The Journalist as a Social Butterfly

It's a dirty job, but if you want to succeed in journalism today, you're gonna have to get your hands dirty; that is, learn how to shamelessly promote yourself via social media.

With traditional media struggling, journalists can no longer afford to "take the high road" and consider themselves above the lowly blogger and self-promoters. They have to especially know how to fully engage audiences and grow their fan base on Facebook and Twitter. They have to understand the importance of keywords for creating headlines that work best online, to get the maximum exposure possible for an article.

Journalists also have to acquire a thorough knowledge of the outlets available to them to quickly gather credible expert sources, such as HARO and ProfNet, and be able to review their vetting processes to ensure all their sources are legit.

If you're a student and aspiring journalist, the first thing to realize is that, on the Internet, nothing is ever "off the record."  Even before you get to that first interview, you should have already created an adequate presence online, with your own blog, as well as your own Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. Treat everything you put on there as if your were working for The New York Times. If you don't think it's fit to print, don't print it.

In short, be absolutely professional in all your online writing, whether you're leaving a comment in a comment box, tweeting back directions to the restaurant to a friend, or posting family pictures. No rambling and stream-of-consciousness material, no silly, off-color or politically incorrect jokes, nothing that can come back to haunt you. If you write anything, regardless of the website you write it for, make sure it features solid reporting, solid writing.

The first thing HR managers will do is check out the candidates online, and if you can already impress them with the quality of your writing and your social media savvy, you're ahead of the game.