How social media turned me into a digital-first journalist

Posted on by Jonathan Mettus

When I started high school, covering sporting events my school paper required just a notebook and a pen. The story came out sometimes the day after the game, which was OK considering the only live updates available were on the radio or (rarely) TV.

But then social media took hold and changed all that … and me. Information distribution became instantaneous. Notebook and pens turned into laptops and Internet connections. I turned into a digital-first journalist.

After one game I was covering, someone who knew I was at the game Tweeted at me asking for the final score. I sent it out in a reply. Then, the next game, one person intermittently asked for updates and my Live Tweeting career began.

Live Tweeting has turned into a public way of taking notes with the bonus of having a timestamp for each thought. If you’re not providing real-time updates, you’re missing out on an audience. Sometimes my computer dies, though, and I go back to the old way of note taking while Tweeting from my phone.

With social media, not only do I have to pay attention to what’s going on on the field, but I also have to monitor what readers are asking me — even if it’s the same question from the same Syracuse football fan every game.

And since the rise of social media, I’ve had to pay more attention for photos and videos to Tweet out. Those sorts of things used to only to handled by the photographer, but in my experience, media Tweets do better than plain text.

Social media started for me as a way to connect with my friends. Now, I use it professionally and it’s turned my job as a journalist into one that focused on now and is 24/7.

 

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