Over the years I’ve been reporting news stories on my Twitter and Facebook feeds, and I would say that most people take me to be a reliable source.
While I don’t gather my news from any one place, I always try to make sure that it has some substance to it before I post it, or else it would be posted as a “Report” or something similar.
Often times people will comment on my posts with “Where did you see this?” or “Source?”, and I’ll generally respond “I am the source.”
Because let’s be honest, if you go to the NY Times or CNN social media pages, do you ask them where they got their stories from? Nope. You just accept it as it is, because of who they are.
Now, I am not saying that I am on any level of major news corporations, but I will say that I have built the loyalty of those who do come to me for news and information.
I have happily had my social media posts quoted in news articles in the past, by places such as the New York Daily News or RT, and I am always happy to do follow-ups to be quoted for an article (thanks Washington Post).
But what always gets me is when people question my news or intentions…let me show you what I mean.
This example is from back in 2012, with the Aurora Shootings:
Let’s just be clear about it…I was on top of my news that day, just like I’ve been every day.
My style hasn’t changed since day 1, and most likely won’t change in the future. And in case you were wondering what Day 1 was, I always try to consider that May 1, 2011…the day that President Obama announced the death of Usama bin Laden, and when I was constantly ahead of news sources the entire night.
On the other side of the coin, I have friends who post “Breaking News” all the time, followed by a joke…so when they do post something real, no one would actually believe them.
This isn’t to say that I don’t joke around from time to time, just that I would never portray a joke as actual news…that’s just counter-productive to trusted in the long run.
Aviously 