Social Media Roundup: Tweet to Your Heart’s Content (With Context)
When taking on the role of a news outlet, be prepared to bring along an important tool—context. Also: Cease the routines bringing your workday momentum to a halt.
Don’t just be mindful of what you tweet—be careful of how you tweet. Without context, you could be misinforming your members. Plus, quit poking around the internet and get back to work, in today’s Social Media Roundup.
Don’t Be the Worst Trying to Be First
BREAKING: Federal judge says he will issue ruling that will strike down Ohio's ban on gay marriage.
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 4, 2014
The Associated Press published the tweet above earlier today, sparking more than a thousand retweets and hundreds of favorites.
But as BuzzFeed‘s Chris Geidner points out, AP’s tweet lacked a key detail: The judge was striking down a marriage recognition ban, not ruling on gay marriage as a whole. But plenty of individuals and other outlets still spread the news. The AP added context in a later tweet, but how many of those who saw the first tweet ever got the full story?
As more associations and nonprofits ramp up their own news-gathering efforts and the internet enables associations to inform audiences directly, it’s important to remember an old journalistic truism: It’s better to be (entirely) right than first. (ht @AP)
Quit Interstitial Procrastination
The seemingly harmless habit killing your productivity. (by @lvanderkam @FastCompany) http://t.co/XDQc7nwnSL
— Deirdre Reid, CAE (@DeirdreReid) April 4, 2014
Are you reading this at the office? Did you stumble upon it while aimlessly returning to your workflow after finishing a task? If so, contributor Laura Vanderkam at Fast Company has sage advice to keep you on target in a work environment riddled with possible distractions.
She dubs the period between one task and another, which is often filled with instant messages and wanton web browsing, the “transition ritual.”
As Vanderkam notes, “Formulating a witty comment on a favorite blog is more exciting than double-checking the numbers on a spreadsheet pertaining to a project you’re pretty sure will be canceled anyway.”
So you may want to check out her advice and keep it in mind the next time you return to your desk and think, “What next?” But of course, keep checking Associations Now—that habit is itself a self-improvement tip. (ht @deirdrereid)
(pressureUA/ThinkStock)
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