How Journalists Use Social Media

Brianna Smith

bs214517@ohio.edu

One thing that was highlighted through 2020 is how huge social media is. I take social media very seriously because of the amount of people that use it. Also, once you post something on social media, it can always be found on the internet. 

In regards to journalism, your social media account could get you the job you want or get you fired from your dream job. This is why if you want to be a journalist, you must learn how to use social media in an effective way.

 

Publishing Content

According to Cision (you can access here), "Between the 2012 and 2017 iterations of the Cision Global Social Journalism Study, there was a 12 percent increase in the number of journalists that said that they post content to social media platforms daily". Employers want to see you posting things to your social media! This makes it easy to show your personal values as a journalist and how well you can manage a social media while always providing content.

Creating a Ethical Environment 

As I touched on a bit above, your ethical standards as a journalist are very important and must shine through everything you do. Social media is no exception. PRSA spoke on this here. It speaks on how CEO's are looking for journalist that have the same ethical codes as them. They do this by hiring people to go through their workers social medias before they hire them and during the time they are on the workforce. 

This is why it's super important as a journalist to have an ethical code that is the backbone in every decision you make.

Stay Relevant

Another important thing to keep in mind that agility spoke on here is to always stay relevant. While posting onto your social media's account, you need to always be asking yourself if anyone would care to read or look at your creative content regarding its' relevance. 

Let's face it, as journalists we must always practice coming out with the best and most recent content/writing.

There is no escaping the dramatic pull that social media has on people. The only way to make sure you don't slip up on your personal account is to keep your ethical codes in check. If your ethical codes stay at the back of your head then you will never produce any type of content that goes against your own ethical code and you companies ethical code. 

Social media is hard to navigate as a normal person, let alone a journalist. However if you follow the step I highlighted you will be following the road to success.