5 Ways Journalists Can Effectively Use Twitter

1. Promotion—The most obvious use of Twitter for reporters is to link to articles they have written. While this may draw in more readers, it isn’t using social media to its fullest potential.
   
   
2. Sources—Reporters can use social media to quickly find sources. While in the past they may have needed to talk to many friends, family and other acquaintances before finding the source they needed for a story, now a reporter can do a simple search or post who they are looking for on their status.
   
   
3. Niche Topics—Social media can be used as a tool to locate information on niche topics or people who are involved with those niche topics. The vastness of the Internet allows you to find information on almost any topic imaginable.
   
   
4. Crowdsourcing—With the speed of the Internet, journalists can quickly check accuracy of information and get public opinion by posting questions on different social media Web sites.
   
   
5. Connection—Most significantly, journalists can use Twitter to establish a connection with their readers. While in the past, news reporters were stuck behind news stories, now they can use social media to share their opinions and give the public a sense of their personality.