (2014)
You don’t tip competitors on Twitter; you beat them (2014)
Denver Post staffers’ #theatershooting coverage demonstrates Twitter breaking news techniques (2012)
Step one for using Twitter as a reporter: Master advanced search (2012)
@statesman: A case study in using Twitter on breaking news (2010)
Twitter is an essential reporting tool (2008)
My tweeps help with tips and examples of Twitter’s value in covering breaking news (2010)
Twitter scoops Google, AP on earthquake (2009)
A breaking news story in Boston covered by Twitter (2009)
A journalist’s guide to tweeting during a crisis (Jeremy Stahl, 2013)
Using Twitter to find people at the scene of a breaking story (Paul Myers, 2014)
Livetweeting
Suggestions for livetweeting (2011; this might be in need of updating; will try to do that sometime this year)
Using ScribbleLive, you can livetweet except for the longer posts (2014)
Should a journalist livetweet a funeral? If so, how? (2012)
Sports staffs should promote and curate Friday Night Tweets (2011)
Larry Altman’s account of live-tweeting a breaking news story (2011)
Examples of live-tweeting government meetings (2011)
A first try at live-tweeting from the courtroom (2011)
You may notice that my style for referring to this practice has covered the gamut: live tweeting, live-tweeting and livetweeting. I’ve settled on livetweeting, but it took a while.
Accuracy and verification
How to verify information from tweets: check it out (2013)
Verification Handbook (2014)
Research shows Twitter’s value in questioning rumors (2010)
Craig Silverman compiles resources to help with social media verification (2012)
Accuracy and accountability checklist for using social media (2011, Mandy Jenkins)
Searching on Twitter
Step one for using Twitter as a reporter: Master advanced search (2012)
Twitter search gets even better with twXplorer (2013)
Case studies of Twitter’s usefulness to journalists
Denver Post staffers’ #theatershooting coverage demonstrates Twitter breaking news techniques (2012)
@statesman: A case study in using Twitter on breaking news (2010)
@statesman shines again in breaking news Twitter coverage (2010)
Using Twitter to follow North Dakota floods
Using Twitter in reporting
See also the breaking-news, livetweeting and accuracy sections.
If a tweet looks too good to be true, grab a screenshot NOW (2014)
Step one for using Twitter as a reporter: Master advanced search (2012)
#Twutorial guest post from Deanna Utroske: Tips for twinterviewing (2012)
#Twutorial guest post by Menachem Wecker: How to use Twitter to find the best sources (2012)
#Twutorial guest post by Jaclyn Schiff: How using Storify can help you find great sources (2012)
Questions to guide a Digital First reporter’s work on any beat
Hashtags
Hashtags help journalists find relevant tweets and reach more people (2012)
Tweeting photographs
Ben Garvin’s advice: Illustrate your tweets (2014)
Denver Post staffers’ #theatershooting coverage demonstrates Twitter breaking news techniques (2012)
The value of being conversational
Don’t be selfish on Twitter; tweeting useful information is good business (2012)
Journalists should be personable but professional in social media use (2012)
Advice for editors on becoming conversational on Twitter (2011)
Organizing Twitter’s chaos
Use lists, TweetDeck, HootSuite, saved searches, alerts to organize Twitter’s chaos (2012). I have always loved the flow of Twitter.com. If you know of a good post on using TweetDeck, HootSuite or your favorite Twitter app (mobile or desktop), or if you’d like to write a guest post for me on that topic, please let me know. That’s a big blind spot in my #twutorial, though I did address it here.
Hashtags help journalists find relevant tweets and reach more people (2012)
Gaining followers
To build Twitter followers: Join the conversation, tweet often, be yourself (2012)
Twitter data shows journos’ ‘burstiness’ boosts followers (2012)
If you hit Twitter’s (stupid) follower ceiling, use lists to follow people (2013)
Time management
Updated Twitter time management tips (2010, updated in 2012)
Ethics on Twitter
How to verify information from tweets: Check it out (2013)
Journalists should be personable but professional in social media use (2012)
Questions and answers about journalists’ opinions in social media (2012)
Digital First journalists: What we value (2011)
The Buttry version of social media best practices for editors (2011)
Bad judgment doesn’t taint the platform
I also blogged a lot in 2009 and 2010 when lots of newsrooms were adopting social media policies I considered to be mostly foolish. While they did deal heavily with Twitter, I think and hope that we are beyond the fear that guided most of those policies. I won’t list all of them here, but you should be able to find them at the link above, if you care.
Editors’ use of Twitter
Advice for editors on becoming conversational on Twitter (2011)
Why editors should be active on Twitter (2011)
Leading your staff into the Twitterverse (2009)
Using Twitter for promotion
Use Twitter for conversation about an event, not just promotion (2012)
Engagement success: a chain reaction of sharing on social media (2014)
How retweeting drives blog traffic
Miscellaneous Twitter topics
What’s the best way to view Twitter’s users? 16 percent or 30 million (2012)
With Twitter archives now available, how would you use old tweets? (2013)
How to embed tweets and follow conversations
Social media (mostly Twitter) resources for journalists (2011) this has links from several other people, but I won’t be posting them here because they are all more than two years old. If you have fresh links (or some older ones you think are still useful), post them in the comments and I’ll add them to this index on your recommendation.
Slides from my Twitter workshops
These aren’t all my Twitter slides. Often I will update or tweak an old presentation for my next workshop, or combine a couple presentations into one, depending on the topics people want me to cover, so many of my presentations are similar. These will be redundant because of this, but they cover some different important topics. I can, of course, lead a workshop for your newsroom or organization.
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