Social Media on a (Time) Budget from 2010 WTPA Convention
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HOW TO BE SOCIAL [AND KEEP YOUR DAY JOB] Andrew Chavez (@adchavez) Texas Center for Community Journalism (@tccj)
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This is the presentation associate director Andrew Chavez gave at the 2010 West Texas Press Association convention in Odessa.
Transcript of Social Media on a (Time) Budget from 2010 WTPA Convention
HOW TO BE SOCIAL[AND KEEP YOUR DAY JOB]
Andrew Chavez (@adchavez)Texas Center for Community Journalism (@tccj)
WHY SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS
PEOPLE USE THEM
65% of teen Internet users
35% of adult Internet usersSource: Pew Internet & American Life Project
WHAT’S ACTIVE IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Source: Survey of participants
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%Facebook
MySpace
STILL POPULAR IN SMALL TOWNS
Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Urban
SuburbanRural
THEY’RE GROWING = MORE PEOPLE
Feb-
09
Mar
-09
Apr-0
9
May
-09
Jun-
09
Jul-0
9
Aug-
09
Sep-
09
Oct-0
9
Nov-0
9
Dec-0
9
Jan-
10
Feb-
1070000000
80000000
90000000
100000000
110000000
120000000
130000000
140000000
Unique Visitors to Facebook.com
Source: Compete
THEY’RE GROWING = MORE PEOPLE
Feb-
09
Mar
-09
Apr-0
9
May
-09
Jun-
09
Jul-0
9
Aug-
09
Sep-
09
Oct-0
9
Nov-0
9
Dec-0
9
Jan-
10
Feb-
100
5000000
10000000
15000000
20000000
25000000
Unique Visitors to Twitter.com
Source: Compete
MORE PEOPLE SPENDING MORE TIME
Dec-07 Dec-08 Dec-09
Time Spent per Person
2:10:27
5:35:05
Source: Nielsen
MORE PEOPLE SPENDING MORE TIME
Facebook, Jan-10
CNN, Feb-10
Fox News, Feb-10
MSNBC, Feb-10
Gannett, Feb-10
AOL News, Feb-10
Compared to Top 5 News Sites
Source: Nielsen
7:01:41
21:40 16:04
MORE PEOPLE SPENDING MORE TIME AND MORE MONEY
Source: Borrell Associates
Local
Facebook Ad Revenue for 2009
$209 millio
n
400 million active users Each with about 130 friends 50% login every day
Used by 56% of Internet users
Is the No. 3 site for Web users 65+
Growing fastest among 35+
Very personal, lots of infoSource: Facebook, Nielsen, Inside Facebook
11%
29%
23%
18%
12%
7%
13-17 18-25 26-34
35-44 45-54 55-65
15 million active users, 75 million total Average users has 27 followers Active users account for most of
Twitter’s activity
Growing among young people Growing among 24<
Short information bursts, very adaptable
Source: RJMetrics, Business Insider
PROMOTING YOUR CONTENT
LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT
Publishing
•Linking to content
Conversing
•Listening
•Passive moderation
Participating
•Asking questions
•Engaging without being prompted
•Moderating by participating
ASSESS THE NEED
1. Sign up, find a few people in your community and look at their connections
2. Search posts on the site for your town’s name
3. Try a “geo-search” on Twitter using your zip code
YOUR PROMOTION OPTIONS
AUTOMATE YOUR UPDATES UPDATE MANUALLY
Requires an RSS feed Suitable for getting started OK if a network has no
users but you want presence
Not as personal Doesn’t conform to
conventions All content promoted Links show up in bursts
Highly personal (and users know it)
Promote select content Have full control over
timing Use language, voice not
suitable for your newspaper’s site
Re-post, repurpose content (archives, slideshows, etc.)
HOW-TO
HootSuite – free at Hootsuite.com – handles URL shortening, image sharing, RSS feeding, multiple accounts, keyword monitoring, etc.
EASY AUTOMATION
In Hootsuite, go to “Launch” > “Settings” > “RSS/Atom” > “Add New Feed”
TwitterFeed.com provides similar functionality, but is more difficult to configure
EFFECTIVE MANUAL UPDATING
You don’t have to post every story Reporters can promote their content, too Archived stories have value
“Police Chief Jones stepped down today. Remember this profile we published on him when he came to Texas? http://link.link.link
If the story’s big, rephrase and repost Update multiple networks at once (again …
Hootsuite) Plain, to-the-point language works best Use a link shortener (more on this later)
WIDGETIZE / BUTTON-UP
For Facebook:facebook.com/facebook-widgets/ & developers.facebook.com/plugins
For Twitter:twitter.com/goodies/widgets
For buttons:socialfollow.com &addthis.com
SUGGEST YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE
On your page, click “Suggest to Friends” under your picture
Begin with your staff
Ask your fans to do the same
TWITTER: FOLLOW OTHER USERS
Find people to Follow
Get staffers on individually
Make sure you have a Bio, Photo and Web link
Respond, reach out to other users
INVITE THEM IN
Also: http://www.redesigntcuskiff.blogspot.com/
CURATING THE SOCIAL SPACE: COMMENTS
COMMENTS > FORUMS
In forums, users set the topic You may have to censor entire subjects
With comments, you focus it Lets you delete off-topic posts
IMPLEMENTATIONS
Using your CMS
With an outside system Disqus
disqus.com IntenseDebat
eintensedebate.com
USING AN OUTSIDE SYSTEM
Integration with other social networks Avoid anonymous commenters without
requiring registration Tie trolls directly to their public online personas Easily ban repeat offenders Feed integration
E-mail notifications (not available with many self-run systems)
Block specific terms Reduce spam
MORE THOUGHTS
They don’t have to be available on every story An e-mail us link can substitute for some
uses Commenters don’t always have something
to add. Respond to users. Let them know
you’re listening. Don’t talk down to people. Develop a written policy and enforce it.
Encourage users to as well.
COMMENTING POLICY: STATESMAN.COM
COMMENTING POLICY: STATESMAN.COM
TOOLS
Monitor keywords and phrases Search at
Twitter.com or Facebook.com
Use an app such as Hootsuite
SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICS
HELPFUL TOOLS: FACEBOOK INSIGHTS On your page, click “Edit page” under
your picture Under “Insights” on the right side of
the page, click “All Page Insights” There’s no equivalent for Twitter
Example
CLICKTHROUGHS
Available from your link shortener Hootsuite (Ow.ly) provides them inside the
app Bit.ly provides them with the API
SITE ANALYTICS
Look at referrals Not always completely accurate
Example
DON’T BE DISCOURAGED
ROI is more than clickthroughs; don’t forget: Story tips User content
No analytics solution shows the complete picture
ADVANTAGES OF A PAGE
Updates show in news
feed
Shows up in
search engines
Available only to
registered users
Type of relations
hip
Page analytic
s
Integrates with website
Page One-way
Profile
Two-way
Group
One-way
Preserves user’s privacy Allows you to publish into their stream Gives you analytics data
WHAT YOU’RE DOING
YOUR NEWSPAPERS
100% have websites
Average circulation of 4,803Source: Survey of participants
YOU
90% are on Facebook
45% have a Twitter account
Source: Survey of participants
YOUR NEWSPAPERS
Source: Survey of participants
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70% Facebook
YouTube
FlickrMySpace
Other
HOW OFTEN YOU POST
Source: Survey of participants
More than daily
Daily Weekly Hardly ever
Facebook 15% 15% 25% 10%
Twitter 15% 0% 6% 5%
MySpace 0% 0% 0% 5%
YouTube 0% 0% 10% 15%
Flickr 0% 5% 0% 0%
WHAT YOU POST
Source: Survey of participants
70%
55%
25%
40% 40%45%
Links to your siteBreaking newsAdvertisementsVideosPhotosOther
EXAMPLES
Muckrack.com @tccj lists
SOCIAL NETWORKS AS REPORTING TOOLS
FINDING SOURCES
Search for key terms on Facebook and Twitter within content of posts
Find user profiles and reach out directly Seek out user groups
Contact members Post open messages Just ask for insight (think Kevin Bacon)
TOOLS
Track the conversation over time by searching Tweets
Enter your search at Google.com, then click “Updates”
FINDING STORIES
Follow your users Encourage users to reach out
Ask questions (they don’t have to be open-ended) “What issues do you think are important during the next
election?” “Did the Council make the right decision with the smoking
ordinance.” Seek out expertise
“Are there any experts out there who understand how road construction works. Call us: 555-5555.”
Grab person-on-the-street quotes “Tell us what you have to say about the Lions’ win. We’ll
print a few responses in next week’s story.”
GIVE CREDIT
Reward your tipsters “Twitter user Jake White informed the Times
of the issue on Facebook last week.” “News reader Jack Johnson submitted this
photo via Facebook.” Attribute responses from social media
“Smith said in a post on his personal Twitter account.”
“Doe wrote in a comment on the Tribune’s Facebook page.”
BACKGROUND SOURCES
LinkedIn and Facebook often contain employment histories
Look for common connections to facilitate difficult conversations
Have accounts before you need them
CROWDSOURCE CONTENT
Ask for pictures and video Users can upload content to YouTube and
send you links Pictures can be emailed Items can be posted as “fan content” on
your Facebook page
MONITOR TRENDS
Stay updated on developing trends Let others do your research for you Find experts before you need them
FINAL THOUGHTS
GAME PLAN
Make a minimum six-month commitment
Look beyond ROI Be prepared to give up control Setbacks are inevitable Connect with the Center Connect with each other
RESOURCES
Me Twitter.com/adchavez Facebook.com/andrew.chavez Linkedin.com/in/andrewchavez Blog: explorations.community-journalism.net
Texas Center for Community Journalism Twitter.com/tccj Facebook.com/communityjournalism Slideshare.net/tccj Website: digital.community-journalism.net
