10 questions from a student: How has social networking transformed journalism? (Now with transcription)

I’ve decided to respond to student questions now via video. The latest collection are from Jess Barlow, and are copied below. The video responses are split into three videos – and there is a transcription of the responses at the end:

1. Which online tools and resources do you use to keep up to date with breaking news stories, and why do you use these?
2. Do you keep a personal Blog and if so how regularly do you update it, and why?
3. How important is Blogging to you personally, and in your opinion for online news production?

How useful could Seesmic be for journalists?

See this video and respond on Seesmic

I’ve recently been playing with Seesmic once again, having briefly dabbled with an alpha invite a few months ago and stupidly written it off as a vague video blogging platform.

It isn’t.

It’s social.

How journalists can master Twitter (blogger’s cut)

The following is a longer version of the article that appeared in Journalism.co.uk last week, with some extra tools and quotes.

It’s almost impossible to sum up Twitter in one line. To some, it is a way of delivering content to mobiles as headline text alerts. To others, it’s a social networking tool for getting contacts and leads. Some use it as a research tool for developing stories; and still others as a project management tool to gather a number of contributors together – for example, drivers posting updates on traffic.

In other words, it is what you make it and the only way to figure it out is to start using it. The following is a guide to getting started on Twitter as a journalist, and some of the things that can be done with it.

Twitter-reviewing – some reflections

Last Friday I tried a little experiment with Twitter: I used it to live-review the Clay Shirky book Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations (Amazon US).

Why did I do it?

It wasn’t a preview copy, so there was no ‘scoop’ here.

It wasn’t a live event, either. As Dave Lee pointed out, “A book is a book. It’s not changing. Read it all and then tell me whether it’s any good or not.”

I did it, well, because I could. Because I wanted to give myself a reason to read the book without distraction. Because I wanted to see how viral it would go. Because I wanted to see how social you could make that most anti-social of activities: reading a book.

The thing is, Dave was mistaking Twitter for a pure publishing platform. What I discovered was this: it was about a conversation, not a publication:

How interactive are UK business news websites?

That’s the question Birmingham Post reporter Joanna Geary has been asking herself, and has come up with the following rather lovely graphic:

Clickon the image for a larger, more readable version – you’ll see she’s looking for availability of email contacts, use of things like maps, blogs, bookmarking, video (is that interactive? Or multimedia?), email newsletters, mobile alerts, RSS, podcasts, chats, forums – and Twitter: “I know it’s not yet a mass communication device but I think it’s a good indicator of those who are thinking about the development of the market”

Live-reviewing a book on Twitter: Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky

From 10am UK time today I will be reading Clay Shirky’s new book Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations (Amazon US) – and reviewing it on Twitter as I go.

And I won’t be alone. Joining me will be Antonio Gould, Dave Briggs, Jon Bounds, Paul Inman and Brendadada.

All six twitterers – plus a Tweetscan search for ‘Here Comes Everybody’ – will be aggregated at http://xfruits.com/paulbradshaw/?id=38799 so you can follow them all, or join in yourself.

Twitter – what are you doing in your newsroom? What would you like to do?

OK, so everyone is on Twitter. Let’s take stock. I’d like to know what you’re doing with the tool as a journalist and in your newsroom – or what you’d like to do. Oh, and what good examples of its use have you seen? Comment away – let’s see if we can’t compile a useful collection of examples, experiences and ideas.

Downing Street Twitter given the Twitter Quotient treatment

Thanks to Shawn Smith for leading me to Twitter Quotient.

UK Government signs up to Twitter

I’m not the only one to have noticed an unusual surge of people signing up to Twitter recently. But today, Downing Street started using it. And when the UK government signs up to Twitter, you know it’s hit the mainstream.

Oh, and where did I hear this? On Twitter.

Anyway, turns out it’s just Twitter shovelware using Twitterfeed, though that’s not bad in itself, and actually shows a higher level of tech savviness than simply twittering.

Meanwhile, those who want mobile updates on government matters now have it, which is pretty good. Marshall Manson suggests Brown may be the first head of state to use the tool, while Luke Pollard adds “to be fair both Obama and Clinton are well progressed and twittering a plenty in their fight for the democratic nomination – here and here – and arguably have a better Twitter pedigree”.

Q: “What is the point of Twitter?” A: …

Someone recently posted on my Facebook wall: “Paul, I don’t understand, and fear I may be too old for all this already… but… what exactly is the point of twitter?”

I can come up with at least nine answers. I’m sure you can come up with more:

1. It’s a great way to publish to mobile devices;
2. it’s a social networking tool to make contacts and carry on conversations;
3. it’s a way of discovering new information (through tips and leads);
4. it’s a great way to follow what’s happening through your mobile (set Twitter up to send you mobile updates)
5. It’s a way of organising people
6. It’s a great way of reporting from a live event or other occasions when you only have your phone
7. You can aggregate a number of twitter feeds to one collective feed of what a group of people are doing
8. You can push an RSS feed into twitter, creating a mobile/social network update
9. For bloggers, it’s a good place to put thoughts and ideas that are so brief you wouldn’t normally blog them

Any more for any more?