Lisa Barone on Social Media

What are the advantages of social media for journalists?

LB: The biggest advantage is the new access to both information and to people. Things like real-time search allow journalists to find new sources and hear about new developments quicker than ever before. With much of the world on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., journalists are able to develop much more complex Rolodexes and can get access to a wider range of sources. They can monitor online conversations to help them keep an eye on what's happening in their area. It's easier to promote content to the right audience and to use social tools to push it and get more eyes on it. Journalists also have more platforms to publish content and aren't tied to a "page" like – Twitter, YouTube, etc. There really are a great number of advantages for journalists in social media if they're savvy enough about using them.

What are the drawbacks?

LB: The drawbacks, in some ways, are the same as the advantages.

* With the flood of constant information, it creates an incredible amount of noise, which can make it hard to discern real information from fact.

* With everyone acting as citizen journalists, the integrity of what is written and put out there is sometimes compromised.

*  Because everyone can publish, there's far more competition for influence and authority (good and bad, depending on where you're standing).

* New tools mean accepting a learning curve to discover how to use them.

Will social media play even more of a role in the future of journalism, or do you see this trend slacking off?

LB: I definitely don't see it slacking off. Social media isn't a fad; it's changed the way people share and consume content. The Web has allowed people to create their own online neighborhoods and elect leaders to speak for them. That's something journalists are going to have to really take into consideration. It's a new audience. As we've seen with some of the bigger publications – you can ignore it, but it's going to be to your detriment.

While social media may improve the quantity aspect of a journalist's story, how do they impact the quality if time that normally would go into more reporting is devoted instead to social media requirements?

LB: I don't think it's a quantity/quality tradeoff. Social media improve the quality of stories by giving more and faster access to information and sources. When you don't have to spend two hours hunting down the phone number of the source you're looking for, you can invest that time into promotion or investigating other avenues and angle. You're not trading writing time for social media, you're changing the way you work and learning to do it smarter.

You wrote an article called "6 Reasons You're Not Rocking Social Media" focusing on businesses generally. Zeroing in on newspapers and magazines, are there any particular reasons they may not be rocking social media? How can they improve?

LB: There are many ways newspapers can improve what they're doing in order to see a benefit from social media.

* I'd like to see more news outlets integrate their site content with social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Don't just use Facebook to push content, use it to broadcast your community directly on your site.

* Consider search when writing headlines: While the flowery and creative headlines may sound pretty, papers are cutting themselves off at the knees when it comes to search visibility. You need to include the terms users are going to be searching for. It sounds so simple and yet the power of search is ignored.

* Make it easy for readers to share content: Include options to tweet the link, to share it on Facebook, and even to e-mail it to their friends. Though it's not as sexy, e-mail is still the preferred way to share content they like for most people.

* Use Google Alerts: If you're a local beat reporter, you may want to set up alerts for the officials in your area and for prominent businesses, etc. This will alert you to forum, blog, Twitter conversations, etc. about these topics.

* Watch local online communities: Your small town may have an online forum where residents go to talk about what's going on, the construction project that's not getting done, the mayor they're not happy with. Get involved in these conversations.

* Create online source networks: Friend local business owners, residents on social media channels to keep your pulse on what's happening in your area.

Do you see any one form of social media as being more important to journalists than others?

LB: I think it's all equally important. Being able to build relationships with sources, promote stories further and better track what's happening in their area are all huge assets to reporters and things they should be taking advantage of.

Lisa co-founded Outspoken Media, Inc., an Internet marketing company that specializes in providing clients with online reputation management, social media services, and other Internet services. She's been involved in the "SEO community" since 2006. She says about herself that she's "widely known for her honest industry observations, her inability to not say exactly what she's thinking, and her excessive on-the-clock Twittering." She graduated from Emerson College with a degree in print & multimedia journalism.