According to Statista<\/a>, a German company specialising in market and consumer data, Twitter\u2019s audience size was 290.5 million monthly active users worldwide in 2019, and it is projected to hit over 340 million users by 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter has always prided itself as a \u201cwindow into what\u2019s happening in the world.\u201d In journalism and media practice, its evolution has ushered in some changes in the work of reporters, editors, and general newsroom culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, in a reality that is deemed commendable, the platform, through its free speech promotion, has been pivotal to the promotion of \u201ccitizen journalism.\u201d Users now report events and happenings in their environments via thread, images and videos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although this has brought media closer to people, it has immensely contributed to the spread of fake news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For journalists, the micro-blogging platform helps them to \u201cdo more than just tweet out links\u201d of their work as they also interact with their followers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reporters are provided with multiple credible sources without even stepping their feet on the place of the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Political organisations, government agencies and celebrities use Twitter to engage with their followers. This has really helped journalists to have access to press releases and other important information that can go into the public space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking on the role of Twitter in media in her article titled \u201cHow Journalists can best Engage with Their Audience<\/a>,\u201d a political journalist, Jennifer Hollett<\/a>, emphasised on the significance of the platform in news monitoring and sourcing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to her, \u201cnews often breaks first on Twitter.\u201d It is, therefore, the national media outlet for the public on developing stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c<\/em>Unlike with a traditional TV broadcast or newspaper article, however, the public can take an active role in a story by replying directly to journalists on Twitter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c<\/em>People are more likely to reply to journalists who are willing to engage with them by replying, retweeting, answering questions, or soliciting news tips. That, in turn, increases a reporter\u2019s followers and drives more interest and trust in the journalist\u2019s work,\u201d she further submitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, Twitter helps journalists to seek clarification and \u201cadditional information, answer questions and take readers behind the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since there is a limit to the number of words a tweet can accommodate at a go, Twitter has provided its users with the option of THREAD<\/a> to inform their audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For journalists, the Twitter thread is essential in breaking complex stories as they can string multiple tweets together into one entity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Avery Friedman, a journalist, explained in his article titled \u201cHow Journalists and Newsrooms can Utilize Threads to Enhance their Reporting<\/a>\u201d that thread helps journalists to \u201ckeep the facts straight and up-to-date as the story develops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the thread has a long life span, journalists can use it to tell a bigger story and bring history back to life. This means media personnel and some newsrooms can use it to showcase their archives or illuminate \u201cjournalists from decades in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can learn how to create a thread HERE<\/a> as a journalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest tools from Twitter for journalists is Tweetdeck<\/a>. Released 13 years ago, the tool is a social media dashboard application for the management of Twitter accounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tweetdeck consists of a series of customisable columns which can be set up to display the user’s Twitter timeline, mentions, direct messages, lists, trends, favourites, search results, hashtags, or all tweets by or to a single user. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Users can monitor multiple accounts simultaneously. This means journalists who are on the platform can immediately access information as it drops from the accounts they monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the benefits of the tool is that it is good for \u201cbreaking news\u201d journalists. Since government agencies and parastatals are on Twitter and drop press releases through their handle, journalists run stories based on this available information.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTwitter, news monitoring in digital journalism age<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Spreading the news through THREAD<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tweetdeck: Twitter\u2019s vital monitoring tool<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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