330 – Social Media Networks – an overview

Social Media landscape in 2015:

Active users:

  • Facebook: 1,366,000,000
  • Twitter 284,000,000
  • Instagram 300,000,000
  • Google Plus 343,000,000
  • Snapchat 100,000,000
  • WhatsApp 600,000,000

Source: Statistia

Social Media Revolution 2015 (commercial angle)

Media on Social Media

BBC On Instagram

Background article Washington Post on the use of Snapchat by media

BBC Training: Social Media Newsroom (video)

CNN On Snapchat

 

Social Media Research & Verification

The Verification Handbook

BBC Academy on social media verification (video)

 

Tools

Social Media image sizes 2015   

How to write a catchy headline

Suggestions for effective teasers

  • Put together a content plan
  • Keep it short
  • Emotional appeal
  • Highlight example/fragment/quote from article
  • Ask a question
  • Create curiosity
  • Continuity (updates)
  • Use relevant #hashtag
  • Informal language/simple
  • Visual content
  • Add multimedia content

Speed vs accuracy

Emergent.info is a useful real-time tracker of online rumours set up by Craig Silverman (Poynter Institute) who edited the Verification Handbook. A good tip from Craig:

“In some cases, you can best add value by waiting and choosing not to give breath to a claim. Take time and see if you can be the person to turn up a key piece of evidence for or against it. If others are already propagating a rumor, the opportunity for capturing pointing traffic diminishes. Take an approach to move the story forward and you’re more likely to be rewarded with traffic”.