Beyond ‘Breaking’: How To Maximize Current Events For Social Media
Jun 25, 2008 by Greg Finn | Social Media Marketing
Fresh news is a fundamental element of social media and can be used in a variety of different ways to one’s advantage.
Across virtually every social network site, users scramble to be the first to break a news story. Inevitably, this leads to hundreds of duplicate story submissions and ends with one winner amongst hundreds of losers. But even if you weren’t the Woodward & Bernstein who successfully broke the story, there’s still hope. Remember, the story isn’t over once the news breaks; indeed, in many cases, it’s just beginning.
Taking a step back, a story that is ‘breaking news’ material is news for many different reasons. Every popular news event has multiple angles and subplots that make the story newsworthy for different individuals. For instance, the Boston Celtics recently beat the L.A. Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals. Why is this news?
This event is newsworthy for the following reasons:
1. A professional title was awarded making the Celtics the best team in the NBA
2. The Celtics went from terrible to tremendous in one season
3. Kevin Garnett, a good guy, finally won a championship
4. Paul Pierce won his first championship on a team that he has played for his entire career
5. The Lakers vs. Celtics rivalry is one of the more storied rivalries in sports
6. Boston sports have been phenomenal over the past few years
7. Kobe Bryant was MVP but his team lost the series
8. The Lakers were favored to win the series
9. The final game was a total blowout
Each of these different aspects contributes to the newsworthiness of the event, but as evidenced in the above screenshots, most of these slants are not highlighted. Hence, the same ‘breaking news’ headline is repeated – an ineffective tactic in generating social media attention. A more successful approach is to look for (or create) articles that highlight different elements of a popular story; use the story’s momentum to your benefit.
Reworking the above elements to improve social media traction might look like (in order):
1. Breaking: Celtics Win Championship
2. Tremendous Turnaround: How the Celtics Went From Worst to First
3. 12 Good Guys That Won Championships Before They Retired
4. 24 Loyal Athletes that Stuck With Their Team To Win A Title
5. Where Does The 2008 Finals Rank Among The Lakers-Celtics Rivalry?
6. Boston Sports: The Hottest Sports Streak for a City Ever?
7. MVPs That Couldn’t Finish: 36 Players That Had Great Seasons But Lost At The End
8. Underdogs That Overwhelmed: A Look at Recent Championships The Favored Team Lost
9. ExciteLESS: The Least Competitive Championship Winning Games In History
Of all of the proposed stories, only one of them is hedged solely on being the first to report it, the rest simply use the momentum and popularity of the event to their advantage.
Every news article has an angle that can be exploited.
The Iphone was released – What apps need to be made in order for it to work for businesses? Why Should GPS makers be scared?
Tiger Woods won’t play this year – Who are the best of the rest? How long will he take to fully recover from the surgery and what is the general success rate of this type of surgery?
Someone famous died – Why were they famous and what were the highlights of their life? How did they die, could it have been prevented?
Regardless of your industry or focus, there is almost always an opportunity to find a way to spin relevant breaking news into a story that relates to your niche. And if you view every breaking news story through this perspective, you’re already ahead of the crowd.
It seems so simple, but these incredibly effective tactics may be the most underutilized in Social Media. It is a beautiful thing when you realize that you aren’t working hard to break the story, you are letting the ‘broken’ story work hard for you.
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20 Responses to “Beyond ‘Breaking’: How To Maximize Current Events For Social Media”
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Awesome post. It’s all in in the angle, and all in the title! And it’s all in Boston!!! (sorry had to do it)
@Chris — ha! I knew that the Boston peeps would love this one
You know I submitted one of the lame headlines that got buried too, right? A Celtics fan who’s been dying for a moment like that just *had* to try.
This is a great resource though Chris, and it’s only strengthened by the fact that you know in your heart that NY is trash and all Boston sports teams are wonderful.
And props to Captain TC for commenting before I even had a chance to.
“This is a great resource though Chris, and it’s only strengthened by the fact that you know in your heart that NY is trash and all Boston sports teams are wonderful.”
Ha! First of all — I didn’t write it. AND I certainly don’t know that about NY teams. Super Bowl champs anyone??
Glad you liked it and congrats on the championship…
Nice post! I’m still struggling with Reddit, but the thing is with some many social media sites out there, it’s hard to stay active everywhere… Anyway, good content.
@SEO Survivor
“it’s hard to stay active everywhere”
Definitely is. That’s why its good to pick the communities you enjoy the most and think you can get the most out of.
Awesome post with very insightful tips.
However, while using interesting angles in headlines *should* give an edge in theory, it’s important to recognize that a top Digger with a huge list can still trounce all other dupes, regardless of creativity.
That’s not to say their headline wasn’t creative as well
Great post. Actually I came to this blog post through a Digg done by Maki from DoshDosh the Heading “Sometimes ‘Breaking’ News Just Isn’t Good Enough on Digg..” tempted me to come here.
Thanks for sharing.
Good post! Thanks.
Ugh, sites like Digg shouldn’t be competitions for who can submit the best-titled story. They should be about delivering news – cold hard facts. Not speculation, opinion, and BS to get the most “diggs” for the submitter’s e-penis.
[...] is to look for articles that highlight different elements and use the angle to your advantage.read more | digg [...]
Social media it seems is getting a bit carried away lately.
You’re all morons. You do all the work while the scammers that run these sites cash the checks.
Thanks for sharing this article..^^ anyways social media is a great way to promote your contents…you just have to think of fresh techniques and ideas to succeed on it..^^
[...] of 10e20 published a great how to article on maximizing current events for social media success. He also explained why others fail to get the best out of their [...]
Great post — as Boston fans, we do like the example you used!
[...] You use your account status and friend network to submit the same breaking news story that has already been submitted 3452 [...]
[...] 1) Hot Topic Stories Fresh stories that are relevant to a current hot topic naturally gain momentum by adding more information or knowledge on that topic. Since users are actively looking for information on this fresh topic, the subject itself will build momentum with no additional work required. This is the most natural form of momentum that a story can accrue as it will attract a variety of different users who are genuinely interested in the topic at hand. For even more on this topic, see our current events and social media post. [...]
Nice post! At least I've learned here to not to worry if I'm not the first to break any news, but to go beyond "breaking news" and spin relevant breaking news into stories that relate to my niche. Thanks for the tips.
[...] How to Maximize Current Events for Social Media: The 10e20 blog shows what you can do with current events to create compelling content. [...]