Reporting in 140 Characters: Twitter’s Guide for Journalists

Social media rears its head whenever news breaks. Facebook, once the pinnacle of information-sharing, held its own for fast news stories, with Reuters, BBC News and Sky all using it – in conjunction with their websites, news tickers, and YouTube channels – to get news out onto the Internet fast, so that it can be used on the blogosphere, and perhaps even get noticed by the general public. However, in recent years, nothing can hope to beat Twitter, the fastest-updated social networking site ever created, which journalists have praised on account of the fact that typing a headline and hitting “send” is remarkably easy, wherever you are.

To work on this, Twitter has launched its own guide for journalists – “Twitter for Newsrooms” – encouraging the hashtag #TfN. TfN defines a “common bond” between news reporters:  “the desire to make a difference in the world, bringing reliable information to the communities you serve”. The four sections of the service – report, engage, publish and extra – provide support for journalists across the globe, providing support for those not yet au fait with the power of microblogging, and networking for those who are.

Facebook itself has also launched a resource for journalism, encouraging news writers to use more social media in their work – another indication of the importance of social media when it comes to happenings around the world.