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The readers' editor on… starting up a wider conversation on Twitter The readers' editor on… starting up a wider conversation on Twitter
(2 months later)
Social media are now an integral part of the way journalists are trained and work. One of the most popular tools in the box is Twitter – as tens of millions know – a simple messaging system where users have no more than 140 characters to make their point or ask their question.Social media are now an integral part of the way journalists are trained and work. One of the most popular tools in the box is Twitter – as tens of millions know – a simple messaging system where users have no more than 140 characters to make their point or ask their question.
The Guardian and its journalists were early adopters of Twitter after it was launched in 2006. Each reporter is allowed an account. In addition there are about 120 group accounts, of which the readers' editor's office will now have one. In all around 4.3 million people follow Guardian Twitter accounts.The Guardian and its journalists were early adopters of Twitter after it was launched in 2006. Each reporter is allowed an account. In addition there are about 120 group accounts, of which the readers' editor's office will now have one. In all around 4.3 million people follow Guardian Twitter accounts.
Twitter can be used to achieve a form of the "daily me". Joanna Geary, the Guardian's social and communities editor, explains: "It's a really big distribution route for us, it's like having another front page of the Guardian. If you are a follower of @guardian, it's a big way of consuming news. Many people don't tweet but aggregate news sources. If you are interested in football you may take your club plus Guardian plus a few of your closest friends.Twitter can be used to achieve a form of the "daily me". Joanna Geary, the Guardian's social and communities editor, explains: "It's a really big distribution route for us, it's like having another front page of the Guardian. If you are a follower of @guardian, it's a big way of consuming news. Many people don't tweet but aggregate news sources. If you are interested in football you may take your club plus Guardian plus a few of your closest friends.
"It's also a very powerful way to have a dialogue and actually talk to readers. In the normal way we simply hope they come across us. But for instance if we are looking, for some reason, to speak to people in Liverpool – who is out and about – we can just find that out through Twitter. When the helicopter crashed in Vauxhall we could see who was around [eyewitnesses] in the area very quickly.""It's also a very powerful way to have a dialogue and actually talk to readers. In the normal way we simply hope they come across us. But for instance if we are looking, for some reason, to speak to people in Liverpool – who is out and about – we can just find that out through Twitter. When the helicopter crashed in Vauxhall we could see who was around [eyewitnesses] in the area very quickly."
Twitter's swiftness and simplicity are the key to its power and its users are capable of focusing an opinion into a percussive force in a very painful way. It has even been said that Twitter breaks stories faster than the agencies and newswires. However, according to Press Gazette, academics from the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow examined 51m tweets and found that wasn't true. Out of 27 high-profile events newswires broke the news first 15 times, Twitter eight times, and it was neck and neck for another four events.Twitter's swiftness and simplicity are the key to its power and its users are capable of focusing an opinion into a percussive force in a very painful way. It has even been said that Twitter breaks stories faster than the agencies and newswires. However, according to Press Gazette, academics from the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow examined 51m tweets and found that wasn't true. Out of 27 high-profile events newswires broke the news first 15 times, Twitter eight times, and it was neck and neck for another four events.
All Guardian journalists have to follow a set of community guidelines when they use Twitter, based largely on common sense and courtesy. The key is remembering that, despite the conversational tone, most exchanges can be seen and monitored by all. The readers' editor receives few complaints as a result of tweets from Guardian accounts. The bulk are about readers who feel banter has overstepped the mark. Often they are right.All Guardian journalists have to follow a set of community guidelines when they use Twitter, based largely on common sense and courtesy. The key is remembering that, despite the conversational tone, most exchanges can be seen and monitored by all. The readers' editor receives few complaints as a result of tweets from Guardian accounts. The bulk are about readers who feel banter has overstepped the mark. Often they are right.
I have a personal Twitter account but my colleagues and I feel that a group account for the office would be more effective in promoting a conversation with readers. It will be set up later this week, and monitored and updated throughout the day from 9.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Everyone who works on the desk will have access. We plan to use the account to more widely and more quickly distribute corrections and clarifications, the Open door column, possibly ideas and thoughts from readers' emails, with their permission. We also intend to use it to speedily disseminate significant corrections and for readers to use it as a way to alert the office to a complaint.I have a personal Twitter account but my colleagues and I feel that a group account for the office would be more effective in promoting a conversation with readers. It will be set up later this week, and monitored and updated throughout the day from 9.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Everyone who works on the desk will have access. We plan to use the account to more widely and more quickly distribute corrections and clarifications, the Open door column, possibly ideas and thoughts from readers' emails, with their permission. We also intend to use it to speedily disseminate significant corrections and for readers to use it as a way to alert the office to a complaint.
There are often small matters of style that are flagged by a reader and others may find interesting, for example why we use Nasa, not NASA. We hope that tweeting a link to the right place in the online Guardian style guide or @ GuardianStyle may be a useful service to readers. Hopefully it will also encourage readers to speak to one another rather than just us to them, maybe even spark the odd debate – not too odd, just interesting. Often we come across a complaint where there appears to be no right or wrong answer. It's a way of finding out what readers think.There are often small matters of style that are flagged by a reader and others may find interesting, for example why we use Nasa, not NASA. We hope that tweeting a link to the right place in the online Guardian style guide or @ GuardianStyle may be a useful service to readers. Hopefully it will also encourage readers to speak to one another rather than just us to them, maybe even spark the odd debate – not too odd, just interesting. Often we come across a complaint where there appears to be no right or wrong answer. It's a way of finding out what readers think.
Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian's editor-in-chief, three years ago wrote a list of 15 reasons why he felt Twitter was more than just a way to find out what your neighbour had for breakfast. His 14th reason was that Twitter changes the notion of authority. He wrote: "Instead of waiting to receive the 'expert' opinions of others – mostly us, journalists – Twitter shifts the balance to so-called 'peer to peer' authority."Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian's editor-in-chief, three years ago wrote a list of 15 reasons why he felt Twitter was more than just a way to find out what your neighbour had for breakfast. His 14th reason was that Twitter changes the notion of authority. He wrote: "Instead of waiting to receive the 'expert' opinions of others – mostly us, journalists – Twitter shifts the balance to so-called 'peer to peer' authority."
And that's just what we hope to achieve with the Guardian readers' editor Twitter account.And that's just what we hope to achieve with the Guardian readers' editor Twitter account.
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