During Friday’s workshop on developing a strong social media presence, two social media editor focused on the need for journalists to develop a strong presence on Reddit.
Gabriel Sands, the senior partnership manager at Reddit, and Angel Mendoza, the social media editor for The Washington Post, spent much of the session instructing journalists on how best to use Reddit.
Sands leads partnerships pertaining to sports organizations, breaking news, political reports, and ethical journalism. Mendoza maintains social media presence for The Washington Post’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
During the “How to Cultivate a Loyal & Engaged Audience” workshop, Sands said, “Reddit helps develop audiences who are looking to develop newsroom-wide strategies for successful community focused interactions.”
Their strategies and suggestions for using Reddit apply to other social platforms as well and included:
- Be appropriate among colleagues, even when comments are negative in a recent post thread.
- Always use an official account, and keep business separate from personal life.
- Ensure that your comment is understood by all viewers.
- Be conversational
- Engage in comments when necessary, and if possible.
- Build your voice so you can strengthen your storytelling skills, as well as your constituents within the newsroom.
The speakers also shared a few “don’ts”:
- Don’t Be a Spammer, sending an abundance of irrelevant messages to viewers that are looked at as phishing and or advertising products/businesses.
- Don’t post something that has already been posted
- Don’t do a post and run.
- Don’t neglect people that need help.
The workshop contributed to journalists’ understanding of the importance of consistent interaction on many different media platforms.
