The biggest challenge before a journalist is identifying tweets that can be used in a news report. Often, people post tweets using assumed names. This makes identification difficult, and puts a question mark against the legitimacy of a tweet.
But this does not mean that journalists should avoid using Twitter as a news source. You just need to be more careful.
Here are seven tips you can use to decide the legitimacy of tweets:
Tip 1
Celebrity tweets: A major difficulty till 2011 was locating the Twitter handle being used by a celebrity. For instance, there were hundreds of Twitter users who had registered Twitter handles around film star Amitabh Bachchan’s name.
They were tweeting regularly with such Twitter ids as amitabh_bigb, amitaabh_bachan, imamitabh, BigBachchan, Bachchan, SnrBachchan, amitabbachchan, Amitabhb, ABachchan, amitabhbachchan, bigb_taj or AamBachchan. Most of them used photographs of BigB as their profile photograph. So, you were lost.
You did not know which Amitabh Bachchan to follow. Now you don’t have to worry. You can go to the search box Who to Follow on Twitter and search for Amitabh Bachchan. The actor’s Twitter id will have a blue check mark against it.
You can trust that id to have been verified by Twitter, and all tweets against that id can be used in your reports.
Tip 2
Loaded tweets: You very often come across tweets that attack individuals. It is easy to easy use them as a point of view. But how do you know that they are not spontaneous but part of a deliberate campaign to malign individuals or organisations.
This especially happens with politicians. You have an army of BJP fans supporting Narendra Modi, and attacking Sonia Gandhi. The reverse is also true. Most of these attacks are personal, vicious and virulent, and inspired by party affiliations.
In such cases, a journalist has to be careful. He cannot quote tweets blindly. By doing so, he will be giving legitimacy to those tweeters who are using the Internet to denigrate individuals.
The journalist before using the tweets should examine the profile of the tweeter. If the profile is sketchy, the journalist should Google the Twitter handle of tweeter. He should try and find out if the individual has a Linkedin profile or a Facebook profile, and does the information match. Only when the journalist is convinced of the identity of the tweeter he should use the tweet.
Tip 3
Account date: When was the account set up? If the tweet is made from a new account then the chances are that the account has been set up with a purpose. As a journalist, you should be very careful of using tweets made from a fresh account.
Tip 4
Context of past tweets: You should look at the past record of the tweeter. What is the nature of past tweets? Are they well informed? Are they balanced? Is the tweeter a rabble rouser or passionate about causes? These can be useful indicators in deciding whether to use the tweet or not.
Tip 5
Breaking news tweets: Don’t go by one tweet in the case of breaking news. Examine all tweets, or as many as possible, on the subject. Note the common points. If several individuals are making the same point but in their own way then the possibility of what they are saying is right.
Tip 6
Send a direct message: Twitter allows you to send a message to those members whose tweet catches your attention. Do this. Ask a question using the Direct Message button. Try and get more information. Ideally, you should identify yourself as a journalist so that the answers you get are not off the cuff.
Tip 7
Avoid comments: Be fair, and report what you see and hear. Do not jump to surmises or conclusions. Also, do not burden your followers with your point of view. People want to know what is happening. Tell them that.
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