The Associate Press (AP) just release social media guidelines for journalists. Journalists use the AP Style Guide to determine how to address issues such as capitalization, abbreviations, formatting, vetting sources and more.
AP’s social media guidelines define social media and give examples of what social media outlets are out there on the Web. What is important for local businesses to note is that these guidelines also outline how journalists use social media in their work. AP states that some common journalistic uses for social media are:
- Tracking down sources or witnesses to a particular story
- Gathering user-generated content like photos or videos that may be used as part of news reporting
- Looking for news tips or trends that create a lead for a story
There are several more, but these caught my eye they contain valuable information for business owners. These guidelines only make it more clear that business owners/representatives need to be on social media. For instance, if you own a restaurant and there is a problem with potatoes, or something of that nature, nationwide and you offer educated, informative comments on your restaurant’s fan page, the news outlets fan page (if they post a link to an article on the topic), or your personal profile reporters may notice and approach you as a source on their locally-focused story.
Social media engagement can help to establish you and your business as an expert in the community. Just make sure you have clear goals as to what you would like to be an expert on and how to go about it.
A great local example of this is Giovanni’s Restaurant and Convention Center. They have used social media to enhance their position as an expert in the culinary arts – and they are teaching us – always a bonus! Visit Giovanni’s on Facebook and YouTube to learn some cooking tips and tricks from Al Castrogiovanni!
Mary Grimborg
