Analysis - by Patrick Thornton on Thursday, January 17, 2008 21:30 - View Comments

Pitfalls of Reporting Using Social Media

If you want to be serious about beat blogging – read the full post. Below is just a recap, but in the full article the writer looks at benefits and pitfalls of Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and other social networks.

clipped from www.pbs.org

The Benefits and Pitfalls of Using Social Media for Reporting

But with this ease of access to information and individuals comes an inherent risk. Online communities — like villages and workplaces — are breeding grounds for rumors and speculation. And the nature of some of the tools we use might lead to inconsistent, incomplete and all-around incorrect information. Using social media tools to write a story has both its pros and cons, but with a little common sense and professionalism these tools can be very helpful.

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About BeatBlogging.org

BeatBlogging.org was a grant-funded journalism project that studied how journalists used social media and other Web tools to improve beat reporting. It ran for about two years, ending in the fall of 2009.

New content is occasionally produced here by the this project's former editor Patrick Thornton. The site is still up and will remain so because many journalists and professors still use and link to the content. BeatBlogging.org offers a fascinating glimpse into the former stages of journalism and social media. Today it's expected that journalists and journalism organization use social media, but just a few years ago that wasn't the case.

About the Author of this post

Patrick Thornton is the editor and lead writer of BeatBlogging.Org. He is @pwthornton on Twitter.