I read the article about life at the New York Times social media desk as a sort of list of tips for how to use Twitter successfully. Though I have a personal Twitter account and knew that in order to use Twitter to my advantage professionally I would need to do things differently, I never spent much time thinking about how exactly that would work.
This article pairs well with the article about the ten ways journalists can use Twitter. Tenore's tips appear more relevant for individual journalists. The one that jumped out at me the most was the one on starting a conversation and engaging with Twitter followers, sources and other journalists. I follow several novelists who regularly reply to fans, followers and other authors, and to me it makes them more relatable.
The Slate article was thought-provoking as well. I found myself identifying with and understanding both sides in the debate. Had I been the one to write a story using someone's full name, photo, and tweets, I would have asked permission, not because it's definitively journalistically necessary, but because I think that's what should be done. There is still somewhat of a gray area in regards to how social media postings can or should be used in reporting. If the field as a whole is going to make a statement on responsible use in terms of standards or ethics, the conversation needs to happen sooner rather than later.
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