Social networks and Cyberjournalism Som à Letra: a case study I. Leite 1 1
Department of Communication Sciences, Faculty of Letras. University of Porto, Portugal.
Multimedia nowadays is one of the keypoints (the main one?) to a new way of journalism, close to readers. Know how to work with different components (images, audio, video, graphics, animations) is be able to inform in a enriched and direct way. The readers feel as they make part of a family. And isn`t that the correct position? Social Network, as twitter and facebook become truly important to get close to readers. A new function, profession is created: community host. The job of engaging with those formerly known as “the audience” is in some ways becoming a new online “beat”—one in search of a simple moniker to describe what it is, the skills required, and the tasks entailed. [1] Nathasha Lim works as a community host at TBD. That’s what I say when people ask what I do. Hearing this, they smile, sort of, and nod their heads, and then they ask again what it is I really do. By now, this routine is all too familiar—but I can appreciate why. Until I started this job, I hadn’t heard of a community host either. Unlike the previous positions I’ve held—reporter, producer, video journalist—this one was unfamiliar, with responsibilities undefined and always evolving [2]. Som à Letra is a cyberjournal created in 2009, with social networks support. Results: the audience increases each day. It´s social networks a new way of converging audience? Or just another tool to journalists? After nine months counting visits from our blogger we found that facebook is definitely an important tool to an efficient work. (Table 1)
Table 1 Keywords: Social Network, Facebook, Twitter, Cyberjournalism, Community Host References: [1]Community Host: An Emerging Newsroom ‘Beat’ Without a Guid http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102521/Community-Host-An-EmergingNewsroom-Beat-Without-a-Guide.aspx, accessed at 22/11/10 [2]Community Host: An Emerging Newsroom ‘Beat’ Without a Guid http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102521/Community-Host-An-EmergingNewsroom-Beat-Without-a-Guide.aspx, accessed at 22/11/10