Why every journalist should have a Twitter account

Twitter has been around for a while now, it’s become one of the most useful tools to many journalists, yet some hacks still don’t have an account. News stories are breaking on Twitter, it’s a great way to find out the latest news without trawling through a paper, and if that wasn’t enough, you can even upload a nice pretty cover photo to your profile now. Still not convinced? Here’s why every hack should have a Twitter account:

1. It’s concise
Packing what you want to say into just 140 characters is a challenge and a half. As a journalist, cutting what you want to say down to a word count is an incredibly useful skill to have. Plus, it’s easy to sift through the information and flick past things, without spending too long trawling through your feed.

2. You can stalk people without seeming like a stalker
Instant access to the inner minds and latest content from all your favourite journalists, free? Yes please, Twitter. You can learn why Jon Snow likes apple crumble, or find out when Nick Robinson decorated his tree (no, seriously). But on a helpful note, you’ll be able to interact with established journalists directly, and meet a whole new community of wannabes who are battling their way into the media too.

3. Twitter users are clued up, and quick on the ball
Things are happening in real time on Twitter, all over the world. There’s never a period where you won’t have someone tweeting something interesting. It’s also great if you need a journalism request, or to find out some information fast.

4. It’s a great show off for your work too
Want advice? Work experience? Just someone to read your blog posts? The hashtags on Twitter make it easy to show yourself off to others who are interested in the same things you are, and as Jenni said before, it can be a great online CV for anyone having a peek at your feed.

5. Easy to use
Twitter makes it easy to find information, but also easy to sort it. The listing function means that it’s simple to flick through and find who you want, and order it. You can publicly or privately message people, check in, and add photo media easily. It’s also very easy to use from a smartphone.

What do you think? Is Twitter just a fad or is it an essential that all aspiring journalists should be using? Let us know in the comments, or tweet us @wannabehacks.

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Photo on the homepage courtesy of shawncampbell

AThereseFashion

I would also add that it's a great first point of contact with editors - be it because you don't want to pitch cold or to find out the name/email address of the person you want to submit a piece to. I've had two separate pieces published on two separate online platforms this weekend and both were sparked by me @ tweeting the respective editors and asking a) would they be interested in an article on XYZ (in my case, feminism and an art exhibition) and b) who could I send it to? In both cases a quick tweet led to email correspondence and ultimately into two pieces of published online content.

mikeysmith

What Luke said. And not just for your own patch. With careful searching and location services, it's good for making contact with eyewitnesses to events pretty much anywhere...

_lmob

1 Like

Don't forget it's great for gathering stories on your patch. Setting up a saved search which mentions various local points of interest is really useful. Then the story or quote is only 140 characters away!

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