Social media is changing and enhancing journalism and the way we communicate

On May 20, our Social Media for Journalists class heard from Yvonne Leow, the senior Snapchat editor for Vox.

She spoke about her unusual path to her (arguably) unusual job. She talked about her career as a journalist, how she fought through failure.

“There are no shortcuts to hard work,” Leow says. “You have to put in hard work to get the skills.”

Based off Leow’s lecture, here are the five ways I think social media is changing journalism and our communication methods for the better.

Put yourself out there

Whether that’s on social media or asking out that cute guy at the bar. Put yourself out there. Make sure you have a Twitter account, a Facebook page, an Instagram. Make sure you’re an active user, not just a standby.

Also, don’t hesitate to put yourself out there when it comes to applying for jobs. Leow said that she never would have gotten her job at Vox had she not just stuck herself out there and tried.

“Just try something new and go for it,” Leow says. “It won’t be easy to jump ship later.”

You can’t build great things alone

Social media might not get you the team. (Unless you’re me and you only hired your desk via social media.) But you need a team to do social media. You need a team to make any kind of desk—regardless of if it’s social media related.

“Find the people who have the same spirit as you,” Leow says.

Social media adds connections. It adds social engagement and more opportunities for you to engaged not only with the people who are reading your articles, but also the people you’re covering.

“If you want to build something great, you can’t do it alone,” Leow says.

Surrounding yourself with people who make you better—that means all people you create relationships, sources or coworkers.

You have to be immediately interesting

If you haven’t seen this article from Digiday earlier this month, you should check it out.

“People are living on Snapchat,” Leow said. “Our stories should too.”

It tells the story of how 85 percent of video on Facebook is viewed without sound. Leow talked about how important it is that you make a distinct impression in just the first few seconds a viewer is looking at your video, or else you lose them.

“The first second or two have to be interesting (on Snapchat),” says Leow.

You’re a reporter first, producer second

“You must build up that foundation of writing and telling a story,” Leow says, stressing the importance of reporting and editing skills.

Just because you’re a “social media person” doesn’t mean you aren’t a journalist and need to know the journalistic values.

In fact, Leow’s path disproves that idea. She was a journalist to start her career—she worked at places like the Associated Press and the Seattle Times, where she did video reporting.

She does stress the importance of writing and producing for mobile, as you have less time and less space to get your point across.

Learn how to ask questions

Whether that’s out loud or just internally.

Question what’s real on social media. Question your sources and where they’re getting information. Question what you really want to do with your life. (Some of these resources might help with that.)

“Question everything,” Leow says, “even why you want to be a journalist.”