Amy Jahns' Blog

On Thursday July 22, 2010, southeastern Wisconsin saw nearly 8 inches of rain in a matter of a few hours. Interstates, highways and streets flooded making roadways impassable. Many homes and business were filled with rain water and sewage. Sinkholes formed swallowing homes and SUV’s. Perhaps the most tragic news to come out of the storms was a young man who drowned after trying to escape flood waters.

When severe weather and destruction like this occurs, local news is watched to receive the most up to date information. TV news journalists gather as much video and information they can to keep viewers informed while watching their televisions.

That is all and well if you have power, but what if you were one of the thousands of people sitting in the dark?

In that situation, I turn to my battery operated cell phone with internet access. That night, I monitored the news through websites and twitter on my IPhone.  I was able to see pictures from my social media friends, and keep in touch with my husband who was stuck in the elements.

I was very grateful for the social media news folks I follow for posting and for the web producers providing the most up to date information on weather and street closures.

Social Media and website information during media coverage is so very important. It may be the only option to get the news to the people who desperately need it. 

TV News Stations have launched Facebook, Twitter and Apps for the social media savvy user to follow coverage. Stations also have producers dedicated to coverage on company websites.

 Although traditional TV viewers still need to tune into local news on their television sets, there is a growing number of people who may only get information from the web or who can only due to the weather.   

My hope is that stations start to truly keep up with the growing pace of social media for those who can only receive that information in that form.

On a side note, I saw this blog post on how social media users were the first to report some of the bigger stories that came out of the flood as well as the first to post photos.

http://www.triveraguy.com/2010/07/twitter-new-media-or-news-media/

This could lead into a whole new blog post on the rise of citizen journalism and why news media should embrace this new phenomenon, but I’ll save those thoughts for another day.

Is there an etiquette to editing tweets?

I often need to edit retweets to add my own content. I also add capitol letters and fix spelling mistakes. What should I be doing as to not offend the original poster?

I took a poll on Twitter and asked what others do. I only recieved two responses.

“RT @ brianweidner  If I need space, I think it’s ok to edit the original tweet. Try to keep the main idea, but might take out some words. I’ve…”

And

“RT @marcusnelson I often alter tweets for brevity- but always append an attribution to original source. Not kind to leave others out. #EditRTs”

I then asked @marcusnelson for an example. Here is his response. “RT @marcusnelson Hmm, I can’t seem to find much in the way of a recent example, other than that simply an attribution http://bit.ly/9yFygN”

My personal feeling on the matter is to edit away my original post. I would like my original idea to stay intact, but other than that changes do not bother me. I’m not sure when or if a standard Twitter etiquette will be created. In the meantime, I’d love more feedback on what others do and how you feel about others editing your tweets. (I’ve attached screen shots of my conversations with my sources on etiquette)

While signing up for my WordPress.com blog, The Proclaimers song “I’m On My Way!”, is floating around in my head. I’ve been thinking about beginning my own blog for a long time, and I’ve decided that the time to think about doing it is over.  I’ve now done it! 

I’m hoping to focus this blog on the amazing strides Social Media has taken in growing business for almost every organization, group, company and person it touches. It knocks my socks off how fast and successful those who “get it” are achieving their goals.

I have seen the success of how Social Media can grow an event/organization.  I volunteered for Laura’s Smile Mile, a 5K Run/Walk for Ovarian Cancer Awareness. They asked me to put together a social media campaign that would bring more exposure to the event.

I began immediately by signing up Laura’s Smile Mile for a Twitter and Facebook account. I began by inviting volunteers to both pages and asking them to invite their friends. I then began searching for anything related to Ovarian Cancer and following them.  I interacted with people who wanted to participate in the walk, doctors and hospitals that wanted me to post the newest studies and media who wanted to cover the event.  2009’s event had over 550 participants, this year’s event was over 700 participants. Although, I can not rely wholly on social media for the success, I’ve been told on  social media sites and in person that participants were exposed to the event through social media.

I am in the beginning stages of how to use Social Media in my job as an Assignment Editor for  TODAY’S TMJ4 . I like the Wiki definition for an Assignment Editor, but basically I am the first one to hear the news and from there that information is given to reporters to create a story. I’ve been using Twitter to monitor stories, by using keywords. For instance, if I wanted to know what people are saying about “Milwaukee” I would monitor posts that mention the word “Milwaukee. I’m also able to follow important information from politicians, businesses, organizations etc,  that may have newsworthy tweets. Right now, I’m exploring the interaction angle of twitter for the Assignment Desk. I’ve received news tips through twitter, and questions on story coverage. Thus far, I’ve had a positive response from the interaction I give those who post to our page. It will be interesting see how it grows in the future.

I hope to share my knowledge of Social Media as I continue to learn about all the amazing offerings it can provide to its users.