How many times do I click on the little ghost outlined in yellow to creep on what my friends are doing?
Too many times than I care to admit.
We all do. Since people are on Snapchat, news organizations should be, too.
The Huffington Post even made its Snapchat selfie its Twitter profile picture. To add the HuffPost as a friend, just open the app and stick the camera right in front its profile pic. And, Bam! You’ve added the Huffington Post as a friend on Snapchat.
Other news orgs have caught on. The Washington Post, NPR, The Verge, Mashable, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Dallas Morning News’ entertainment site GuideLive are all using it in different capacities.
Most news organizations say they give readers breaking news coverage, quick bits of information on the app or a sneak peak/behind-the-scenes look into the making ot reporting of a story.
NPR reporters give readers fun facts.
Too many times than I care to admit.
We all do. Since people are on Snapchat, news organizations should be, too.
The Huffington Post even made its Snapchat selfie its Twitter profile picture. To add the HuffPost as a friend, just open the app and stick the camera right in front its profile pic. And, Bam! You’ve added the Huffington Post as a friend on Snapchat.
Other news orgs have caught on. The Washington Post, NPR, The Verge, Mashable, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Dallas Morning News’ entertainment site GuideLive are all using it in different capacities.
Most news organizations say they give readers breaking news coverage, quick bits of information on the app or a sneak peak/behind-the-scenes look into the making ot reporting of a story.
NPR reporters give readers fun facts.
The Verge’s social media manager, Sam Sheffer, says news orgs have to give readers context when they send a snap. He suggests using text and the app’s sliding time indicator and geofilters to do that.
One of my personal favorite stories I found out about this summer is The Washington Post’s use of Snapchat. Its chief political correspondent, Dan Balz, is using it as he reports from the campaign trail. He snagged a video of Chris Christie in New Jersey using the app.
“I’ve used Snapchat at political events to bring them to life in ways my copy doesn’t, or to provide a supplemental look at what I’ve written,” Balz told Poynter reporter Benjamin Mullin in his July Q&A with the politics reporter.
Personally, I love that idea. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and now Snapchat should be tools that add to reporting. Do they take away from the text? Yes, but in a good way that, I think, better serves readers.
The Washington Post’s Masuma Ahuja says she’s found “bite-sized is best” when it comes to engaging the Post’s Snapchat followers.
(Click the screen grab to the right to see the full video)
So, how do you think reporters can and should use Snapchat? Next week, I'll tell you how I'd use it in reporting as well as what I like and don't like about other news organizations use of the app.
(Click the screen grab to the right to see the full video)
So, how do you think reporters can and should use Snapchat? Next week, I'll tell you how I'd use it in reporting as well as what I like and don't like about other news organizations use of the app.