Social media sourcing

How to Find Sources on

Social Media

ENTERPRISING | ENGAGING | ENTERTAINING | ENLIGHTENING

Agenda


• When to use social media for sources

• Have a presence on social media already

• Twitter

• Facebook, Graph Search

• Google, Google+

• LinkedIn

• Your website

• Other websites

• What can I publish?

• Using Storify to curate

• Examples

• Questions? Comments?

When to use social media for sources


• TAP INTO THE NETWORKS: Social media presents so

many opportunities to find knowledgeable, plugged-in,

trustworthy sources you didn’t even know existed.

• FIND NEW PEOPLE: When you don’t have a number

in your contact list or an idea of who to talk to, turn to

social media.

• FIND PEOPLE YOU CAN’T OTHERWISE REACH:

Sometimes you know who you’re looking for, but can’t

reach them by phone or email. Try social media.

Have a presence on social media already


“You can’t expect people to respond to you if you haven’t already

been trying to engage with whatever community

you’re trying to find sources in.”

– David Riley,

former news bank editor for GHS New England

Have a presence on social media already


• In addition to using Facebook/Twitter to post links to

stories, you should also monitor those stories for

content related to your beat.

• Use a product such as HootSuite to set up streams to

follow people, search terms or keywords.

Have a Presence: HootSuite stream


• To add a stream in

HootSuite, click Add

Stream.

• Choose which social

media source to use.

• In this case, I used

Search and plugged

in vine.co.

• Add Stream



• To add a stream in

HootSuite, click Add

Stream.

• Choose which social

media source to use.

• In this case, I used

Search and plugged

in vine.co.

• Add Stream



• Now, in addition to showing your own feeds and interactions, HootSuite will show you any matches for your search, so you can keep an eye on this topic.

Have a Presence: HootSuite Stream


“(I) have several search columns active that catch any mention of locations in our coverage area. I also have columns up to see people interacting with our Tweets and to see the Tweets of those I and our newspaper accounts follow. I often findnew bits of news to report or follow up on here.

I also use it to notice trends, what people might be Tweeting about.”

- Jon Root,

digital editor for The Herald News, (Fall River, Mass.) who uses TweetDeck,

a similar service

Have a Presence: Other tools


• TWITTER LIST – Create a virtual Rolodex in Twitter of experts in certain

topics, all of your town officials, local politicians, etc. so you can quickly

find them if something comes up related to them or their topic. Monitor

what they say for story ideas and interact with them to develop a

relationship.

• YOUTUBE SUBSCRIPTION – Subscribe to YouTube channels you think

may be helpful.

• Youtube.com/user/citizentube

• Youtube.com/Trends

• Youtube.com/news

• Youtube.com/user/theifilestv

• Youtube.com/user/reporterscenter

Twitter


• Twitter has more than 645 million users; 115 million of

which are active monthly. (statisticbrain.com)

• Why not approach the community you’re connected to

there (and through re-tweets, well beyond) to find

people who can help you tell a story? Post a question =

crowdsourcing.

Twitter


Twitter


• You’ll notice in these callouts, the reporter wants to

talk to the potential source offline.

• Tweet someone and ask them to email or call you so

you can determine if they are credible. (Direct

message people who follow you.) If possible,

interview them on the phone or in person – not on

social media.

Twitter


“You can’t keep it on social media. For one thing, you’re not

going to get enough information for what you need, but it’s

also the best way to start verifying who someone is and what

their connection to the story is if you’re actually talking to

them on the phone. Because, if someone isn’t necessarily

representing themselves very well, the first thing that’s going

to fall apart is their story, as soon as they’re actually talking to

you.”

- Mandy Jenkins,

managing editor of Digital First Media’s Project Thunderdome, and a proponent of social media sourcing

(in an interview with It’s All Journalism)

Twitter


• You can also search on Twitter using #hashtags to find the

topic you’re writing about, then read what people are

saying to see if anyone stands out as someone who really

knows someone.

• You can also try poking around Twitter with:

• Twitter Advanced Search

• “Search operators”

Twitter


Twitter Advanced

Search

Able to focus

your search,

including by

words, people

and place.

https://twitter.com/sear

ch-advanced

https://twitter.com/search-advanced

Twitter


• “Near this place”

may prove

especially useful

to help find locals.

You can also use

keywords and the

other filters on

this form. Then

reach out to any

matches you find.

Twitter


Search operators (also works on Google)

This is a way of searching using more techie language.

• Twitter search = twitter AND search

• “happy hour” = exact phrase

• Love OR hate = either, or, both

• Beer –root = beer but not root (so you won’t get hits

for rootbeer)

• @Digital_Nicole = referencing that person/username

• Near:NYC within:15mi = sent within 15 miles of NYC

• Find more by Googling “search operators”

Facebook


Facebook has 1.3 billion monthly active users. (statisticbrain.com)

Facebook


You can also use Facebook to crowdsource.

Facebook


When crowdsourcing, beware of how you frame your

question. If you ask for verification of a rumor and it turns out

to not be true, you’ve essentially helped in spreading the

rumor. If you simply must state the rumor, cite who you heard

it from.

GOOD: Does anyone know what’s happening on Main

Street? We’re on our way.

BAD: We heard someone got shot on Main Street. Do you

know anything?

MEH: WCVB reports a shooting on Main Street. Do you know

anything?

Facebook


Facebook


Facebook Graph Search

This comprehensive search feature gives journalists another

great tool for finding people.

Facebook


• You’ll be able to take advantage of all of the information

people willingly share with Facebook: how old are they,

where they live, what music they listen to, where they’ve

traveled, the photos they’ve posted, etc.

• Search on Facebook for things such as:

• People under the age of 30 who like to bicycle

• People who live near Chicago who listen to Cheap

Trick

• Then you can reach out to the people you find on their wall

or by Facebook messaging them to see if they can help

with your story.

Google


• Looking for something? Google it, right?

• You may have better luck doing a search through Google

than you would directly on a website by using the

“advanced operator search.” This works for Facebook,

Foursquare, LinkedIn, Reddit and Twitter.

• E.g. site:twitter.com “#ebola” or “Ebola Outbreak”

Google


Google


Google+

• If you don’t already have a

Google+ profile, it’s a good

idea to set one up, if only to

be sure you’re on there as

we figure out the best way

to use it. It’s

similar to Facebook in that people need a profile and

businesses need a page off of that profile.

I suspect this will be a good place to find techies.

Google


• In the Google+ search bar, plug in the person or topic

you’re looking for and hit return.

Google


• Under the Explore tab, you can find trending topics if this is

something you’re looking for.

Google


• Under the More tab, you can “Find People” who you’re

already connected to in some way. You can search:

• Your own address

• Classmates

• Coworkers

• “Local” allows you to search for local businesses.

LinkedIn


LinkedIn is where people go to network for business and to

find a new job.

LinkedIn


• This is a good place to look for people if you know:

• Their name

• A company name

• Alma mater

• Location

• This is especially good when a company is closing or

having a crisis. You can find current and past employees.

• Be wary of potentially disgruntled past employees.

LinkedIn


• You can search by company.

LinkedIn


• Who are the experts in

the field you’re

interested in? Try to

connect to them before

the going gets tough,

that way you can reach

out to them when you

need them.

Your website


Story Comments

• Sometimes the commenters actually have something

valuable to say! Look up their email address in Viafoura,

(hope it’s legit) and send an email explaining you saw their

post and want more info.

Your website


Embed a Google Form

• Google Drive offers a feature called Form. You can embed

it in a story to surface a question that your readers can

answer. It can be multiple choice or Q&A.

• Use the form to crowdsource. “Do you know more about x?

Let us know below. Include your name and a way we can

reach you.”

• Embed the form in a related story or callout.

Your website


Embed a Google Form

• This makes it easier for readers to contact you, rather than

having to start an email message on another tab.

• In Drive, click on CREATE, Form.

• Give it a name and pick a template for

how you want it to look.

Your website


Embed a Google Form

• Fill out the form – question, type of response (usually

multiple choice or paragraph text), etc.

Your website


Embed a Google Form

• Choose response destination: This lets you create a

spreadsheet in Drive that will collect all of the answers

when someone fills in the form.

Your website


Embed a Google Form

• To embed the form, click on File > Embed. You may have to

adjust the width/height. Copy the code and paste into Saxo

(HTML button in EditUI).

Other websites


You can use these sites to find or verify people:

• Muckrack.com – “where journalists and sources connect”

• Gohachi.com – searches all of your networks to ID the best person you know who can introduce you to someone you want to know

• Foller.me – analyzes a Twitter user to help verify if they are a legitimate source

• Topsy.com - Searches content published on Twitter and the web, sorted by relevance or date.

• Snapbird.com – Lets you look for old tweets, e.g. to see what a politician said about something long ago.

What can I publish?


• Do not use pictures from social media unless you have authorization from the owner OR unless the site’s terms of use allows it. Check with legal if you have a question, and do not assume the terms will stay the same.

FACEBOOK TERMS OF USE

You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is

shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition: ….

… When you publish content or information using the Public setting, it means that you are

allowing everyone, including people off of Facebook, to access and use that information, and to

associate it with you (i.e., your name and profile picture).

http://www.facebook.com/privacy/

http://www.facebook.com/editapps.php

What can I publish?


TWITTER TERMS OF USE

You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By

submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide,

non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce,

process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all

media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).

Tip: This license is you authorizing us to make your Tweets available to the rest of

the world and to let others do the same….These rules exist to enable an open

ecosystem with your rights in mind. But what’s yours is yours – you own your

Content (and your photos are part of that Content).

Using Storify to curate


• You can use Storify to both search for sources and create a “story” that you can post on social media and your website.

• In one spot, you can find tweets by locaiton; hits using a keyword search for Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, Google and URL embeds. You don’t have to go to all of those social media sites to find the conversation.

Examples of situations that yield results


• Business closing: Use LinkedIn to find current and former employees.

• Power outage: Sometimes the only thing people have is their phone, and they’re on social media anyway looking for information.

• Live tweeting: Big events such as a trial, town meeting are a good time to “live tweet” – posting to Twitter as the event unfolds. People looking for information during this time often also HAVE information, so ask questions and look for help while you’re live tweeting.



• Someone died: Friends and family, especially of a young person, often create a

memorial page. You can

find out information

(that you should

independently verify)

and people to talk to

through the posts of the

page’s wall. When other

efforts fail, newspapers

often use a photo of the

person from Facebook.



• Upcoming project: For big projects, consider creating a Facebook page. You can use it to find sources and info before the project launches and to post links to the stories and encouraging commenting after it does launch. You could also create a microsite to do the same.

Five takeaways


• Cultivate sources before you need them.

• Use social media as another way to find experts.

• Conduct your interviews out of social media.

• When looking for information, crowdsource.

• Use Storify to find sources and/or information and then post the Storify to your website.

Questions? Comments? Ideas?


Q&A

For more info, contact:

Nicole Simmons

Regional digital editor, GH-New England

[email protected]

508 626 3923

@Digital_Nicole

ghnewsroom.com/blogs/nicolesimmons

mailto:[email protected]

How to Find Sources on

Social Media


Documents

Social media sourcing