Facebook Tips For Journalists

Online Journalism Blog has published its four-point guide to how journalists can use the social networking site Facebook.

1 - Find New Contacts
“Say you cover the health industry and you add 20 of your contacts to Facebook - by looking at their friends you may be able to find other contacts you wouldn’t otherwise have met.”

2 - Get A Different View

“Facebook is a great source of special interest groups, however obscure … now we can get a further perspective...”

3 - Find Stories

“Use Facebook as a news source itself via the feed of your friends’ status updates … this can be more miss than hit, but there’s always the chance someone will mention something they’re doing which is newsworthy…”

4 - Facebook Feedback
Create a group for your publication or blog and then ask members for their ideas about stories.

“As journalists become increasingly stretched, being able to tap into support networks like these is becoming increasingly important.”