Let us talk about the news

Twitter and news stories are a match made in heaven.


Twitter has brought a great many things into my life; insight into how the rich and famous live their lives and Instagram their lunches; I have been involved in seminars on Twitter that have educated me in my industry, giving me professional connections; I have laughed at the viral memes and retweeted my friends’ announcements. 

The ultimate thing Twitter has brought though is the immediacy in which news comes.  I will admit my browser will see more of Twitter than a news page, and this is why I tend to hear about major events through the social network. A prime example of this is when I was in my Masters seminar, demonstrating Twitter on a projector when the news of the death of Alexander McQueen flashed up. We were seeing this news immediacy in true effect. 

News-worthy stories

There are numerous news events I can confirm of hearing about from Twitter first, and they don’t just come from the BBC Breaking News account; they come from various sources all feeding through what they have just read on their feeds. In fact, news has been so immediate on Twitter that reporters and journalists started turning to it for their investigations and real time events. 
 
I am writing this a day after London has been shocked by frenzied attacks in Woolwich (which is a top trend at the moment).  The news and details of a fairly confusing event came through on Twitter as the bystanders and witnesses tweeted about what they saw. The same thing happened with the Boston bombings.
The Boston bombings, actually, brought the journalists and reporters using Twitter as a valid news source down a couple of notches; in the frenzy of that day and the number of tweets coming through, wires were crossed and incorrect information came through as ‘verified’. Since then, journalists have been a little more wary before taking what is on Twitter as gospel.

Twitter brands and the news..
 
Twitter news has also brought a little pain to brands.
With each tragic event that has been the centre of attention on Twitter, there has been a brand using the # in an inappropriate way. Many of these fails can be seen here. 

Whilst I cannot understand the reasoning behind such comments, these brands have more than likely left the community management to a overly keen marketing intern pushing to make their mark in the company. Unfortunately, this can backfire as Gap, Friends Reunited, Epicurious, Kitchen Aid to name but a few have learned the hard way. 

For brands, I feel it is best to steer completely clear of any trending news topic that has no connection to your industry (and even if it does, tread carefully). Responses to any news story need to be incredibly well thought out and considerate. 

For the rest of the Twitter world, keep spreading the news!
 

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