In general, comments on Facebook are treated the same way they are on our websites: They are not actively moderated. We follow a notice and take down approach. We will take down an inappropriate post once we’ve been notified about them.

However, there are a few key differences between comments on Facebook and Disqus. Unlike our websites, there is no user flagging option for offensive comments on Facebook. Local editors should consider switching on Facebook’s comment alert system. This will notify them of every comment and help them catch inappropriate posts.

A few things to keep in mind when posting on Facebook:

Is it a court story? If so, be sure to add a disclaimer such as ‘allegations have not been proven in court’ to your status update and story link.  Remember that in criminal matters, the accused is considered innocent until proven guilty. Please bear this in mind when commenting and keep all comments appropriate.

In my experience, people tend to be a little more civilized on Facebook because users generally go by their real names. Still, if you post a controversial story, keep a close eye on it. If things start to go south,
add a comment to the thread asking people to be respectful. Share the link to our general commenting rules: http://blogs.canoe.ca/moniquesmorningminute/netiquette/. If trouble persists, take down the post and explain why. Social media is about transparency. If the Facebook thread is particularly heated, it’s advisable to delete the post overnight when there’s no staff available to monitor it.
NOTE: ** This will rarely happen.

If you have any questions, please email me at monique.beech@sunmedia.ca

Among the casualties?  TweetDeck for Adobe Air and versions of the  app for iPhone and Android. These apps were supposed to be killed this week, but appear to have been put on life support until June 11.

The goal was to move ‘power’ Twitter users to web-based desktop versions of Tweetdeck, such as the one for Chrome. Desktop app versions for Windows XP or later and Mac OSX 10.6. are living on.

Not sure what kind you have?

What’s being killed, so-called ‘yellow’ Tweetdeck.

What’s surviving, so-called ‘blue’ Tweetdeck:

What can you do about it?

Upgrade to a new version of Tweetdeck if your computer supports it: http://tweetdeck.com/

Try an another social media dashboard, such as Hootsuite, BufferApp, TweetBot, MetroTwit. Some are paid apps, depending on such factors as multiple account users, etc.

My recommendation: If you can access Chrome, go for Tweetdeck for the web. That’s what I use.

But I’m particularly wowed by the efforts of the two-person news team at the Elliot Lake Standard, a weekly newspaper in northern Ontario.  For the past 10 weeks, reporter Jordan Allard and managing editor Kevin McSheffrey have diligently live-blogged the Elliot Lake Inquiry into the Algo Centre Mall collapse.  This two-man show has proven that Scribblelive can work for any size newsroom. The news team also posts a livestream (live video feed) of the hearing, provided by the office of the inquiry commissioner, Paul Belanger. The result is a great daily multimedia package.

Recently, I chatted with Allard to find out what it’s like dedicating the time and resources to running a regular live blog (last week they hit Day 37) when you’re  a two-person newsroom. (Allard’s answers have been paraphrased)

Q: What has the response been from the community to the hearing live blog?

A: It’s helped keep readers up-to-date and has proven to be a helpful resource for the community. People are able to follow along and get a good idea of the big picture.

Q: How do you find Scribblelive as a web tool? Is it easy to use?

A: It’s user-friendly and pretty straight-forward from the beginning. (Staff at the Sudbury Star) gave me an outline of how to use it. It’s easy to add pictures, polls, website links. It’s easy to pick up.

Q: How has it impacted your workload? Do you still use a notebook?

A: It gives people a glimpse of what a reporter’s notebook looks like. When the hearing is done for the day, it’s just a matter of going through the (Scribblelive) blog and audio clips. I don’t think it’s increased the workload that much. Once you get used to it, it’s fine.  Unlike a notebook, you just need to make sure your notes are coherent so readers can follow along.

Q:  You use a lot of documents and photos in your mall hearing live blog. Tell me more about your live-blogging technique.

A:  I take a picture (with an  SLR) every time a new witness takes the stand and uploads it to his laptop to add to the blog. He includes polls to engage people and find out their opinions. He makes notes of important documents coming up in the hearing that day and takes a screen-grab so he can add it to the live blog.

Q: How do you juggle your commitment to the hearing (and the live blog) with the rest of the news that needs to be covered?

A: Jordan said the newsroom has a core group of freelancers and he’s been working a lot of extra hours.

Q: What types of stories would you use this for in future?

A: For any live breaking news event it is a useful tool;  breaking news, hearings, sports events.

Q: What would your advice be to journalists who are reluctant to try real-time reporting?

A: Just to try it a few times and you’ll get the hang of it really quickly. This is the type of stuff we need to be doing in this industry right now. Change or die.

NOTE: Special shout out to Regional Content Director Brian MacLeod for encouraging the Elliot Lake team to use the liveblog for hearing coverage.

I used Storify to create this collection of tweets from across the country. A great social storytelling tool that I’m sure most of you have used by now.

The weekend looks promising, at least for Southern Ontario. Please don’t change your mind Mother Nature. Be kind and give us the weather we deserve.

For more great QMI pics, check out this Snow in April photo gallery.

]]> http://blogs.canoe.ca/moniquesmorningminute/storify/oh-canada-we-just-want-spring-to-come/feed/ 0 http://blogs.canoe.ca/moniquesmorningminute/sunmedia/from-a-reporters-smarthphone-lens/ http://blogs.canoe.ca/moniquesmorningminute/sunmedia/from-a-reporters-smarthphone-lens/#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:09:52 +0000 Monique Beech http://blogs.canoe.ca/moniquesmorningminute/?p=6871 Toronto Sun’s Joe Warmington and Sun Media multimedia correspondent Marie-Joelle Parent are part of QMI Agency’s team on the ground in Boston. Both have been using strong smartphone images – posted to Twitter and Instagram – to tell the heart-wrenching stories of the horrific bombings that killed three and injured more than 150 people at Monday’s Boston Marathon.

I asked Warmington and Parent to share their thoughts on what it’s like documenting this tragedy through social media and how using a smartphone, versus a traditional camera, has changed covering major spot news events like this one.

Here’s what veteran journalist Warmington had to say about the feeling of being on the ground in Boston.

“Surreal is the best word to describe the feeling of being here. And in a state of limbo. The shock is fading here.  After a day of incredible emotion toward the innocent victims the mood nowis turning toward frustration. Boston was already under a soft seige from law enforcment and military following the Boston Marathon bombing. But it is tightening now –partially thanks to the president’s visit. But also thanks to the reality that there is a homicidal bomber still at large.  The tenor is also changing as the runners move out. It seems a lot of people may not have come in for planned conventions because downtown Boston feels even quieter today than it did on the day following the cowardly act. The security professionals have been very respectful but on a personal note when I see the war vehicles, rifles and firepower I think of my experience in Kabul and fear for freedom we may take for granted. One of these times, the terror might start to scare people away from public events.  When that happens there may be a domino effect on a free society.  When I am taking those pictures I also feel a sense of sadness as I reflect on the young victims. It also brings back the Newtown shooting and makes me wonder why there are people on this planet who could ever be so ruthless.”

I spoke with Parent via cellphone Wednesday morning about her experiences in Boston. Parent, who is based in New York City, also covered the Sandy Hook school shootings in Newtown and both reported on, and lived,  through Hurricane Sandy. She’s accomplished on both Instagram (5933 followers) and Twitter (19,687 followers). We spoke about the emotional challenge of covering a story like the Boston bombings and the ethics of reporting it via social media.

On posting photos to Instagram: “I always struggle (when covering a story like this). I wonder what I should post or not post. I know Instagram is primarily used as a network for positive things. I don’t want to post graphic things. I try to capture things that catch my eye.”

Parent said she tries to focus on inspiring images that offer people hope in the midst of tragedy. Her Boston pictures, posted to Instagram and shot with the app, capture what Parent calls the sidelines of the story; flags at half staff,  flowers and church services. “I feel people are very sensitive on Instagram to sensationalist photos and they get really mad if you post them.” Parent says she often uses Instagram’s filters when capturing secondary (sideline story) images but would never use one when shooting a hard news image, such as those taken during the bombings.

Parent said she often takes a picture with her iPhone5 first and then decides whether to switch to her Canon 5D for a higher quality shot. Shooting with the iPhone feels less intrusive, Parent said.

“I feel like I’m capturing the moment more with an iPhone. It’s very discreet. I feel like I’m capturing the essence of something.”

Whether it’s with a smartphone or an SLR, covering a story like the Boston bombings is never easy, she said. The extent of some of the injuries has been horrific, she said. “You meet people that will be forever traumatized, but you have a job to do and you have to focus on that.”

A lot of what Lavruski highlighted, I’ve mentioned before in this blog: Reporter profiles (people can ‘follow’ you now rather than subscribe), graph search.

One of the most interesting topics Lavruski, who works with engineers to improve social journalism features, covered is Facebook’s complex newsfeed. What does it take for content generated from our newsrooms, posted on our Facebook fan pages, to pop up on our readers’ news feeds? Lavruski helped demystify Facebook’s complex algorithm, Edgerank.

Lavrusik broke down what determines your Facebook ‘feed ranking’ into five categories:

Frequency of engagement with page: The more people click on your page, timeline, send you messages, the better your chances of that council story showing up in your readers’ Facebook feed.
Engagement with specific post: Clicks, likes, shares, comments (biggest factor)
Interaction with types of content: Readers may engage more with photos (typically the highest), straight status updates, story links.
Negative feedback to content: The more people that hide your content from their feed, the less likely other people will see it. Message? Post good content.
Freshness of post: The more recent the post, the better chance you have of your post being seen. Post good (and varied) content often.

The other big message of the night? Visual posts. Facebook’s new newsfeed (get on the wait list for this if you haven’t already) is very visually-driven, similar to its mobile site. Photos will play a bigger role in the new newsfeed. Bigger thumbnail photos, full-sized pictures are encouraged to increase engagement.

Lavruski’s tips for journalists to grow their followers on reporters profiles/fanpages:

Include information in your bio (profile):  Include your position and where you work. Facebook takes this into account when it recommends people to follow. Make sure the bio is visible to potential followers.
Mix up your content: Post behind-the-scenes photos, status updates – not just story links. Raw video, less-polished pics do better on social media – particularly for breaking news.
Conversational tone
Use target controls to reach the right audience
Incentivize engagement: Reward readers for contributing to your fan page/profile by including their comments in stories, on your website.
Mix up your content: Post behind-the-scenes photos, status updates – not just story links. Raw video, less-polished pics do better on social media – particularly for breaking news.

Check out Ari Shapiro of NPR’s  profile:

For more information, check out:

https://www.facebook.com/journalists

https://www.facebook.com/fbmedia

https://www.facebook.com/FacebookPages

But recently, I’ve been on something of a hashtag tirade. The hashtag is often overused. We’ve all seen, and perhaps sent, a tweet with #way #too #many #hashtags. Not only are they a visual blight (too many hashtags are a turn off) they don’t really help readers find good content. Does putting ‘#’ in front of #dog and #fire just doesn’t do anything.

My message? Use a hashtag where it makes sense, i.e. key topics, following a particular event/conference, trending topics, a unique hashtag to highlight unique content. Don’t use a hashtag just for the sake of using one.

Example of good hashtag use: From @canoepolitics: Obama promises undying U.S. support to Israel. http://t.co/dx6j58rNfG #ObamaInIsrael #USpoli

What’s more, according to a recent Nieman Journalism Lab  article by Daniel Victor, hashtags can be considered ‘harmful.’ The writer argues that using a really popular hashtag during key events is basically futile. Your hashtag gets lost in the torrent of Twitter white noise. For example, #Superbowl was used 3 million times in five hours. There’s little evidence out there to suggest people actually search for hashtags, Victor writes. (Besides nerds like me, of course). If they do search it, only the ‘top tweets’ get any prime Twitter real estate.

Now, I wouldn’t take such a hardline. While the chance of your #oscars tweet being seen may be slim through Twitter search, I don’t think it hurts to include it. I have  had success connecting with people via Twitter using popular hashtags such as, ahem, #TheBachelor (yes, I liveblog about this quality television program for Sun Media).

There could be times when newsrooms should be using their own hashtags to help readers find original content/posts. For example, #SunGreyCup helped readers pick out Sun Media’s Grey Cup content from the media pack.

Hashtags are also extremely useful for bringing a group together at conferences or particular news events. For example, #kovach72 was a good way for readers to follow the recent funeral of officer Jennifer Kovach.

(NOTE: To find prevailing hashtags, try this: http://hashtagbattle.com/)

It’s not all bad news for the hashtag. A study distributed by Twitter last fall Twitter Best Practices for Journalists and Newsrooms found hashtags increased user engagement by 100% for journalists and up to 50% for newsrooms. Local hashtags – #yeg in Edmonton – make sense.

Here’s more on the hashtag debate from digital transformation editor Steve Buttry of Digital First Media.

Here’s a good example of how easy getting consent can be. Yay, Canoe!

A recent Pew Research Center study found 67% of American adults use Facebook. Meanwhile, 16% are on Twitter, 15% are on Pinterest, 13% are on Instagram and 6% on Tumblr.

Why does this matter? I think we need to put focus back on Facebook. Recently, I had a Google+ Hangout with nine willing Sun Media staffers from across our chain. Despite a few technical difficulties we had a good chat about what works (and what doesn’t) on Facebook. (Thanks to Tessa Vanderhart, Dave Johnson, Don Wilcox, Tara Jeffrey, Dale Carruthers, Trevor Terfloth, Corey Larocque, Kate Kennedy – follow them on, er, Twitter)

Here are 5 key takeaways from our Facebook chat:

1) Learn what works best for your market. i.e.) best times to post, what types of posts get traction (get shares, likes). How? Get to know Facebook Insights. http://mashable.com/2010/09/03/facebook-insights-guide/

2) Post routinely. Every day. Between 5 to 12 times daily. Figure out a strategy that works best for your newsroom. Team posting manually, partially using Hootsuite, etc. Make sure staff know what’s expected of them: number of posts, tone, asking questions, posting pics, etc.

3) Types of posts that increase reader engagement on our Facebook fan pages (i.e. comment, shares, likes). Before my Google+ chat, I looked at the type of posts that got readers’ attention.

* PHOTOS! (big ones, submitted shots, cool stand-alones)

* Stories that shape your community’s identity (a church being torn down, a diner closing)

* Breaking news (huge for shares)

* Facebook polls (encourage comments)

4) Put personality in your posts (see Ottawa Sun, Winnipeg Sun)

5) Try out Facebook’s new graph search tool, sign up for the new newsfeed. HERE: https://www.facebook.com/about/graphsearch https://www.facebook.com/about/newsfeed

Here’s a good post about  National Public Radio, which studied what types of posts went viral on their Facebook fan pages.  It’s worth a read: http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/11/what-kinds-of-local-stories-drive-engagement-the-results-of-an-npr-facebook-experiment/

Burnett recently arrived in Halifax and started travelling west on March 11. While Thane’s trip is a journey back in time, it’s a step-forward in how we use online tools to present an ongoing series.

I’ve been working with Burnett over the last few weeks to get him trip-ready; Tips and tricks when using an iPhone; how to use Instagram (finally a good reason to use a retro filter!!); six-second video sharing machine, Vine, our live-blogging platform, Scribblelive; filing video to YouTube via iPhone apps.

Here’s the hash-tag that I wanted branded on everyone’s brains: #RETROCANADA

As well, Burnett will be using more familiar tools, including a WordPress blog, writing regular stories for print/online and shooting photos.

He’ll be the definition of the mobile journalist over the next few weeks.

Burnett’s been a patient and willing student. As the Sun’s national community manager, that’s all I can ask. And I can’t wait to watch him as he tweets, Instagrams, and Vines (making up verbs here) his way across Canada.