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SOCIAL MEDIA SUMMITReview
C O M P I L E D B Y T H E E N G A G I N G N E W S P R O J E C T
N0V . 1 1 , 20 1 6
Sponsored by the Engaging News Project & the University of Texas School of Journalism
The f i rst Social Media Summit sought to answer these quest ions :
Has social media helped or harmed news organizat ions?
What social media platforms most benefit news s ites? Which
platforms present the most chal lenges?
What ’s in i t for social media companies to get involved with
news organizat ions , such as through Facebook ’s Instant
Art icles?
How did news s ites use social media during the 2016 elect ion?
Thank You to our FundersThe Dallas Morning News Innovation Fund , Democracy Fund ,
Hewlett Foundation and Rita Allen Foundation
COV ER I NG TH E 20 1 6 E L E C T I ON THROUGH SOC IA L MED IALivestreaming was a big success this election
cycle. It provided access to candidates,
campaigns, and events in ways that traditional
news programming couldn't (e.g. when the TV-
feed goes to commercial, the livestream can
catch events behind-the-scenes.)
(From L to R): Moderator Robyn Tomlin, The Dallas Morning News; Jessica Huff, McClatchy,Selymar Colón, Univision; and Katie Harbath, Facebook
Moving forward, the biggest challenges for these
organizations include:
Balancing limited staff resources on a day-to-
day basis
Fighting the spread of fake news
Winning back people who felt that news
organizations didn’t represent their interests
FAC EBOOK L I V E D I S CUSS I ONNewsrooms are experimenting with
Facebook Live , often for sharing
breaking news
Benefits
Can answer audience quest ions in real
t ime
Can increase page l ikes
Shows people that you have a reporter at
the scene
Chal lenges
No monetizat ion r ight now (although may
be coming soon )
Ethical quest ions about showing some
things l ive (e .g . a dead body during a
shooting )
Poor qual ity of video captured “on the
f ly ”
Tips
Think about the f i rst image – i t i s the one
that wil l show up on Facebook
Look to answer audience quest ions
A reporter taking the in it iat ive might
jumpstart interest f rom the newsroom
Moderated by Kelsey Whipple, The Dallas MorningNews Graduate Fellow for Innovative Journalismat UTAustin
L E S SONS F ROM # E L E C T I ON LAND
Electionland is a nationwide project that tracked and covered voting problems during the 2016
election . Partners included ProPublica , the Google News Lab , WNYC News , Univision , the First Draft
Coalition , and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism . Thirteen universities participated
With the proper tools (TinEye , Dataminr , Google , etc .) and nationwide coordination , social
media could provide an accurate assessment of Election Day problems
Electionland came together in just a few months before Election Day . With the lessons learned this
time around , it could be an important force for improving elections and voter access in the future
Presented by Dale Blasingame andstudents from Texas State University
DARE TO BE SQUARE : WHY I N S TAGRAM I SCR I T I CA L I N NEW MED IA S TORY T E L L I NG
When using user -generated content , you must ask for permission and give appropriate
photo credit by including their Instagram handle .
Instagram al lows you to pull f rom the community .
When posting on Instagram as a newsroom , be open -minded with what you post . Mix
it up and post hard news , but also include a sel f ie or a picture of your dog . The key i s
to add something personal or dif ferent to connect with your audience .
When possible , put other people ’s handles in your
caption . This wil l help generate new fol lowers .
This also shows that you are part of the community .
Presented by Addie Broyles of the Austin AmericanStatesman
A /B T E S T I NG I NTH E D I G I TA L AGEA /B test ing can help with business
outcomes (e .g . page views , return
vis itors , t ime on s ite ) and
democratic outcomes (e .g .
learning , civ i l i ty )
Tips for A /B test ing
Ask what you want to learn before
start ing
Test one change at a t ime
Test many t imes
Make sure that your sample s ize i s
adequate to see dif ferences
Evaluate why vers ion A did better
than vers ion B
Many A /B test ing programs
avai lable :
Try engagingnewsproject .org /quiz -
creator for A /B test ing quizzes Presented by Ashley Muddiman (pictured) andTalia Stroud of the Engaging News Project
DOES TONE ONSOC IA L REA L L Y
MA T T ER ?
Text overlay , inspir ing quotes , and
faces al l work to personal ize the
message and grab the reader ’s
attention
Three rules of posting news art icles
to Facebook :
Shorter i s better
Express some kind of relatable
emotion
Include something in the “share ”
text ( l ike a caption )
Presented by Penny Riordan ofGateHouse Media
Presented by Penny Riordan of GateHouse Media
What you write on social media can
affect whether the audience vis its
your website
ENGAG ING P LA T F ORMS D I S CUSS I ON
Outlets worry about the small payoff when i t comes to day -to -day newson Twitter
With so many platforms , i t ’s hard to distr ibute resources toward thingsl ike Snapchat and Instagram (these platforms are dif f icult to monetize
so i t might feel l ike a waste of team resources )
Some news organizat ions struggle with balancing sending readersimportant push noti f icat ions and the concern that they 're violat ing
their personal privacy
Moderated by Amanda Wilkins of The Dallas Morning News
A few platforms that newsrooms use for data analys is include ShareRocket , CrowdTangle and Chartbeat
F ROM PAP ER ROUT E S TO PUSH A L E R T S : HOW WE ’RE SAV I NGOUR L E GACY NEWSPAP ER In the digital age , math and analyt ics
play a huge role in the newsroom with
real -t ime metrics
The role of “Web Producer ” i s rapidly
changing ; focus on writ ing , abi l i ty to
produce strong content , and social
media ski l ls
What 's next?
Austin -American Statesman confident they are going in the r ight direct ion
They are dedicated to growth in the digital f ie ld , and are looking to hire
people who are also dedicated
Presented by Courtney Sebesta and Eric Webb ofthe Austin AmericanStatesman
WHY YOU SHOU LD BE US I NG SNAPCHA TSnapchat i s successful for newsrooms because audiences l ike to get that “behind the
scenes ” experience
Snapchat i s less about monetizat ion , more about branding and promotion
Outlets should be downloading the Snapchat stor ies they post for onl ine content
Teasing a story onl ine might increase engagement
Presented by Cassandra Jaramillo, The DallasMorning News; Jon Zmikly, Texas State
University (pictured); and Shannon McGregor,Engaging News Project. Photo courtesy of Cindy
Royal, Texas State University.
NASTY TALK ONL INE : WHAT 'S A JOURNAL IST TO DO
Study #1 : Interviewed 34 journal ists ranging in gender , work experience , and
medium to ask how they handle comments
All journal ists interviewed read comments
Most feel overwhelmed by number of comments
Spl it on whether to answer back - majority said journal ists should respond in
comments , but not when the comments become uncivi l
Presented by Gina Chen of the Engaging News Project
Main f indings :
Study #2 : Interviewed 38 female journal ists on how they handle harrassment
Extent of harassment :
100% faced some type of uncivi l comments
81 .5% experienced gendered harassment
TV journal ists faced the most
Harassment worse i f cover "male " topics
Strategies for deal ing :
Call out the commenters or block them
Pre -moderate on professional Facebook page
Delete offending comments quickly
" Ignore i t and do my job "
Hide page f rom family
SUMMARYLivestreaming platforms , l ike Facebook Live , offer opportunit ies that other
platforms can 't provide , such as connecting with the audience in real t ime . But
there are chal lenges to l ivestreaming , including the ethical i ssues that come f rom
sharing l ive , unedited video .
There are a number of ways for news organizat ions to use social media to cover an
elect ion cycle , including as a way to connect with audiences and track voting
issues on Election Day .
Although news organizat ions may not think they can devote the resources needed
to manage non -Facebook or Twitter accounts , there are benefits to using
Snapchat and Instagram . Both platforms provide a way to give the audience
"behind the scenes " access , and they can help news organizat ions build
community .
CONNECT WITH ENGAGING NEWS PROJECT
@engagingnews
/engagingnewsproject
engagingnewsproject .org