Finding and Backgrounding Sources on Social Media David F. Carr InformationWeek.com

Outline Introduction Show of hands time Profiles of the networks, advantages of each Demo searches Q & A

Introduction Current gig: Editor, InformationWeek Education Previous: Editor, The BrainYard, web publication on social media / social business Past: newspaper reporter Future: author “Social Collaboration for Dummies”

Show of Hands Who promotes stories on social media? Who uses social media to research / sourcing? Who uses Facebook for business? Who keeps Facebook strictly personal? Who does not use Facebook (or minimally)? Who is on Twitter? Who is on LinkedIn? Who is on Google+?

Research Uses of Social Media Find experts, authorities, authors on any topic Find people who work for any organization Find former employees of any organization Find people who are “talking about” any topic Find eyewitnesses to news events 5-minute research before the phone interview

Clues to Credibility Established account vs. brand new account Profile completeness: photo, links to other biographical sources Authentic content, consistent with claim of expertise / first-hand knowledge Connected to other credible people? Check them out on Klout, Google Contact and interview

Profiling the Networks: Facebook Mostly personal contacts, business pages 955 million monthly active users as of June

Facebook: Personal Networking Limited (hidden) search. Easiest to find people if you can search by name, have connections in common Profile (“friend”) vs. Page (“like”) Celebrity / expert / public figure profiles may offer “subscribe” option

In Beta: Graph Search

Profiling the Networks: Twitter Publishing and networking in 140 characters ~500 million users

Twitter, Briefly Good search (free text keyword, #hashtag, names) biased toward current content. Advanced search – spj near:"ft. lauderdale" within:15mi Profiles very abbreviated. Send anyone a message by writing

Profiling the Networks: LinkedIn All business. Explicitly organized as a network of contacts and experts, structured for search by organization, expertise. ~175 million users

LinkedIn: Boring Is Good Profiles resemble resumes. Well-developed profiles will include recommendations, group memberships Good repository of experts (finding people who want to be found) Introduction system lets you stretch and improve your network

LinkedIn For Journalists Sign up for group, take training, get upgrade

Why You Want The Upgrade

LinkedIn Tips Build connections with existing sources, experts. Invite by or search for profile First, flesh out your own profile Include a note with connection requests (provide context) Use LinkedIn Group connections for easier introductions Participate in discussions, pose questions

Profiling the Networks: Google+ Still evolving but combines best features of others. ~150 million active users

Google+ Good search for names, specialties, content Growing user base in niches including tech, small business, websites trying to boost search ranking (get Google’s attention) Rich profiles Posts can be short or long, include photos, hashtags

Demo Time

Search LinkedIn Search for People, Updates, Jobs, Companies, Answers, Inbox, Groups Default keyed to site navigation (Groups when browsing Groups) Simple keyword search Advanced Search for People

LinkedIn Examples Expertise / background – Forensic accounting By title – CFO – CFO with expertise in forensic accounting By company – Keyword: FPL – Company: FPL – FPL, past not current (story on alumni)

LinkedIn Examples (continued) Geography – Narrow any search by zip code, within x miles Company search – Follow organization, connect with employees News driven: Three charter schools close unexpectedly, including one founded by a former NFL player – Searches: Keyword: charter school Company: Touchdowns4life Groups as a source of beat connections – Forensic accounting

Search Facebook Search by name most prominent Click through to “See more results” for search filters Additional people search filters: location, education, workplace

Twitter Searches Search by keyword for broad match Search by hashtag for deliberate tagging of #subject Narrow with Advanced Search or learn search operators Twitter search operators – love OR hate – strike near:"springfield, ma" within:100mi

Google+ Search Keyword search brings back a mix of post and profile results, which you can further filter Hashtags also work Some standard google operators work on Google+ – "a * saved is a * earned" Using google.com to search Google+ site:plus.google.com "charter school" -intitle:"charter school" "lived * Miami"

Credits/Further Reading Mandy Jenkins – zombiejournalism.com zombiejournalism.com – slideshare.net/mandyjenkins slideshare.net/mandyjenkins “Best Practices for Social Media Verification” by Craig Silverman, Columbia Journalism Review – How to Search Facebook video by JM Internet Group – Social search techniques – Mashable article on Social Media Search – mashable.com/2011/03/25/advanced-social-media-search/ mashable.com/2011/03/25/advanced-social-media-search/ My slides

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