The American Society of News Editors released an outline of 10 best practices for social media this month. For any news person these are all good points to keep in mind — even if you don’t follow them to the letter — as you post and interact on social networking sites. Here are their 10 key takeaways:
- Traditional ethics rules still apply online.
- Assume everything you write online will become public.
- Use social media to engage with readers, but professionally.
- Break news on your website, not on Twitter.
- Beware of perceptions.
- Independently authenticate anything found on a social networking site.
- Always identify yourself as a journalist.
- Social networks are tools not toys.
- Be transparent and admit when you’re wrong online.
- Keep internal deliberations confidential.