Social Media is now an alternative news source! Social Media offers ways for people to get their message out, to acquire and share information. We are the reporters and news aggregators! We’re helping others. I’m going to quickly cover how Twitter has become one alternative news source.
Broadcasting Twitter News
Twitter is a microblogging platform where people, world-wide, are communicating and broadcasting news. News is sent out as “tweets,” messages sent to Twitter. Each tweet is like a bird chirping, short and hopefully sweet – 140-characters or less. The conversation on Twitter may be as simple as updating what you are doing, posting links about informative or fun website articles, to providing information about fire and evacuations.
Messages can be sent from the Web or from a cell phone. You can text message to Twitter on your cell or speak your tweet using TwitterFone.
People want the latest information. News Stations are now posting information on Twitter. I’m following KCRA (Sacramento) & KSBW (Monterey). All Public Information Officers should get online now and setup Twitter accounts.
Reading News
There are many ways to read this alternative news source. Here are a couple.
Create an account on Twitter. Then follow friends, family, business associates, news stations. You could follow me on Twitter, for example - @danalookadoo.- Open a Web browser to login to Twitter. When people you follow someone, you receive their tweets.
- Read posts using a tool like Twhirl, a piece of software, called a “client.” Twhirl lets you access Twitter outside a Web browser. (It works for both Windows and Mac platforms.) Shown right is an example of Twhirl’s interface.
- Twhirl allows you to search for people, for information, and even post images to TwitPic. (I haven’t tried TwitPic yet.)
- Setup your cell phone to receive tweets as text messages. When you follow someone, you have the option to have their tweets update your device. You can turn that On or Off.
Posting News
Suggest you listen and watch the conversation before joining in. However, if you want to start broadcasting news, it’s easy. Join Twitter and tweet! Make sure you add value and don’t sensationalize your “news stories.” Follow others, and they may follow you.
Shorten Long URLs. This is important! Remember the 140-character limit. Think about how many domain names and Web pages are so long you couldn’t even “speak” them in one breath. There are “Shorten URL” services like TinyURL that create an “alias” you can paste into Twitter to broadcast your website link. Hint: Twhirl has a built-in feature you can use to shorten long URLs (using snurl or is.gd).
Real-Time Twitter News
Summize and TweetScan are tools for tracking discussion on Twitter. Let’s call them “Twitter search engines.” You don’t need a Twitter account to search and find your “news updates.” Get real-time news posted by real people.
ALERT TIP: TweetScan users can sign up for email alerts or import news into an RSS reader. TweetScan is also available from Twhirl.
SEARCH TIP: Use quotes for exact matches or type “OR” (in caps) to combine searches together.
Disaster & Fire Info
Current fires in California are weighing heavy on hearts and all over the news. What’s the latest? Which fire is the hottest? Twitter knows because people are posting the latest happenings!
Fires in Butte County north of Sacramento are raging and out of control. Last night on news talk radio, a man from Paradise, CA called into a local Sacramento radio program. He calmly expressed his disappointment that local radio was not broadcasting as an emergency service but was still broadcasting only top- and bottom-of-the hour news. He was looking to radio to find information about his house, evacuation information, where to go. I immediately thought of Twitter!
One of the first posts I saw from KCRA on Twitter this morning (July 9, 2008) was a notice that 8,000 people were evacuated by fires in Butte County, threatening the town of Paradise. (See Twhirl screenshot above.)
Read the latest happenings of the Butte County fire at Summize or TweetScan (type in “butte+fire”).
Social Media Networking
People are sharing what they are doing online, what is happening around them. Again, Twitter is one way to broadcast evacuations and disaster information.
Twitter is more than a social news broadcast medium. As an online marketer, it’s a great source for latest blog posts and discussion about marketing and search engine optimization, consumer opinion, and a way to get to know my peers better while also making new friendships. I recently wrote about Social Media and how it’s changing the marketing game. Social Media is also news source as well as a community builder.
I trust most of these “friends” and am thankful that our peers are now our news reporters!
Use Twitter to get the latest news!
As I head out the door, I know I’ll be using my headlights. I just saw the following tweet:
@joshdmorg: Smoke so thick in sac folks driving with headlights on
You can always turn on your radio at the top of the hour or look out your window! I prefer to use Twitter as my alternative news source!
Tags: News, Social Media, social networking, Twitter
MiriamEllis (3 comments.) wrote,
Hi Dana,
This is Miriam from Solas Web Design. Saw your comment over on Donna’s post about Local emergency news.
The fire situation has been totally crazy. As a fellow Californian, I agree. We don’t have TV, and last I heard, the county I live in no longer even has a local news station. Radio is in sorry shape as well. The solution definitely does seem to be in the Internet. I’m not an SM buff, but sounds like Twitter provides a good answer, as does the concept of a hyperlocal blog. Many small towns print only weekly or monthly newspapers. When something like a fire is happening in your small town, you need to know NOW what’s going on…not two weeks from now, and not about the status of the nearest major city.
This is an interesting subject, indeed. Enjoyed your post.
Miriam
Link | September 4th, 2008 at
Dana Lookadoo wrote,
Miram, I’m thrilled you stopped by! We keep crossing paths, and I’ve enjoyed conversation with you.
I follow 5-6 news stations on Twitter. A couple radio stations set up profiles last week. Interestingly, a friend just posted the following article on Twitter, http://www.thepomoblog.com/thursday-september-4-2008. See
ANCHORS REINVENTING THEMSELVES, THANKS TO THE WEB
GUSTAV BLOGGERS BRING IN THE NEWS
News anchors are watching Twitter for some of the latest-breaking stories.
Regarding Social Media and Twitter, I have to confess that I’m torn by the signal-to-noise ratio. I’d prefer a lot less noise; however, I’ve met people I never would have crossed paths with other than SM involvement.
Anyway, I am going to set some time aside to thoroughly read your Hyperlocal Blogging series. News and community organizations would do well to seek your services with a combination approach with Social Media.
Link | September 4th, 2008 at
Dana Lookadoo wrote,
Just learned of a fire in El Dorado Hills, CA on Twitter. Looked for information from local fire dept. Found website. Their link to News & Information is broken!
Link | September 5th, 2008 at