Social networkingforwriters

Social Networking for Writers and Wonks

Dana Goldsteinwww.danagoldstein.net

@danagoldtein

Common Social Networking Hang-Ups

• I will be distracted from “real” writing, reporting, and research

• Why should I give away for free what people ought to be paying me for?

• Nobody cares what I had for breakfast (you’d be surprised!)

• I will be overwhelmed by the amount of content on the social networks

Will Blogging, Twitter and Facebook distract you from your book, article, or paper?

OF COURSE THEY WILL! It is your job to utilize these tools without allowing them to take over your life.

Remember: All Things in Moderation

I Write 1-4 Blog Posts Per Week

• Responding to breaking news on my beat• “Reading Notes”• Extra reporting that won’t make it into a feature

story• Before I write any post, I ask myself: “Could I get

paid to write about this topic? If so, is the amount of money/time/extra legitimacy worth doing a full article?”

• Blogs launched just to promote a book usually don’t work

When Should I Blog, Tweet, or Update My Facebook Status?

Cartoon courtesy xkcd.com

The Internet Likes Opinions

• Opinions put you in dialogue with other writers

• Therefore, you will likely share traffic between your site/Twitter account/Facebook page and their site/Twitter account/Facebook page

Target Writers Who Have More Traffic/Followers Than You, but Not That Many More

• Your job is to argue with, promote, and riff off these writers. It’s even better if you know them in real life.

@EzraKlein, 114K followers

@MattYglesias, 32K followers

@JessicaValenti, 15K followers

Is blogging/social networking writing for free?

• Sometimes. But think of social networking as a promotional tool

• Building your “personal brand” by actively Tweeting and Facebooking will lead to more freelance gigs and job offers down the line, as you translate your social networking into real-world networking

@DanaGoldstein Twitter growth

Chart via tweetgrader.com

Note extremely low/slow growth of people I follow relative to people who follow me

People I Met via Twitter@DianeRavitch, who I then profiled for the Washington City Paper

@JoshCook, a Los Angeles teacher educator who I then interviewed for a feature story on the future of teachers’ unions. He introduced me to more LA teachers, several of whom are now characters in my book.

@GreenhouseNYT, Steven Greenhouse, the New York Times labor reporter. He tweeted my review of Steven Brill’s book, Class Warfare. We then met in person at a fundraising dinner.

Use a Twitter Client. I Use TweetDeck

What Makes People Click on a Facebook Link?

• Starting a conversation: Posts that ask a question or call for action receive the most feedback

• Opinion: Posts that include the journalist’s personal analysis get 20 percent more clicks

• Posts with photos receive 65 percent more “likes” and 50 percent more comments

Source: Facebook +Journalists study, July 2011, conducted by Facebook

The Ideal Facebook Status Update

Asking Followers for Feedback

And on a Smaller Scale…