How can you use social media to engage younger audiences as a journalist?

Some thoughts... - Craft audience-centric content for each platform. Understand preferences; Instagram for visuals, LinkedIn for thought leadership. - Leverage platform strengths: visuals on Instagram, real-time updates on X, snappy videos on TikTok. - Use relevant hashtags for discoverability. - Choose platforms strategically; focus efforts where your audience is. Tailor content for each platform to engage effectively.

Credibility is key in putting out public content. - Ensure all facts, sources, and images are accurate before sharing. This builds trust in your reliability and professionalism. - Disclose any conflicts of interest or biases, and correct mistakes promptly. Transparency reinforces your commitment to ethical journalism. - Use social media to highlight your credentials, expertise, and achievements. This establishes you as a credible authority in your field. - Share links to your previous work or portfolio. This allows your audience to explore your body of work, further solidifying your credibility as a trusted source of information.

As social media is often a land of bite-sized content, including news, a key thing journalists can do is to feature data from studies carried out by reputable institutions. Numbers and facts matters and can add the trustworthy factor to an article. More often than not, before hitting ‘Publish’, I carefully research data that enhances the credibility of my pieces. And during that process I am constantly learning as well, which comes handy to write more informative journalistic articles, instead of just my opinion or views.

Your audience comprises your dedicated followers, who value your unique perspective. They follow you, not just the media outlet you contribute to. So understand their LIKES, WANTS and NEEDS. - Know what they LIKE. Actively interact with your audience. Understand their preferences and initiate conversations. This fosters a deeper connection and trust. - Deliver what they WANT. Pay attention to what resonates with your audience. Provide content that aligns with their interests and desires. - Address their NEEDS. Identify the gaps in information or perspectives that your audience seeks. Tailor your content to meet these needs, establishing you as a valuable source of insights and information.

Counterpoint: Don't get consumed by the rat race for metrics! Of course you can adapt and react to whatever works, but never forget that your primary objective is to report, regardless of the platform. Good work will tend to find its audience, especially when you're an already established voice with a respected reputation: people will come to you for breaking news and context whenever something important is going on.

"The work is to dance between the fun and seriousness of the material," says music producer Rick Rubin. While the news should always be front and center in the presentation of your work, it doesn't hurt not to take yourself too seriously. Post a funny outtake, show how you and your team deal with behind-the-scenes situations that go sideways - generally, show the work that goes into reporting a story. That also applies to the subject matter itself you're reporting on (whenever appropriate): e.g. as a Thai politics reporter, sometimes it helps connecting with readers and viewers to acknowledge the absurdity of certain developments and events.

It is a fact that younger generations, particularly millennials and Generation Z, make up a significant portion of the global population, especially in developing countries. Engaging with them on social media allows journalists to tap into a vast and influential demographic. What's more, these younger audiences have grown up with digital technology and are often more comfortable with and reliant on social media and online sources for news and information. I recall a specific instance from around the past year when I was promoting an intriguing business feature on one of the most popular social media platforms among individuals within a specific age range. I launched a campaign to enhance its engagement and reach and it performed so well.

Social media platforms evolve or devolve. Ownerships, trends and above all algorithms can change on a whim with little to no warning that can upend any strategy that worked previously before, at times tanking entire business models. Certain platforms are actively discouraging news content, certain others deliberately dismantle safeguards against fake news and hate speech. Nothing lasts forever and leaving a platform with an established following sucks. But communities will always form around new campfires - and stay if there's enough warmth to it.